First overnight cycle trip! It was bloody freezing!

[Crankarm]

Ortlieb panniers are fine for off roading unless you are doing stuff that would make Danny McCaskill blush if he couldn't do with panniers although he probably still could do his tricks on a bike with panniers ;@).

I prefer a one person tent such as a Hubba NX than a bivvy bag.

A rucksack with all your gear in it is a no-no, better to have your stuff on your bike.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Danny McCaskill I am certainly not, but I do enjoy getting airborne on the bike, and my lack of both suspension and technique give the bike a hard life at the best of times let alone if it's laden up!

I think the next purchase on the wish list is going to be an inflatable mat of some sort. After that I'll look at getting a set of panniers for the MTB (don't want to swap them from bike to bike since I use them almost every outing on my tourer/commuter), or a frame bag if I can find one cheap.

 

[ChrisEyles]

Another night's wild camping out on Exmoor the other night. The long evenings are really lovely at the moment. I didn't get to this spot until gone 9pm, but still had plenty of time to pitch up and drift off to the dusk chorus.

It was another chilly night with some amazing stars, and one of the best reflections of the moon in a lake I've seen in ages (one of the things I like about wild camping is that even getting up and needing to pee is an enjoyable experience!).

It rained quite a bit in the early hours of the morning, but once again the tarp did it's job perfectly, even though I used a fairly open lean-to pitch this time. A tent might be a tad warmer... but you wouldn't get views like this when you open your eyes first thing in the morning

Just need some more free weekends so I can take it out on a weekend's touring adventure up on Dartmoor!

 

[Blue Hills]

A wild camping cyclist told me he picked his spot in daylight, went to the pub for his dinner, then set up when it was dark or close to it.

Chances of a dog walking busybody at that time are low, and if you get one first thing it makes no odds because you will be soon on your way whatever is said.

Yes, i always find this caution about early morning dog walkers a bit odd. Dog walkers don't generally have a reputation for doing folk over. I tend to think of them as somewhat philosophical types, and the male of the species possibly henpecked husbands out for a bit of peace. And liable to take up overnight free camping micro adventures themselves.

 

[Blue Hills]

Panniers are best, but they must be well strapped on and in and an around when the going gets rough. They must be shake-proofed.

What do you mean by shake proofed. Is your reference to "well strapped on" something to do with adding extra straps?

 

[Blue Hills]

@ChrisEyles Can i ask what the bike is chris? Colour scheme makes that Marin look rather old but I see that it has an aheadset.

 

[jonny jeez]

Looking at those pictures, I clearly need a camo-painted bike to go with the tarp

Either that or a bright yellow tarp

I was thinking the same thing!.

 

[Blue Hills]

Interesting. Slightly surprised that no one has produced a camo painted bike. Or have they? You can get nice camo gorilla (similar to duct) tape and I have some on my green expedition bike to alleviate cable rub, but you wouldn't use it on the entire bike.

 

[Blue Hills]

I've used inflatable mats (borrowed from a friend) before when hiking in the Carpathians and they were great! If I find myself camping out a lot, one would be a really good investment, but they are a bit pricey.

I've been out a few more nights since this one, with minimum temperatures in the 6C-10C range and have had no problems in the bivy bag plus sleeping bag and wearing lots of clothes... So the current set-up should be good until well into the autumn.

Do keep this thread going with your adventures and info on what you are learning. I must say I like your approach of taking things slowly and trying stuff, not just going out and buying a ton of possibly expensive gear, and some of it would no doubt end up being duplicated in your rush to buy buy buy. I find aldi thermals good for bivvying, either merino or a nice synthetic set which make a nice pair of pajamas, also handy at home in the depfhs of winter if sleeping alone. I don't thing you need to spend a ton of money for good quality stuff these days once you forsake mad weight shaving - and then there are sales - and if you have done lots of practical in-the-field research you can pounce when a bargain comes up.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

What do you mean by shake proofed. Is your reference to "well strapped on" something to do with adding extra straps?

By that I mean you eliminate any internal shakiness/looseness in the bag itself. It is no use if the pannier is well fixed to the bike but the stuff inside shakes around. The most well-behaved loaded panniers are properly and securely affixed to the bike and nothing inside the pannier can move around. I do this in two ways. 1) I pack it so that it is pretty well stuffed inside. For instance, I may even release a sleeping bag from its compression sack to fill all the space. 2) I use extra straps and wrap it like a mummy (exaggeration but it makes the point) so that nothing can wobble.

 

[Blue Hills]

By that I mean you eliminate any internal shakiness/looseness in the bag itself. It is no use if the pannier is well fixed to the bike but the stuff inside shakes around. The most well-behaved loaded panniers are properly and securely affixed to the bike and nothing inside the pannier can move around. I do this in two ways. 1) I pack it so that it is pretty well stuffed inside. For instance, I may even release a sleeping bag from its compression sack to fill all the space. 2) I use extra straps and wrap it like a mummy (exaggeration but it makes the point) so that nothing can wobble.

Oh ok, may not need to do all this with my decent ortlieb rear bikepackers - they have good straps built in which allow you to tighten them down top to bottom, front to back. An advantage they maybe have over ortlieb's roll-top designs. Also, i'm not known for underpacking

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Oh ok, may not need to do all this with my decent ortlieb rear bikepackers - they have good straps built in which allow you to tighten them down top to bottom, front to back. An advantage they maybe have over ortlieb's roll-top designs. Also, i'm not known for underpacking

I think I should just have said "compression straps" and that would have done it more elegantly.

 

[Blue Hills]

I think the next purchase on the wish list is going to be an inflatable mat of some sort.

Might be worth considering.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/forclaz...965_ii__vi__&gclid=CMzl7Z3iqNQCFfcy0wodhKcJJA

Been thinking of getting one if my old quite thin thermarest fails. Like you, I take things slowly on acquiring kit. Have tried on on the floor of my local decathlon. Also asked about it on another forum and got some encouraging feedback, seemed quite tough. Two year guarantee. Am wary of some of the very expensive super lightweight mats - some sound rather delicate.

 

[Milkfloat]

Might be worth considering.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/forclaz...965_ii__vi__&gclid=CMzl7Z3iqNQCFfcy0wodhKcJJA

Been thinking of getting one if my old quite thin thermarest fails. Like you, I take things slowly on acquiring kit. Have tried on on the floor of my local decathlon. Also asked about it on another forum and got some encouraging feedback, seemed quite tough. Am wary of some of the very expensive super lightweight mats - some sound rather delicate.

I have just ordered a similar one from Alpkit https://www.alpkit.com/products/cloud-base I wanted one wider than the Decathlon one. I am a bit worried about insulation, I might try tin foil underneath.

 

[Blue Hills]

Please report back on your impressions, including in-use of that. Looks interesting though wonder if the chamber design of that might introduce too many potential points of failure, but has 3 year guarantee. Yes the decathlon forclaz is found to be a bit narrow by some. Seem to remember it did seem a tad narrow from my decathlon floor lie down test. Sod this obsession with weight saving