Skeleton

Drivetrain

Stopping

Wheels

Electronics

Interface

Tent: REI Half Dome 2 Plus (2015) body (887g) + fly/guylines (822g) + poles (553g)
► Long enough to hold me plus a bag at my head, and wide enough to hold our two 25″ sleeping pads snugly. Dual doors are a critical feature. At ~5 lbs., it’s definitely not the lightest, but it’s held up well through a lot of use.

Tent Stakes: MSR Groundhog (11x + bag 225g)

Ground sheet: Custom (184g)
► I always used to use plastic sheeting under the tent, but just before this trip, I sewed up a Silpoly sheet with webbing and grommets at the corner, to allow the rainfly to be set up without the tent body.

Ground sheet #2: Gray curtain (73″ x 54″) (500g)
► After we bought (and then disposed of) a beach blanket in Baja, we missed its utility and replaced it with a window drape from Wal-Mart. Beach/picnic blanket, yoga mat, seat-cushion, tablecloth, wind/rain screen, doormat, etc.

Sleeping Bag: Sierra Designs Backcountry Bed Duo 20 (2117g)
► One bag that holds both of us. It’s not just the two-person size that gives that “comfortable sleeping in a bed” feeling, it’s also the zipperless design with a comforter-like top. I doubt we’ll ever go back to individual bags.

Sleeping Bag Stuff Sack: Osprey Straightjacket 20L Compression Sack (95g)
► I spent a lot of time attempting to determine what size compression sack would best contain our sleeping bag, and it seems I guessed pretty well. So for any Internet searchers: a 20L compression sack is a good size for Sierra Designs Backcountry Bed Duo! Also it holds a roughly rectangular shape, which allows it to fit inside one of my rear panniers (taking up 80% of the volume).

Sleeping pad #1: REI Air Rail 1.5 Long (756g) + stuff sack (19g)
► A relatively old-school “self-inflating” style pad, that has a nice solidity and durability. Currently used by Neil after it being designated as Rett’s for a while.

Sleeping pad #2: Sea to Summit Comfort Plus XT Long (1119g) + stuff sack (59g)
► A huge (77″ x 25″ x 3″) air-sprung pad. Plenty comfortable, and rectangular, to work well with our two-person sleeping bag, though I’m not sure if it’s worth the weight, especially since it’s had a slow leak for months that I can’t find. Rett started using it after her back got injured.

Rett’s pillow: Sea to Summit Aeros Deluxe (L) (105g) + pillowcase (40g) + stuff sack (5g)

Neil’s pillow: Sea to Summit Aeros Ultralight (L) (79g) + pillowcase (40g)

Chair: Helinox Chair Zero (502g + 16g stuff sack)
► One of our favorite “luxuries”, we use our chairs at nearly every lunch stop, at camp in the evening, and have even used them when we’re in a house and just need an extra chair.

Headlamps: Fenix HM50R Rechargeable (2x 81g)
► USB-rechargeable, four light levels (remembered between on/offs), including a lowest level that’s actually low enough. Infinite swivel.

Lantern: Black Diamond ReMoji LED (77g)
► USB-rechargeable, a fraction of the size of our previous Black Diamond lantern. Hangs from the top loop inside our tent at night (often actually using the colored-light mode!), and can also stick magnetically, or balanced on top of a water bottle at the picnic table for after-dark cooking.

Fire starters: Coghlans Fire Sticks (192g)

Projector screen (in-tent): Custom white ripstop (38g)

Miscellaneous: Microfiber rag (39g) + Paracord (65g)

Stove: MSR WhisperLite Universal (305g) + windscreens (64g)
► We set it up to use unleaded gasoline. That means refueling is really cheap, and more importantly, easy, which eliminates any anxiety about using “too much” fuel.

Fuel Bottle: MSR 22oz (142g) + MSR pump (65g)

Alcohol Primer: Heet (yellow bottle) (650g)
► WhisperLite stoves need to be “primed”, traditionally by lighting a small amount of liquid cooking fuel. When using gasoline, this generates clouds of black smoke and makes the stove a carbon-covered mess. So instead we use a small bit of (cheap, easily available) Heet, which burns clean.

Cookset: GSI Pinnacle Backpacker (890g)
► We’ve needed to replace the sink/carrying-case that started to leak, and the strainer lid (after we melted it in a microwave), but we use this thing so thoroughly that we often use parts of it even when staying in a furnished AirBNB. We have an extra pot handle so we can cook in the pot and pan simultaneously.

Cutting Board: Generic plastic (206g)
► Rigid, small-ish, and thin

Bowls: Sea to Summit X Bowl (2x 80g)
► This is the weight for just the chamber, plunger, and (metal) filter. The chamber tightly seats within our GSI insulated mugs for brewing, and I stir with the end of my spork, so all the other parts are unnecessary.

Knives: MSR Alpine Kitchen (42g) + Zwilling paring (51g)
► Two is probably overkill, but the thin, stamped “camping” knife and the home kitchen knife both find a way to get used.

Eating Utensils: Snow Peak Titanium Spork (15g) + Sea to Summit Camp Cutlery 3-piece set (24g)
► Minimalist for Neil, maximalist for Rett.

Cooking Utensils: Measuring spoons (18g) + Mini-spatula (silicone) (14g) + Victorinox Spartan Swiss-army knife (59g) + mesh sack (27g) + GSI Pack Grater (56g) + MSR Alpine Camping Spoon ladle (29g) + MSR Alpine Spatula flipper (21g)

Pot holder: Nova Scotia Artisan-crafted (16g)
► Replaced a mouse-eaten one.

Lighters: Conventional (20g) + Bic EZ Reach stubby wand (21g)

Computer: Microsoft Surface Go 2 (553g) + Type Cover keyboard (245g) + 24W Charger (137g) + Surface Pen (21g) + Surface Pen tips (2g)
► I’ve taken a Windows PC on most of my bike tours (starting in 2003), and now that this is our life, I definitely wasn’t going to stop now. It’s not the most powerful thing, but the form factor (that slides tightly into my handlebar bag) is perfect.

Storage: Samsung T7 1TB SSD w/ case (67g) + 32GB USB thumb drive (7g)

Camera: Canon EOS RP (480g) + Canon RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM lens (765g) + Canon RF 16mm f/2.8 STM lens (170g) + lens back cap (24g)
► Photography is really important to me, and while phone cameras have gotten really good, there are still many things they can’t do in comparison to a larger setup, and their ubiquity has allowed increasingly-rare 35mm ILC photography to appear even more-striking in comparison. I went really large with this setup, but it is the smallest/lightest full-frame camera ever made. The giant 10x zoom lens kind of cancels that out, but it’s still a great bang-for-the-gram. But the 16mm ultra-wide lens is definitely an indulgence!

Camera Clip: Peak Design (91g)
► For walkarounds when I don’t have my handlebar bag, or want my camera more-accessible. Mostly it lives on my backpack shoulder strap, but can also hang from my belt.

Phone (Neil): Google Pixel 5 (152g) + QuadLock case (40g)

Phone (Rett): Samsung Galaxy S23 (168g) + QuadLock case (40g)
► Rett goes with Samsung because stupid Google phones can’t output HDMI video from their USB-C ports, a frequently-useful entertainment feature (and a required one for our projector).

Projector: ViewSonic M1 Mini Plus (296g)
► Yes, we carry a video projector, probably our most-unusual luxury. It hasn’t seen a ton of use, but it’s only about twice the size/weight of a phone, so not too much of a burden.

Media Stick: Google Chromecast (41g)

Fitness Watch: Garmin vivoactive 4S (44g)
► Rett’s obsessive enough about her fitness tracking that this has nicely provided GPX tracks for all of our rides as a side-effect.

Headphones: Google Pixel USB-C wired earbuds (15g)

Batteries: Anker PowerCore III Elite 19200mAh 60W (420g) + Anker PowerCore PD 20000mAh (378g) + CR2032 batteries (2x 3g) + AAAA battery (7g)

Chargers: Anker PowerPort PD 1 30W (54g) + Anker PowerPort III 65W (118g) + Belkin USB-C/USB-A 27W (99g)
► I made a concerted effort to ensure all our electronics would be USB-C rechargeable so that we wouldn’t need to carry extra proprietary chargers. The shaver is the only exception, but I also carry PC and camera-battery chargers as alternates/backups.

Cables: Anker USB-C to HDMI breakout (83g) + USB-A female to USB-C male converter (6g) + USB-A to USB-C 15in (21g) + USB-C 90° to USB-C 90° 11in (14g) + USB-C to Micro-USB adapters (4x 3g) + USB-C to USB-C 24in (17g) + USB-C to USB-C 72in (2x 60g) + HDMI to HDMI 72″ (56g) + Garmin charging cable (15g)

Base layers (top): Smartwool Classic All-Season Merino Long-sleeve T (S) (155g) + Smartwool Classic All-Season Merino T, Blue (S) (128g) + Smartwool Classic All-Season Merino T, Gray (M) (140g) + Mountain Hardwear Wicked Lite T, Black (M) (118g)
► Three short-sleeve t-shirts, one long-sleeve, three Merino wool, one synthetic, two small for a body-hugging fit, two medium for a slightly looser fit.

Mid-layers (top): SmartWool Merino 250 Quarter-Zip, Navy (L) (319g) + Ridge Merino Solstice Lightweight Hoodie, black camo (Women’s M) (197g)
► The Smartwool is a staple item for all conditions, this is the third I’ve owned over 15 years. The Ridge Merino sun hoodie is a hand-me-down from Rett (she wanted a looser fit), acquired mid-trip, and it’s similarly versatile.

Dress shirt: Pendleton wool long-sleeve button-up (363g)
► A shirt I sewed myself for non-bike-touring life, out of Pendleton’s Umatilla Wool fabric. But it works really well on the road as a never-wrinkles, barely-needs-washing, insulating, relatively-classy layer. It takes up a lot of space in the pack, but still worth it. After years of normal-life wear, the elbows got patched a couple months into our nomadacy.

Down Jacket: Arc’teryx Cerium LT Hoodie (S) (294g)
► Here the small size definitely shows up in too-short sleeves, but otherwise it works. It got some snag-looking defects across the back fairly early, but it hasn’t gotten worse.

Shorts: Columbia Royce Peak Shorts, 1 green, 1 gray (30Wx12L) (2x 243g)
►Another rare bottom-half I can get with a narrow waist and long inseam. And they’re just the right amount of trim-fit to not billow up on the bike, but also not bind up. After 18+ months, the fabric has stretched out and become ripply at the seams, and I’ve had to re-stitch the rear pocket top-stitching as the bike seat wore it away to nothing, but so far the fabric itself hasn’t worn through.

Pants: Prana Stretch Zion, Charcoal (30Wx36L) (399g) + Columbia Silver Ridge convertible, green (32Wx36L) (311g)
►The Pranas are one of the favorite pieces of clothing that I’ve ever owned (excluding those made by myself!), not least because they sell them in a narrow-waist, long-inseam size that actually fits me correctly. The Columbias, which work both an extra pair of shorts and pants, are my “backups”, which I rarely wear, partly due to the thinness of the fabric making me worry about their durability.

Tights: Performance Bike (258g)
► Probably from ~2003, they’re synthetic, but thick and warm, and somehow still in good shape. I’ll wear them under shorts on cold riding days, and under pants during cold camping.

Underwear: Icebreaker Anatomica Boxer Briefs (M) (2x 64g)
► Another insanely-priced item ($45 for one pair of underwear?!) that is 100% worth it. These two pairs have been my only underwear for 18+ months, and they’re still in good shape, super-comfortable, and feel fresh forever between washes.

Cycling underwear: Andiamo Skins Unpadded Cycling Underwear (L) (70g)
► I’ve never worn padded shorts when cycling, but I’ll be in trouble if this small company ever stops making these wisely-seamed, quick-drying pseudo-bike shorts.

Rain Jacket: Arc’teryx Beta SL Hybrid (S) (344g)
► Size small somehow fits my 6’4″ frame perfectly, the hood can go over my bike helmet, it seems like it’s held up pretty well.

Rain Pants: Gore Bike Wear C5 Active Trail Pant (XL [EU], L [US]) (182g)
► Much lighter weight than my previous Gore Bike Wear (Alp-X) version. We’ll see how they hold up.

Socks: 2x Darn Tough Run Quarter Ultralightweight Cushion (XL) (2x 46g) + Icebreaker Mid-Ankle, thick cushion, Gray (XL) (54g) + Darn Tough Hiker Boot Sock, Black (XL) (95g) + DexShell Waterproof (138g)
► Darn Tough is the new merino wool sock leader. I haven’t used the waterproof socks (yet?)

Shoes: Arc’teryx Konseal FL 2 Leather (Red, 12.5) (854g)
► “Approach shoes” have a good combination of a stiff sole for biking, good for hiking, and these dress up fairly well.

Sandals: Teva Forebay (13) (840g)
► Post-ride or warm-weather shoes. I generally like Keens more, but they didn’t have a good protection/weight/hikability option at the time. I followed some random review on Amazon where a guy said he deconstructed the heel section to remove a stiff plastic piece (that rubbed badly) and stitched them back together, and they’ve been comfortable ever since (and flatten better without that plastic bit).

Cycling cap: Headsweats Super Duty Shorty (22g)
► I’ve worn one of these under my helmet for years, mostly as a sweat-band, but increasingly to protect my balding head.

Knit cap: Smartwool Beanie (54g)
► I’ve used this as my cold-weather hat (both in normal life and bike touring) for over a decade, and I don’t know what’s more miraculous: that it’s still in good shape, or that I haven’t lost it!

Sunglasses: Tifosi Duro (33g) + alternate lenses (46g)
► My second pair of these relatively non-dorky “sport sunglasses”. I probably don’t need to be carrying to the different-colored lenses anymore.

Cycling Gloves: Specialized Sport Gel (short) (40g) + Specialized Deflect Gel (long) (79g)
► Glove cushioning is less-critical now that I don’t do the marathon days of my youth, so I think most anything would work fine. Wouldn’t mind having long-fingered ones that were touch-screen-compatible though.

Camp Gloves: Northern Watters Knitwear fingerless mitts (99g)
► (acquired 2022-08) After seeing the utility Rett got out of her pair, the perfect time to get a pair of my own was when browsing a local shop in downtown Charlottetown, PEI. Grandmother-knitted in Canada of classic British wool!

Belt: Nylon webbing (28g)
► Harvested off some other pair of shorts/pants.

Buff: Merino Buff, green (49g)
► A hand-me-down from Rett. Haven’t used much.

Helmet: Bontrager Starvos (L) + CycleAware mirror (346g)
► The helmet-attached rear-view mirror is much more critical to our safety than the helmet!

To Be Described

Eyes: Boston Simplus Contact Solution () + Contacts and case (2x ) + Prescription eyeglasses (33g) + eyeglasses case (20g)

Ears: Earplugs (11g)

Mouth: Toothbrush (25g) + Floss (20g) + Toothpaste + KN94 masks

Skin: Bar soap (112g) + Sisal soap bag () + Shower gloves (27g) + Shampoo (69g) + Sunscreen (140g)

Hair: Philips OneBlade Pro Shaver w/ guide (123g) + AC adapter (50g) + extra blades (13g) + comb (10g)
► One tool to cut the hair on my face, Rett’s undershave on her head, and (with scissors) all hair on my head. I initially tried an Instructables hack to save 50g, replacing the wall-charger with a USB charging connection, but the shaver died after about a month of that. Whoops! Luckily the units are priced on the “razor and blades” model!

Towel: Packtowl (83g)

To Be Described

Tools

Camping Gear

Kitchen

Electronics

Neil’s Clothing