Soft panniers are ok, but offer little in the way of security. In the past most of my journeys are completed in a day without stopping off siteseeing etc, so soft luggage and a back box have been fine. Used hard luggage for the first time last year, only small 21 litre panniers, but found them useful as spares/tools etc could be packed in the bottom of one and just forgotten about. Topped that box up with cooking gear, food etc. I have cobbled together a stainless adaptor plate, that moves the givi rack a little further backwards, in order to be more comfortable with a large Lomo/Ortleib type bag across the pillion seat. That wouldn't be necessary if you steer clear of pubs and pie shops .
I probably wont be leaving the bike for extended lengths of time so not overly concerned about security. plus, the only thing of value will be my phone which will be on me anyway. (plus im a cheap scottish fekker
).
Ok what would I take, a small decent torch cree for example, paracetamol and ibuprofen as I get a bit of back pain when I'm in the saddle for long periods. A water bladder is good, you'll need water for cooking if you're doing the camping thing. oh and another thing deodorant, go for the stick type rather than the spray, its the only one that works properly.
got a couple of small torches so ok on that front. will probably be packing bottles of water (dont have a bladder as such but will be stopping regularly enough drinking wont be an issue)
Why do you say that about deodorant out of interest?
Haha! I too have a wooden disc on a piece of string!!
I take a small kettle, a trangia method burner and a pan so a cuppa and a bowl of soup is never far away.
I take a small plastic bottle of engine oil in case a top up required, and a mini pump and some puncture plugs.
I have a led bulb on an extension lead I plug into the bike that can charge a phone or provide light at night. Also added a usb socket to the handlebars.
And I always seem to take too many clothes
need to get myself a small gas cooker, thats on the list if i can get something reliable and compact. got some crafty pluggers and a CO2 canister so ok on that front.
When I started this biking/camping lark many moons ago, I compiled a "to take" and "to do", lists regarding camping essentials and preparation. In later years this morphed into a laminated sheet that could be ticked off, and wiped clean ready for the next trip. Dickturpin's tip to take a small container of your favourite oil is something I've always done, placing it inside a latex glove. The taking of too many clothes is also very relevant. A towel takes up a lot of valuable space, but a 180x90 cms microfibre travel towel packs about the size of a paperback. I use the xl size from The Little Bodhi, on Amazon about 12 quidish. Boil in a bag type meals by Look what We've Found are also handy,tasty and don't take up much space. The list goes on and on and.....
a small bottle of oil is probably a reasonable shout. im not sure if I will need it as the trip will likely be under 1000 miles in total and my bike normally doesnt use oil at all between services.
boil in the bag meals. is that like army rations or super noodles
?
What, no "stay in a nice comfortable hotel" ? You lot are slipping
Again, tight scottish fecker. aside from probably struggling to get booked in (as well as being too lazy to work out where I will be stopping every night) I'm trying to get by on the cheap, so no hotels for me this time
Few top tips so far, starting to get some sort of list together