I will share my perspective here. Background: I backpack and bike tour multiple times per year, and have accepted that I will never be a lightweight camper. However I am always seeking ways to bring a little bit less. I am particularly dismayed when I do overnight trips and find myself carrying almost the same load as I would for a 3-4 day trip. That said, this is what I would personally eliminate from your packing list. Note that I did not say personally RECOMMEND; the most important thing is to go and do it your own way. That said:
For a backpacking/bike touring itinerary with no days in town, I tend to pack 3-4 pairs of socks and 2-3 pairs of underwear, t-shirts, etc. (All wool/synthetic.) Beyond that, one pair of nylon zip--off pants, one set of wool long underwear tops/bottoms, one shell/rainpant combo, one wool jacket, one pair of neoprene socks - that's about it. From my perspective, you have WAY too much clothes. The french press and thermos sound more appropriate for car camping to me. I use a small plastic cone and bring a stack of paper filters and brew directly into my insulated mug. I will not even suggest any type of instant coffee. I have heard good things about the Aeropress as well. I would try to get by with just the iPhone and leave the IPad at home. I don't carry a chain whip. When I have needed to remove my cassette I pull the skewer and place the splined cassette tool on, and put the wheel back on the bike as close to the dropouts as possible, and use the chain on the bike as my chain whip. One foot on the pedal, adjustable wrench on the cassette tool, seatpost over the wrench for leverage and the cassette threads right off. Leave the hammer at home. You can almost always find a rock. I do carry a Katadyn (formerly PUR) hiker water filter. It's bulky but rather light. It's a backpacking necessity but nice to have on a bike tour as well. I never bother using it for cooking water - if it has come to a boil it's good enough for me. I use a Sweetwater prefilter to make the filter element last nearly indefinitely. Replacing $3 prefilters is preferable to replacing $50 filter elements! Even if you were to make all of these changes you will still have a rather extensive load and in no way reduce the justification for owning a Bombadil. My touring bike is also a heavyweight - Thorn Raven with Rohloff hub, so lightweight is pretty much out the window even before the bike is loaded! Enjoy the tour and may your tires stay inflated and your spokes unbroken. Daniel -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
