I like your ingenuity!

I used to make custom knives, and I've made a bunch of knife sheaths and gun holsters out of Kydex. Its great because you can heat it up and mold it to practically anything.

Have you tried Cross Check? I'm planning to buy it for touring. I'm still considering which one is better for heavy duty touring.

The Cross Check is a street bike that just so happens to have a whole mess of eyelets for attaching racks and stuff. In my opinion, its okay for light touring, but if you want something that is absolutely bombproof, we would then roll it back to the LHT or Disk Trucker.

The LHT was built to be a heavy touring bike, and it actually performs better when loaded. If you want to do heavy touring/dirt touring then a Troll or Ogre would be excellent. The Ogre would be especially sweet with a good set of wheels by MikeSee, and some Schwalbe Marathons on it. For what its worth, I'd build any touring bike from the frame up, exceptions being the seriously high-end tourers like Tout Terrrain, Koga, Thorn, etc.

I'll have to admit that I had to google BarYak. Looks like a sweet product. I have a Jones Loop on my ECR, along with a Profile Designs aero bar. My InReach Explorer fits nicely between the aero bars, and my front bag and whatever other stuff is handled by a Revelate Designs Harness. The Harness mates perfectly with the Jones and has nice setoffs that lets my cables breathe. Its a great setup and about $300 for everything (except the InReach). If you are into Jones bars, this makes fiscal sense to me.

You'll feel better and look better with proper clothing. Remember: Clothing IS gear.

I just counted 30 in the front, 36 in the back. That isn't exactly what I'd recommend if you are going to ride anything technical and hilly. I spent at least 75% of my last trip in the lowest gear.

Right now I'm running a 32T front and a 45T rear. That gets me about 20.1 gear inches, but I got a 28T ordered and that'll do me about 18.5 GI.

Ive been looking into the surly series and two real options have stood out.

1) Surly Ogre- 29er, triple touring rings, 27.5+ compatible, millions of braze ons

2) Surly Long Haul Trucker- drop bars, 3x10, up to 45mm tyres

What would you suggest for me? I was thinking that the Ogre might be a better choice because of the ruggedness and off road ability?

I would definitely choose the Ogre over the LHT.

Like Vermont, I recently owned and sold off my LHT. They are great bikes, just not bikepacking-worthy. An LHT would make for a great gravel-grinder, but the frame is more designed for long days in the saddle on pavement than it is for handling in anything loose.

I had my eyes on an Ogre when I bought my ECR frame. I wanted the 29+ capability for my first attempt at touring (not racing) the GDMBR. I'm thinking a sweet Lynskey 29er with a good suspension fork and carbon everything else would make for a good steed.

As has been mentioned before, a Salsa Fargo would be nice, but someone somewhere in QBP or Salsa effed up and they didn't make as many as they should have this year, and are scrambling to get more available.

Near Chattanooga eh... One word. Lynsky
I have a bikepacking rig built on a Lynskey M290 Ti frame that I got at a good price. It is a solid platform and being Ti will never rust and if ever cracked, can be repaired quite easily. I actually got 2 frames, Large and XL. Sometimes I can fit into an XL but not this time so the XL frame is just hanging around until I can get it up on EBay.

I'm lovin' my ECR, but a Lynskey Ridgeline will be my next bike for sure. 

The Mukluk in summer mode. A 29er wheelset makes it a surprisingly good facsimile of a mountain bike, if you don't mind the comically large Q factor. This hurt my knees after a few hours, so I switched the SPDs for flat pedals and it has all been good since.

Nice bike. Is that a 28T you're running for a front ring?

[G]

What do you mean by mixing your own "gorp"?

Good Ol' Raisins and Peanuts. GORP. A hiker food that got its start in the 1970's I believe - well at least that the first time I heard of it. I make mine with raisins, peanuts, broken-up Nature Valley granola bars - or some kind of granola clusters I get at Trader Joes. Sometimes I add chocolate chips. Sometimes dried cranberries instead of the raisins. Its pretty calorie-dense, and sometimes I like to take a ton of mixed nuts, which are VERY high calories. Good stuff. I've tried it all ways I can think of, and none of it bad. When I look back at hiking the AT with a 50 pound pack, and stove and cooking gear it seriously sucked all the fun out of it. Nowadays all I take is sustenance. I ride to experience new places, not to dine out.

Its okay for those that like to cook outdoors, and its a source of accomplishment and pride. I just can't be bothered anymore.

Ramen is my friend on overnights. A little pepsi can alcohol stove and a small pot and nothing tastes better than hot ramen on a chilly night. Also Jerky is good.

I don't carry a stove and cooking gear anymore. I mix my own gorp and trail mix and take food bars, and when I roll past a store I stock up. I also take foil packets of spam and tortillas. I have a flask of Blanton's for those chilly nights! *wink*

You don't need to baby your brooks.   Keep it coated with some sort of waterproof coating.   Cover it overnight if it rains. They are worth the effort

I'll have to admit that its getting better every day. One thing that does irritate me a little, and I will correct it soon, is that the aft six rivets stand quite proud of the leather. Typically they are sunken into the leather or just about flush. These can definitely be felt, and over time they cause a small amount of irritation - not much - but any discomfort I can nail down and stamp out before my Divide run, the better.

I'm excited for ya! Getting the lass on board is really cool. I'd default to letting her have her way with things. You know, lull her into loving it before you start slipping in the trailage. Tandems are fun, too  

^^^THIS^^^

When a significant other is involved, little steps are best. Stick to it. Do not make excuses not to ride. Be supportive and nurturing. Light competition is good to keep things from going stale. Mix it up.

My wife loves touring, but its inn-to-inn for her only. She loves her fatbike but hates riding it in anything more than 2" of snow. Little by little with gentle persistence, and she'll try new things. Wife and I ride every afternoon. She (and I) look/s forward to it.

READ READ READ! Read all you can about it. Search YouTube for "bikepacking" and you'll get more than you possibly could digest. Study up, and good luck!

My New Surly ECR build. My goal is to fine-tune this for my tour of the GDMBR starting on my 60th birthday in June 2018.

Medium Frame
Jones Loop Butted Alloy H-bars.
1x11 Sram X1 32T chainring x 11/45T cassette. This is temporary. I'm saving up for a Rohloff/Schmidt SON wheel combo.
Brooks B17 saddle. Also temporary. I'm having trouble finding a comfy saddle that is water resistant. I truly dislike the idea of babying this leather saddle for 2774 miles.

DT350 hubs, laced to Easton ARC40 rims, expertly crafted by MikeC at LaceMine29.

The Bonty goatsuckers are great! Saint pedals.
Not on the bike currently, but my packs are a combo of Revelate and Oveja Negra.

In fifteen months I want to be standing over my bike in Banff, Alberta, on the GDMBR trail, which will be my 60th birthday. I can't think of a better way to bring in the beginning of my senior citizenship than spend a couple months riding the GDMBR. I want to set off on the trail the day of my 60th.

I do not want to get old, but its happening whether I like it or not. I guess that I can embrace it, or fight it. I think that embracing it and going full-throttle into my senior years will be a hell of a lot more exciting than sitting around and getting all Alzheimered-out and staring into space like a deer in the headlights. Not for me.

I'm a retired GI, and a retired industrial repair machinist. Been married 40 years. Bike mechanic was my first after school job when I was 13, and I been paying taxes to Uncle Sam ever since. Here are my bikes:

Specialized Roubaix
Surly Long Haul Trucker
Trek Wahoo 29er
Motobecane Boris X5

Thanks for reading. See you in the forums!