Carrying too much Stuff!

[Deathgrip]

Curious about some comments I've read where people are recommending ditching the backpack and carrying everything on the bike. Maybe I'm just not minimalist enough, but that seems nearly impossible with any level of comfort. Having the backpack on all day kind of sucks, but without it I'd be hard-pressed to pack everything I need into the bags I'm rocking.

Using a Warbonnet Blackbird Hammock (1.7DL), no sleeping pad, Jacks R Better Top Quilt, and my lightweight camping gear. I'll continue to do my homework, but I'm going to keep using the backpack until I figure out how to minimize my kit to that point. It's mildly cumbersome and makes my center of gravity too high but affords me a great deal of extra space.

What say you proponents of the pack and minimalists?

[jhl99]

You can pack a hell of a lot stuff on your bike if you can install racks... of course the cool kids don't use racks.

[Smithhammer]

A minimal pack on my back doesn't really bother me. I usually roll with a Camelback Lobo. It carries enough water that it frees up more space on my frame, or inside a frame pack, that would otherwise be occupied with water bottles or a bladder. I also keep a few other handy things in it like tire levers, a cap, windshirt, etc. Well worth it in my opinion, when space is at a premium.

[Lentamentalisk]

Clearly all of you ride in cool, low humidity climates. Here on the east coast, during the summer there is nothing worse than a backpack on my back. I'll happily stick with my rack until I can cut the load down to fit in a seat bag.
Every time I think it won't be so bad with a backpack I am hating my stupidity not more than a few miles down the trail.

That said, if I go out on my mountain bike, which doesn't have any table at all, I'm going to use my backpacking backpack to hold all the big light stuff.

[Mista Bone]

I rode with a backpack once....ONCE!!!

Only been back on a bike 11 months, it was only 85 degrees and typical Ohio seeming 85% humidity...never again. It was only a 7 mile round trip ride.

[vikb]

Curious about some comments I've read where people are recommending ditching the backpack and carrying everything on the bike. Maybe I'm just not minimalist enough, but that seems nearly impossible with any level of comfort. Having the backpack on all day kind of sucks, but without it I'd be hard-pressed to pack everything I need into the bags I'm rocking.

What say you proponents of the pack and minimalists?

Any generic advise like that is pretty much useless. It's like saying you should put 34.76 psi into your tires or should only use a specific brand and model of tire bikepacking.

Clearly we all have different needs, wants and situations to address.

You need to work out what gear you need to be comfortable and happy bikepacking. That answer varies widely between people. So how they carry their is going to be different.

For non-technical GDR-esque trips having more stuff on the bike can make sense, but for techy riding especially with a lot of hike-a-bike I like having some of the gear on my back. I'll setup my bike differently based on what the terrain is going to be like.

A backpack doesn't bother me [I keep the weight in check] and like you I can't fit everything I need in my bike bags. I tried fork mounted cages and didn't like that setup. Having a narrow bike is more important to me than getting stuff off my back.

If you do want to carry less [on your back, bike or wherever] it's worth looking at what other people are bikepacking with and seeing if you can learn from the leaner setups. My gear has become more streamlined over the years for sure. I carry less than many people, but there are still a lot of folks with lighter/more compact setups. That's okay!

[sfuller]

What you need, and therefore what you pack and what you need to carry it, is all going to depend on the length of your trip, resupply options, location, how far you want to ride, etc. I *personally* don't like putting things on my back, but I had to do so for a few days of the Tour Divide just so I could carry enough food and water to get me through the Gila. I just made sure the stuff on my back was high volume, low weight so that it didn't bother my shoulders or back.

With your sleep setup, putting that all into a small backpack doesn't seem like it would be a huge issue as far as weight went.

[wahday]

With a frame bag, seat bag, bar harness and mounts on the fork I can easily carry all of my gear on the bike. My problem is that where I typically ride (western New Mexico) the water sources are few and unreliable. So, I have to account for bringing up to 7-8 liters of water at times. There is just no way I can get all of my gear and all the water on just the bike for anything more than an overnighter. So, I carry a backpack. It mainly has the water (in a 5l MSR Dromedary bladder) and everything else goes on the bike. For normal day rides, I use a pack with a 3l bladder and carry tools and tube. For shorter day rides, I like the bike to be light and nimble. For bikepacking, carrying that weight on the back for too so long can get uncomfortable.

I have yet to spring for a set of Salsa Anything Cages which would largely solve my problem so I just have water bottle mounts on the fork with a 1l bottle on each (I use the tall skinny convenience store kind and then put a strap around the upper part to prevent ejection). Even with the Anything Cages, my fear is getting all of that water and gear on the bike will make it insanely heavy. I am charting out a large 750 mile loop including reliable water sources (mostly cattle tanks) to filter from, but I still get nervous about running out of water.