A hearty agree for this passage: " Ultralight gear is wimpy. It will fail, and in circumstances less than ideal that pushed it beyond it’s frail capacity. It must be babied to last. I carry expedition weight gear for what gear I carry. It allows me to be confident and comfortable no matter what"
Won't forget the experience on a long backpacking trip in NM during which my pack bag and shoulder straps began to come apart under the load (despite many miles over numerous outings in preparation). While not particularly ultralight, materials were not up to the test which my earlier outings did not present. The hacks necessary to keep it together and minimally functional really took away from the focus of the trip. Some things need to be heavy duty from the get go, just as you say. Saving a few ounces can have an exceptional cost. Andy Cheatham Pittsburgh On Wednesday, November 22, 2017 at 7:52:29 AM UTC-5, Deacon Patrick wrote: > > Awesome trip you have planned! Fantastic! > > I prefer panniers and have ridden sections the high altitude sections of > the GDMBR (which is 99% back roads), as well as large sections of the > Colorado Trail and the Colorado portion of the Divide Trail (mostly single > track) and ground clearence is a non-issue created by the marketers of > frame bags. Think about it: if your panniers don’t go lower than your > pedals and don’t stick out farther than your legs, you’re golden. I crash > through gnarly willow and bracken overgrown on trails often. I love my > hearty Sackville Toursacks (Back of Bike Bags now). They don’t care what > they rub into. Frame bags are great if that’s what you want. They DO keep > weight central to the frame, but that is close to a non-issue compared with > how panniers carry, when properly mounted and loaded. For reference I haul > up to 80 pounds of groceries at a go and bikepack with 50 pounds incl. food > and water. > > Framebags do force the use of ultralight gear because they do not carry > much. You will get all four seasons, sometimes within an hour, on the > trail. Ultralight gear is wimpy. It will fail, and in circumstances less > than ideal that pushed it beyond it’s frail capacity. It must be babied to > last. I carry expedition weight gear for what gear I carry. It allows me to > be confident and comfortable no matter what. Here’s the basic setup I’ve > settled on: > > Hunqapillar with rear panniers, a saddlebag that leaves room for my tent, > sleeping bag, and pad on top of the rack. Works brilliantly. > > Gear: > Hilleberg Akto Tent > Wiggy’s sleeping bag (either his summer bag with a vapor barrior liner if > needed, or the heavier zero degree) > Mesh long johns (these allow the use of any insulative layer and are > amazingly brilliant) > Insulative layer (boiled wool knee socks, flannel shirt, down jacket, > boiled wool mittens and hat) > Wind/rain layer: ventile > Stove/fuel > > The gear I have is all heavier than an ultralight setup. But it handles > wind rain (horizontal or otherwise), hail, snow, and because I wear minimal > clothing and bring no extras total weight is quite low. > > Things to learn before you come (if you don’t know already): > > — food care in bear country > — layering of clothes, what makes it effective and how to manage it > wisely. > — wise firebuilding and management (if you are using a firebox) and > clearing a safe place for your stove. > > You can see my set up here: > https://thegrid.ai/withabandon/s24o-on-the-skirts-of-pikes-peak > > With abandon, > Patrick -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
