- Bikes & mounted equipment
- Clothing
- Bags and such
- Camping/cooking
- Food staples
- Tools & spare parts
- Hygiene/first aid
- Recreation
- Miscellaneous
- Final Comments
- Bikes & mounted equipment
Two 1993 Trek 950 MTBs with:
 | Blackburn front mountain racks |
| JANDD rear mountain rack |
| Salsa bar ends |
| Two regular H2O bottle cages on each |
| One 1.5 liter size H2O bottle cage on Brian's bike |
| Trek Radar cycle computers |
| Bike fenders front and rear |
| Regular pedals with toe clips |
| Spring bell mounted on bar ends |
| 2 1/2 watt Vista headlights powered by AA batteries |
| Vista red strobe taillight powered by one AA battery |
Comments:
| We chose Trek 950s because they are sturdy bikes having standard chromoly frames. These
frames can be welded, sandblasted, and repainted should anything go wrong. We wanted MTBs
so we could ride on all sorts of road conditions. Having identical bikes ensures common
components and maintenance tools. Currently they have the Shimano STS rapidfire shifters.
However, we would consider switching to friction shifters if we were to take them into
more remote regions of the world. So far the bikes are holding up well. But we did have to
buy two new rear wheels after only 5000 miles and front after 10,000 miles.. At that time
we switched from 32 spokes to 36. Trek makes extremely good bikes and, with about 21,000
miles on each, we've been more than happy with their performance. However, we were not too
excited about the longevity of the wheels. We now have wheels with Mavic rims on front,
Brian has a Ukai rim on back and I have some generic rim on back. All these have lasted
longer that the original Trek rims so far. |
| On the other hand, one aspect of having a full size bicycle for touring is anytime you
want to take some form of alternate transportation whether it be a car, taxi, bus, plane,
train or even ferry the bike causes difficulties. You never can be sure the bike will fit,
it often ends up being badly manhandled in cargo holds or up on a roof rack, and you're
almost always charged extra. It's at times like these when you wish you just had a back
pack. There is one possible solution to this problem that we are considering. There is a
folding bike, called Bike Friday, that can be completely disassembled and put inside a
Samsonite suitcase. The suitcase can be outfitted with brackets and wheels making it into
a trailer. So if while touring you decide to take a bus you pull up, take everything out
of the suitcase and put it into a handy lightweight duffel bag, put the bike into the
suitcase, and you're off. No one will know you're carrying a bike. Seems to us to be the
best of all worlds and we're seriously considering buying a couple for Europe. The main
drawback, price. The approximately $1500 price tag takes a big swallow before taking the
plunge. |
| By choosing regular bike racks as opposed to Blackburn Low Riders for the front we have
places to mount our panniers on the sides as well as a spot to carry additional bags
across the top. The racks have held up fine, but the brackets holding the rack onto the
front fork has broken on both bikes. If we do switch to Bike Fridays we will use only one
rack. |
| The Salsa bar ends provide multiple hand positions, hopefully preventing wrist problems.
One of the H2O bottle cages is mounted under the down tube behind the front wheel using
hose clamps. We carry fuel bottles in these. In the other cage we carry the new Nalgene
bottles that have the cover for the spout which do help keep some of the worst mud off.
The first covers lasted 2 years and finally broke when the bottles were being thrown about
in the back of the van. We discovered a water bottle cover made by Croakies that can be
soaked in water to provide evaporative cooling. In 100 degrees these covers bring the
temps down to about 80. Still hot, but certainly better. You can do the same with an old
sock. |
| After trying several cycle computers we finally found the Trek Radar. We like these
because they provide time, temperature, as well as the usual bike functions; speed,
average speed, distance, and odometer. Speed and distance show at the same time. Batteries
seem to last 1 1/2 to 2 years. The only problem we've had with them is sometimes they hang
up and don't register motion. A quick reset clears this up. |
| We started the journey using a knobby dirt tire on the rear and a smooth road tire on
the front. The idea being the knobby tires would give traction in soft dirt while the
smooth front tire made for a smoother ride. We have since switched to two Performance
reverse tread tires. They're inexpensive and we seem to be able to get a good 5,000 miles
out of each. They're not as good on soft dirt, but still adequate enough to allow us to
get off road when we want. Since most of our riding is on pavement, this has not been a
problem. If we were to do more off road we'd look at more knobby tires. |
| With all this equipment and one full 22 oz. bottle of water each bike weighs 35 lbs.
Surprisingly my little 15 inch bike weighs essentially the same as Brian's 18 inch bike. |
Clothing
| Cyclng gloves with padded palms |
| Polar fleece mittens |
| Outdoors Research Rain Mits |
| 1 short sleeve T-shirt |
| 2 long sleeve cotton shirts for riding |
| 1 long sleeve shirt not for riding |
| sweatshirt |
| polar fleece jacket |
| gortex rain jacket |
| polar fleece vest |
| 2 pr lycra riding shorts |
| 2 pr long cotton pants for riding (for sun protection) |
| 1 pr long pants not for riding (converts to shorts) |
| 1 pr lycra tights |
| 1 pr gortex pants |
| 1 pr sweat or fleece pants |
| Helmet w/visor |
| Bandana |
| Baseball cap or visor |
| Polar fleece or other winter cap hat to wear under helmet |
| Sweatband |
| Mosquito head net |
| Riding/hiking shoes |
| Flip flops or sandals |
| Several pr socks |
| Gortex sock covers |
| 3 pr riding underwear |
| Non riding underwear |
| Bras (for the ladies) |
| Bathing suit |
| Orange safety vest with reflector strips |
Comments:
| We carry two complete sets of riding clothes. This includes long sleeve shirts and long
pants we wear over our shorts. We don't ride in just shorts because of potential sun
damage to our skin. We have essentially one set of clothes we wear while not riding that
we can also wear into nice restaurants. We carry sufficient layers to have 2 to 3 on our
legs and 4 to 5 on top. This layering has been sufficient to get through temperatures in
the teens, although just barely. |
| The pants that convert to shorts are great, available at REI. It eliminates the need to
carry extra shorts. We don't use them too often, as we don't want the legs exposed to the
sun. |
| No matter what you wear, in a downpour you will get wet while riding mostly from sweat.
But we've found the triple layer Gortex rain gear from Performance Bike Shops to be some
of the best. the triple layer Gortex is the stuff with the gray backing that actually
feels like a single layer. Stay away from any rain gear that has a nylon liner. The outer
layer may stay dry, but the nylon liner gets wet and stays wet and feels slimy. Triple
layer Gortex feels comfortable even when you've been sweating in it and it dries quickly.
In a downpour we've found the REI Gortex foot covers are great. I wear them right over my
bare feet and that keeps my feet plenty warm. Brian wears them over socks. Finally, after
searching high and low we found a completely Gortex set of hand covers. The OR Rain Mits
have Gortex on the palms as well as the backs and have fully taped seams. We just found
them and haven't given them a try, but we expect them to be both good water and wind
protection. They can be special ordered from REI. |
| We started wearing low ankle hiking boots rather than riding shoes. They are
comfortable, have more insulation than riding shoes, and can be made reasonably
waterproof. Their biggest advantage is we can wear them both riding and hiking. We can
take off on a 6 mile hike without having to change shoes. Also, we don't have to carry a
second pair of shoes. If they get wet, though, our only option is socks with the flip
flops or sandals. So the Gortex sock covers come in handy then. |
Bags and such
| Front and rear panniers |
| Handle bar bag |
| Quest convertible fanny pack |
| Sports Chalet convertible fanny pack |
| Blue fanny pack for wallet |
| 2 Outdoors Research canoeing bags, one for down bags the other for tent and tarp |
| Outdoors Research canoeing bags to line panniers for clothes |
| Outdoors Research canoeing bags for food |
| 1 REI canoeing bag for electronics |
| Plastic ZipLoc freezer bags, quart and gallon sizes |
| Misc nylon bags for toiletries, tools, etc |
| Nylon carrier for kitchen supplies |
| Various bungee cords including extras |
Comments:
| For panniers we selected ones where we could fit everything with the exception of the
tent and sleeping bags inside. The theory being that if we can fit absolutely everything
inside we'd have less chance of getting things stolen. It's much easier to simply grab
something hanging on the back than digging through a pannier. These turned out to be made
by JANDD. the large mountain pannier for the front, the Mountain Panniers for the back,
and the Touring bag II handle bar bag. They have tons of space, lots of pockets, and a
large plastic map pocket. To add extra water holding capacity I made 1 1/2 liter bottle
holders out of 3 strips of webbing material and elastic strips attaching the webbing into
a cylinder shape. These I attached to the back of each pannier. With 4 of these we have
the capacity to carry an additional 6 liters of water in those super duper lightweight
plastic bottles you can get at a grocery store for under a dollar. When you no longer need
the extra water, just toss the bottle. |
| So far the panniers are holding up well. But, there are a lot of things we're not all
that excited with. First, they're not waterproof. In fact in a downpour they actually tend
to hold 1/4 to 1/2 inches of water inside. Consequently we have to put absolutely
everything in other waterproof bags, hence the need for all those extra canoeing bags.
Second, they are rather hard to get on and off. They have a velcro synch down strap that
is difficult to get at due to it's being under the rack posts. I've had problems with them
jumping off once in a while. Finally, we carry so much weight in the handle bar bags we
keep breaking the bracket. JANDD had been very good about sending replacement brackets.
But it would be nice not to have the breakage problem to begin with. |
| To solve the waterproof problem for my clothing I made a set of front panniers from REI
vinyl canoeing bags, the yellow color ones. I sewed on 2 hooks at the top using webbing
material and another hook at the bottom attached to the two top hooks using an elastic
strap. I put the bags on the bike, roll down the top, and clip them to each other across
the front rack. They seem to be quite stable and have lasted a good year so for. Not bad
for a total of $40 worth of material. |
| However, if we had it to do over again we would likely look at panniers made by the
German company, Ortleib. These are roll down vinyl bags similar to the canoeing bags, but
made specifically for bicycle panniers. They are rugged and completely waterproof. They
also have an interesting rack attachment system that is real easy to put on and off yet
they will not come off even in some of the worst jostling. Their primary drawbacks,
they're a bit small and they have no pockets. We do hear there are similar roll down vinyl
panniers made by other companies that are a bit larger and do have pockets, but they are
available only in Europe. REI just recently started carrying Ortleib panniers. If we do
switch to Bike Friday's we will likely sell the JANDD panniers and handle bar bag and
switch to Ortleib so we can get away from having to carry so many extra waterproof bags. |
| We us the Outdoors Research (OR) canoeing bags for clothing, sleeping bags, and the tent
because they are made of some sort of rubber coated fabric that is lighter than the all
vinyl or plastic canoeing bags made by other companies. These are not the kind of bags you
can throw into a lake and expect to keep things dry. But in a drenching rain they do keep
things dry which suits our needs. The only completely plastic waterproof bag we have, the
REI bag, we use for the electronic equipment which could be ruined if it got wet. |
| For plastic bags we found the ZipLoc freezer bags last the longest. You may think you
save money by getting generic bags or the nonfreezer ZipLocs, but they just do not hold up
nearly as long. |
Camping/cooking
| Tent, poles, and stakes |
| Tarp with pole and stakes |
| Small hammer |
| Down sleeping bags rated to 20 deg F |
| Sleeping bag sheets |
| Small pillow case |
| Thermarest pads, bags, and chair kits |
| Steel cook kit for 2 |
| Cascade Design's Backcountry Bake Oven |
| MSR Whisperlite International 600 stove |
| Stove maintenance/repair kit |
| Candle lantern with extra candles |
| 3 22 oz fuel bottles |
| 2 plastic dishes, bowls, cups |
| Plastic knives(2), forks(3 2 plastic 1 steel), and spoons(2 tea and 2 soup) |
| Rubber spatula |
| Vegetable scraper |
| Plastic flat pasta strainer |
| Plastic pancake turner |
| Cork puller |
| Sharp paring knife |
| Can opener |
| Pot scrubber/sponge |
| Camp dish towel |
| Sink stopper, Universal |
| Plastic cup with measurements |
| Plastic cutting board |
| Matches and lighter |
| 2 Petzel micro head lights |
| 50 ft clothes line and 12 clothes pins |
| Nylon mesh bag to hang food |
| Plastic shovel |
| Toilet paper |
| Powder laundry detergent in tube |
| Plastic water bag in nylon carry bag |
| Spare water bag |
| 2 large bike water bottles |
| Water filter & spare filter elements |
| 4 oz Nalgene bottle for oil |
| 4 oz Nalgene bottle for dish washing liquid |
| Nalgene squeeze bottle for mustard |
| Plastic jar for jelly |
| Rubbermaid plastic bread box and top |
| Squirt bottles |
Comments:
| We tried several different tents before finally finding we both like. First we tried the
Sierra Designs Meteor Light tent. It's main problem is it has one pole that runs through a
pole sleeve made of a very light nylon mesh. Within just 2 weeks we had managed to poke a
pole through the sleeve. We imagine within a few short months this sleeve would be in
tatters. We next tried the Marmot Bastille. It's problem was a zipper with far too tight a
radius in one corner. We managed to blow out the zipper in just 3 weeks. Finally we tried
one of those North Face Star Gazers (I think that's the name). Try as we might we never
seemed to be able to get it set up without having big wrinkles in the fabric around the
zipper which gave us lots of trouble getting it opened and closed. We finally would up
with a Kelty Vortex II which has worked out well. From all this trial and error we've come
to several conclusions. The most lightweight tent concept one can get for 2 people has
just 2 poles. Having these poles cross in the center makes for the lightest possible 2
pole free standing tent. However, you'll need additional tie downs in the 4 corners to
ensure it's rugged in the wind. Next, with the exception of the Kelty most tents we tried
cost $400 or more. Yet for all this money they help up no better than the Kelty, if not
worse. So spending a lot of money on a tent you plan to use every day may not make sense.
You're better off getting el cheapo and if you have to replace it every 6 months to a year
you've gotten your money's worth. Look for straight zippers or ones with long gentle
curves. Sharp curves may result in early zipper blow outs. If you get a tent with nylon
pole sleeves look for a heavy duty nylon sleeve or some sort of reinforcement at critical
points. For all of these tents we had trouble with the poles. All US made tents that have
Aluminum poles seem to be using an Easton pole with a very high heat treat. It makes for a
strong pole, certainly. But it also makes the pole very, very |
| In general US tent manufacturers seem to sacrifice durability for weight. Since the
normal US backpacker probably uses his or her tent just for a few weeks each year this is
not a problem. However, for continual use over months we haven't found a tent that really
holds up. From what we've seen tents made in Europe seem to be better suited for the long
term camper. One other thing we've learned, if you're ever in one of those famous desert
dust storms with howling wind, take your tent down and find a hotel. They use sand
blasting to remove paint from buildings, just imagine what it does to nylon. |
| After riding the Casiar Highway for 2 weeks in almost continual rain, setting up camp,
cooking, , striking camp all in drizzle, we decided we had to do something to make this
kind of weather more comfortable. We got a huge 9ft X 14ft tarp made of heavy weight
coated nylon from some friends. We put tabs on all four corners and in the middle of each
edge and added cord at each location. We also found a 6 ft tall aluminum pole that breaks
into 3 pieces in the Campmor catalogue. With the tarp, poles, and a few trees, if
available the tent if not, we can make a great rain cover. The size is just about perfect
for covering a picnic table with sufficient length on both sides to give us cover and to
cover the bikes. If we don't need a rain cover for us the tarp also acts as a bike cover.
Smaller ones, 8X10, can be found at REI, but the 9X14 is better. Total weight for this
extra rain protection is only about 3 lbs, 3 lbs well spent. |
| We had been carrying 2 down bags rated to 35 deg. and two thinsulate bags rated to 40.
In extremely cold weather we put the lighter bags over the down bags and were able to stay
quite warm. But, we've recently learned that the majority of the weight in a sleeping bag
is in the nylon shell and zippers. So we replaced the 2 bag system with a single 20 deg
Blue Kazoo down bag from North Face. These have been just about perfect. If it gets too
cold we just throw extra clothes under us. |
| We also started with two regular thickness Thermarest mattresses. They were great.
However, they were long and heavy. So we recenty bought the Thermarest Ultra Light.
Advantages are, it can be folded in half before rolling, and it's a lot lighter. Finally
we can put them inside our panniers. Sleeping on them seems to be just as comfortable and
warm and they still work OK with the chair kit. Amazingly we've had them for over 2 years
and only now think we may have one very, very small leak that we have as yet to locate. |
| The chair kit turns a Thermarest mattress into a back support for sitting on the ground.
In the US we find we need to use them mainly when we're free (or wild) camping or when
it's raining and we're trapped in the tent. I can't stand to sit all day without some
support. In Europe, the campsites never have picnic tables. So the chair kits will be
absolutely necessary for our sanity. |
| We've come full circle on stoves. We started with the MSR Whiperlite International 600,
then tried the Coleman Peak 1 Apex II, and now have gone back to the MSR. They both have
advantages and disadvantages. Both burn a variety of fuels including white gas, kerosene,
and unleaded gas. The MSR is lighter, more compact, and is completely field cleanable.
However, it tends to get dirtier when using unleaded gas and flame control is almost
nonexistent. We have discovered that it will stay somewhat cleaner if you preheat the
generator with fire paste, sometimes available at Wal-Mart or K-Mart. The advantages of
the Coleman is it has great control, from simmer to full blast, and really stays clean, on
the outside that is. It's big drawback, the one that finally persuaded us to give it up,
is there is absolutely no way to clean the generator. If you get one tank of dirty gas,
the generator clogs and the flame gets and stays dirty yellow. You have to buy new
generators, which at $10 to $15 each gets mighty expensive. If you're staying in the US
and stick to either white gas or more expensive unleaded gas the Coleman is great. But for
Mexico or even some places in Canada it just won't due. We never bother with any of the
stoves that require the butane or propane canisters as they are too hard to find in many
places. |
| MSR has just come out with a new stove that we have our eyes on. It's called the
Dragonfly. According to the MSR representatives this stove was actually designed for
people who use their stove every night and need to use all sorts of different and possibly
dirty fuels. It burns just about anything, white gas, kerosene, unleaded gas, aviation
fuel, even diesel. It doesn't appear to have a regulator. Instead it has in interesting Y
shaped valve and a jet sprayer. It's supposed to be completely field cleanable, like the
Whisperlites, and even has 2 separate fuel filters, one that fits at the end of the hose
in the fuel bottle and the other at the end of the hose to the stove. Both can be replaced
when needed. The best thing about this stove is it has flow control, from simmer to full
blast. So it appears that this one may be the ultimate answer. |
| The pots we use are made by MSR. There are 2 stainless steel pots (2 and 3 qt I believe)
with a lid and metal pot holder. The 3 qt size is just big enough to cook spaghetti for 2.
We'd like to get something lighter but aluminum pots simply don't hold up and the
available titanium pots are not large enough and outlandishly expensive. We had been
carrying a 10 inch fry pan and an aluminum lid. With the MSR Whisperlite stove we also
wanted to get one of the Cascade Design Scorch Busters to prevent burning. So we finally
broke down and got the complete Cascade Design Backcountry Baker Plus 10. Not only can we
bake just about anything we desire, including baked potatoes, it also doubles as a fry
pan. For anyone going on a short bike tour I'd say it's an extravagance you can do
without. But for a long term biker it sure gives a lot of variety to your meals. |
| To fill temporary needs, we bought a Sweetwater filter primarily because it's light and
has an easy to use lever style pump handle. It's body is plastic and the ceramic filter is
small. We expect it to last through much of Europe. But, we expect we will have to
eventually buy the more expensive and heavy Katadyn mini pump which can filter many more
gallons of water with a single ceramic element. |
| Light at night has been another one of those trial and error items. During the summer we
have used those Petzel Micro Head Lamps along with a candle lantern which has been
sufficient. In winter we've tried one of those small Coleman dual fuel lanterns which
gives out a lot of light, but weighs a bunch. On the east coast we wound up camping at
electric sites a lot so we bought an electric cord and a light bulb plug and bulb. On the
candle lantern we've tried using the standard large Candle Lantern available at REI and
other backpacker store. But their major drawback is finding the right sized candles.
Normal sized candles you can get in a grocery store or dollar store are too skinny and
just pop up through the hole in the holder. Now we've switched to an el cheapo Coleman
candle lantern that takes tea candles. Each candle won't last as long, but tea candles can
be found at dollar stores, drug stores, and grocery stores everywhere for about $1 for 10,
and it's real light weight. For summer touring we expect we may use one candle per night,
if even that. |
Food staples
| Coffee, tea, sweetener |
| Noodles, rice |
| Jelly |
| Multi vitamins and calcium pills |
Comments:
| We also usually are carrying some complete pancake mix, enough noodle or rice mixes for
two dinners, enough canned meat for two dinners, some apples, pears, bananas, or oranges,
Carrots and other salad fixins. Now that we have the oven we carry flour, salt, pepper,
sugar packages we get from restaurants, baking powder, yeast, oil, dry milk, and dry eggs.
With these we can make pizza dough, bread, biscuits, and pancakes from scratch. Basically
enough food to make two full day's meals. |
Tools & spare parts
| Folding tire |
| 4 tubes (Schrader) |
| 2 tubes glue and lots of patches |
| 2 sets tire levers |
| 2 tire pressure gages |
| 2 tire pumps |
| Hypercracker |
| Spoke wrench |
| Pliers, regular & needle nose |
| Wire cutter |
| Wrenches, allen and other as needed |
| Chain rivet extractor |
| Screw drivers, philips & flat |
| Brake adjusting tool |
| Screw driver for glasses |
| 3 spare spokes of each length |
| White Lightning Chain lubricant |
| Spare brake cable and bridge cable |
| 3 Deraillure cables |
| Cable end caps |
| Section of spare chain |
| Extra nuts, bolts, washers, plastic cable ties |
| Duct tape and/or hockey tape |
| 12 to 18" stiff wire |
| Hose clamps, various sizes |
| Rag |
| 2 Spare front rack brackets |
| Section of old tube |
| Fray Check |
| Spare parts to be considered for developing countries |
| Spare deraillure rollers |
| Front deraillure |
| Bottom bracket bearings or cassette |
| Headset bearings or cassette |
| Rear cluster |
| Bicycle computer |
Comments:
| We chose Schrader valves because we like being able to fill the tires at gas stations.
We each carry our own tools and parts to change a flat. Our generally accepted agreement
is that each has to fix his own flats. Although I usually require help pumping. |
| We found the greatest frame tire pump. The Combo Master Blaster II by Topeak is a frame
pump that with just the flip of a foot lever and handle it becomes a floor pump. This
gives enough leverage that even a 110 lb weakling can get good pressure in the tire. Also
the company, Todsen, seems to be real good. The pump we bought had those screw on caps for
the fill valve, our one and only complaint. The newer ones have a thumb lock lever, some
with pressure gage and some without. We happened to lose the screw caps for the valve.
When I called to find out about not only replacing the lost parts but possibly upgrading
to the thumb lock lever, they not only agreed to give us an upgrade, at no cost, but to
ship it via priority mail. Now that's a good company. |
| A hypercracker is an interesting device for removing a freewheel. You put it on the
freewheel, put the wheel back on the bike, and push on the pedal. This loosens the
freewheel enough so you can get it off. The main advantage of this tool over a standard
cylindrical shaped freewheel remover is you use the leverage of the pedals against the
gears. There's no need to carry a large crescent wrench which is required by the standard
tool. It also includes two slots that can be used as spoke wrenches. But we prefer a
regular spoke wrench. |
| We sometimes carry cone and headset wrenches so we can do a complete overhaul of the
bikes at any time. We only take these when we're going into some remote area where we
expect to be traveling for a long time away from bike shops. For the US, Canada, and even
Mexico we've determined they aren't necessary. |
| White Lightning is an amazing chain lubricant that we discovered in San Diego. It's
paraffin wax suspended in some sort of solvent. To use it on a new chain we first remove
all the lubricant that comes on the chain. Then generously apply White Lightning and let
it dry. The biggest advantage of this lubricant over other anything else we've tried is it
keeps our chains incredibly clean. Dirt and road grim simply flakes right off the was
coating. We replace our chains about every 2500 miles (or when the length of 12 links
reaches 12 1/8 inches) and use White Lightning. As a result our gear clusters are staying
in great condition. |
| Duct tape, hockey tape, or a spare piece of tube can be used as a tire boot. Tape can
also be used for a variety of other things like taping broken bike parts, taping holes in
panniers, taping Brian's mouth (oops can't say that). We've used the stiff wire to fix
fenders and racks on previous trips. It could come in handy for a variety of other uses
that we just haven't discovered yet. |
| We both have broken the bracket holding our front rack. So now we carry spares. Also, we
always keep the leftover section of a chain when we put new ones on. If a chain breaks we
can simply replace a link or two. We don't currently carry a complete chain since they're
easy to get in the US. |
Hygiene/first aid
| 2 Tooth brushes in holders |
| 1 tube tooth paste |
| Dental floss |
| Spare glasses |
| Glasses cases |
| Sunglasses or clip-ons |
| Shampoo and conditioner |
| Bar soap in plastic container |
| Package disposable razors |
| Small container shaving cream |
| 2 camp towels |
| 1 washcloth |
| Insect repellant |
| 1 bottle sunscreen |
| 2 tubes lip balm w/sun screen |
| Athletes foot creme & powder |
| Feminine hygiene products as needed |
| Mirror |
| Scissors for cutting hair |
| First aid kit including lots of gauss pads, tape, Band-Aids |
| Burn cream |
| Tweezers |
| Snake bite kit |
| Hair brush |
| Sewing Kit |
Comments:
| These items will vary from person to person. So this list can just provide a guideline. |
Recreation
| Shortwave radio |
| HP360LX, modem, acoustic coupler, connectivity kit |
| Camera |
| Film |
| Books |
| Daytimer organizer |
Comments:
| We had also been carrying a flute and hand held TV. But both of these were given up in
one of our weight saving downsizing. |
Miscellaneous
| Notebook or other paper |
| Pens |
| 1 bike lock and cable w/ keys |
| Personal alarm |
| Seat lock cable |
| Maps and travel books |
| Compass |
| Credit card |
| Driver's license |
| Birth certificates |
| Passports |
| Visas |
| Money and traveler's checks |
| Health insurance ID cards |
| Spare batteries, AA and 9V |
| Copies of birth certificate and picture page of passport |
Comments:
| We've typically found traveler's checks to be of limited value at least in the countries
we've visited so far. Our Visa card works well in ATMs, which we've found all over even in
Guatemala, and banks rarely take traveler's checks. We question whether the checks are
even worth carrying, yet we're a bit reluctant to give up on them completely. |
| We also made an official looking registration form for our bikes, something that looks
like it was issued by some government agency. We found that came in handy when we entered
Guatemala because they wanted to see some sort of paperwork for the bikes. Even though the
paper is totally phony, a typical border guard won't know that. |
Final comments
| At our last weigh-in all this combined with the spare food and water resulted in 110 lbs
for Brian's bike and 95 to 100 for mine. The weight of my bike varies daily probably
between 90 and 105 lbs. I carry the food and we often buy extra when we're in an area with
long distances between stores. |
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