What's in a Gravel Bikepacking Gear List?

n our latest video, Neil unpacks the ultralight fastpacking setup he used on his recent ride of the Arizona Trail 300. He details the importance of convenience on a rig like this, what kind of bike works best, and highlights essential items such as lights, water storage, calories, and much more...

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Hosted by Neil Beltchenko

Mentioned links:

[wanderingpanda]

2 years ago you posted thus vid, still so relevant to those of us transitioning to bikepacking (in my case road bike and backpacking) I appreciate the insight. great vid

[fa]

Can’t thank you enough for your vids!! I’m recently retired and the bike bug has gotten to me. Have never done bike trip but am really stoked to plan and do one. Really love ur videos. The last time I biked in any serious fashion was way before today’s modern technologies (1980s). Today I have such a bug to get back into the lifestyle and am grateful for all of your suggestions. May plan a trip to Smithville missouri from upper iowa as my maiden voyage (can’t wait).

[frazergoodwin]

Two things I carried on a 9 day trip from Brussels to Sweden not on this list:
1 - more complete wash kit including laundry detergent so that I could wash kit & carry less, plus a towel and flannel.
2 - "lite lock gold" that wrapped around seat pack.
Traveling through western Europe meant I didn't need to carry food on the bike and could shop daily or eat take out.
Other than that (and less camera gear) my set up is pretty similar...

[christianhuber]

Excellent thanks for the detail! answered all my questions

[gravelsasquatch]

Thanks Neil for always serving up the good stuff! I love my MSR Trailshot.

[gibbens]

Aero bars are a must for any extended distance riding. The alternative for me was 6 months of finger numbness after a 1000km MtB race in New South Wales, Australia.

[skf]

I'd be interested to know roughly how much your kit weighs.
Amazing how much stuff is packed into such small spaces!

[edscoble]

Can you please make your content inclusive and accessible to everyone by formatting the auto captioning into closed captioning please? it is very hard to enjoy your content relying on only the auto captioning sadly (I'm Profoundly Deaf)

[agelaonsoikea]

I always carry a small u-lock to lock my bike when needed. Sometimes I go hiking a bit to see some scenery and sometimes it is easier just to lock the bike and do a 2 km loop by foot over a boulder field. Usually there are some museums along the route.

[Cog_In_The_Gear]

Thanks for bringing up aero. I’m getting the Switch Aero System from Redshift Sports to go between my road and gravel bikes.
They can laugh all they want about aero on gravel, but on the 75th mile of a hundred plus mile rails-to-trails ride, I’m usually begging for a different hand-position option (even though drop-bars already offer three).
Good video and great breakdown of your approach. Some takeaways will work for me, and some will work for others!

[jc]

To add to my TP comment, there’s a lot more to this issue than a glib comment. Bikepacking in general needs to address proper human waste practices like hiking and canoeing have done. Wild camping necessitates “how to shit in the woods”. Done poorly and routes/campsites become like Boundary Waters was, years ago, with TP all over the place and disgusting sites. Even if it’s a credit card/convenience store route, that one dash into the bush to rid oneself of Pad Thai overload requires good hygiene + better gear list preparation. TP + pack out bags + trowel + sanitizer ...all together in larger zip lock.

Similarly, what goes out has a nasty habit of going in again. While the hand to mouth fecal transmission route is well known with children, it still exists with adult adventures outdoors. The point of sanitizing hands and not touching the face is to reduce that transmission - but what else goes in or near your mouth? Those exposed bottles are collecting all kinds of road crud, esp in wet conditions. What we have learned from COVID is the ease of droplets going everywhere. So only spraying the liquid without touching the nozzle is still not enough to prevent transmission. Better is to keep bottles clean in the first place, before handling them. What does that mean for packing? Bottles with lids, covers, or stuffed into full frame bags for protection.

Look, I don’t mean to be insulting. That’s not my intent at all. So I apologize if the language in this is too brisk.

Gear lists and packing are interesting for a lot of reasons, one of which is the logic and reasoning that goes into solving the problems. I’m just suggesting that Bikepacking.com may need to examine whether the typical go-fast setup in a COVID/climate change/high-outdoor-usage world needs to present to the mass audience more robust viral/bacterial management strategies, especially in non-racing situations.

[tomsitzman]

I like to carry a little food on a trip, Instead of relying on finding a place to eat on a day when you run out of light or run into a storm. I like to rinse out my padded liner in camp every night. I'm old school and still use panniers., that are twice the age of the young riders. This week I'm taking off on a ride carrying my Seva 123 white gas self pressurizing stove. For the first time I will be carrying alcohol based sanitizer. In an emergency it is a good fire starter. Everything I carry must have two or more uses or it stays home. My knife is a a two blade, small Swiss Army knife, with a Philips screw driver. I have tents but have used tarps over the years.

[tlarent]

Great detail on a ride that I would like to do! Did you carry a bike lock? Also, where do you keep all of your bikes and equipment?

[cosinus_square]

You should def invest in a dynamo hub.

[jamesbicknell]

Dude, thanks for the info which was well presented and very informative. :-)

[get_outdoors]

Just getting into Bikepacking, really enjoyed your video. What’s the make of tool keg holder your using? Many thanks

[MyopicAdventures]

Great video with useful tips, thanks! I always wonder about bike security, what do people use on solo trips to make sure their bike is secure? IE: you need to go into a grocery store or some other place you cannot keep an eye on your bike.

[skido]

Oh yes, thanks Neil!!! Love the recommendations!

[thecappy]

Oh man I just picked up a mechanical warbird. Couldn't find the Di2 version, anywhere. Looking forward to the BA tent review when you're allowed.

[kevindean]

Thanks for the video, I would suggest that paracetamol is safer than ibuprofen . Ibuprofen can cause problems with liver & kidney as it did with myself .