These are a few thoughts on stuff that worked well on my truncated, but wet, Heaphy Track bikepacking experience, and things I’d probably reconsider.
Wins
Kathmandu Mono v2 one person tent
- fairly cheap
- weighing in at ~1.7kg
- compact
- fast and easy to set up
- survived a long downpour
- pretty comfy, but I’m short!
- lightweight
- seemed to be completely waterproof
- seemed breathable
- survived a couple of days of heavy rain and kept me dry
I have the old (pre-2012 version) which was not designed for my bike. But, it did fit, just not quite as intended. I understand that the post-2012 model caters for plus tyres and 29ers.
- I got one for a good price on Trade Me
- with a little practice I was able to disassemble and get the bike packed in pretty quickly
- the bike is in one piece
- I will use it again
- it packs down for compact storage
- light
- comfy
- fast drying
- work well with “chamois cream”
- easy to clean and dry (apparently cleaning them is what you do as soon as you arrive at camp)
- they really helped save my butt
The Roscoe just worked perfectly – and is very forgiving. I had it converted to tubeless and ran pretty low pressure, and it performed flawlessly. I am very very very happy with it.
Deuter 32 Litre backpack
I had it loaded with a weight of 7kg, and I could barely feel it on me – it fitted so well. I got an old one on Trade Me and it was perfect.
Merrell Men’s Chameleon 8 Storm GTX
These worked really well, they were good enough to pedal in, coped well on the track, and did partially dry each night after they got a good soaking with each stream crossing.
Fails
I have a version of this that is about 3 years old, and maybe is just no longer waterproof.
- it didn’t breath and I was soaked from sweat
- it did appear to absorb rather than repel the rain, but again, perhaps due to its age
- Pro: it did dry very quickly
I will be shopping for a new jacket for outdoors use.
On the fence
So these are not exactly fails, they were adequate but with a few issues.
Equinox long sleeve thermal top
I have had one of these for a couple of years and found it really good, BUT, it just would not dry. I had one for the day and a dry one for sleep, but I was concerned that it didn’t dry sooner. I’d say good for day trips or multi-hour activities rather than multi-day activities in wet conditions.
Newboler saddle bag
It fitted OK with a second strap that I added. It looks flimsy, and while I knew I could only put things in it that could get wet, it was also letting grit and sand in which is something to be aware of. I wish I had put the ~$50 I paid for it towards a Cactus or similar, as I feel I will not use this very much. It was also not easy to figure out how to attach it.