Bikepacking Gear: 9 New Toys for The Thick of Pisgah

compose Logan Watts
time Aug 6, 2014
comment 10

Things wear out, break, become irrelevant, or just won’t work for an intended purpose. My clipless shoes are shot; my helmet is falling apart; my pack won’t fit my camera. It was time to upgrade a few core elements of my bikepacking kit for a 6 day western North Carolina Pisgah adventure. This one will be sans my better half, so I am lightening the load with a one-man tent, and a smaller 1L pot. I procured (and made) a few other things to help me lug a DSLR through the woods. Also, the Krampus will be set up with a rackless/cageless system for this enduro bikepacking romp-about. Here are some initial impressions/thoughts. More to come once I put this stuff through the wringer.

FiveTen Maltese Falcon Clipless Shoes

My Lake clipless shoes have seen many years of mountain biking abuse including three PMBARs. They are coming apart at the seams, so I had to find another pair of lightish shoes that would be burly enough for a long haul, but comfortable enough climbing and walking to manage a few Pisgah hike-a-bikes. I was so impressed with my Five Ten AEscents after a 7,500 KM beating, I decided to replace my Lakes with the new Five Ten Maltese Falcon LT. More to come on these…

Osprey Manta 28 – A Bikepackers Backpack

My old hydration bag is also an Osprey. Same color even. I’ve had it for at least 5 years and it’s definitely taken a beating. But I needed something slightly bigger, big enough to fit my DSLR (which is kind of ridiculous, but I have a hard time going without it). At first glance the Manta 28 seems extremely well built and has a few new tricks that my older Raptor is lacking: an integrated rain fly; waist belt zipper pockets; and, the Airspeed suspension system with a mesh back panel to keep air between you and the bag.

Crumpler Haven (M)

The Crumpler Haven is a simple no-nonsense camera bag liner. Basically the idea behind it is to allow any bag to become a camera bag. The medium fits my 6D with a lens and slides into the main pocket of the Manta 28.

The Bell Super

My old Giro Xen was just flat worn out. I always loved the Xen, but helmet tech seems to have come a long way since the Xen was the fancy kid on the block. The Super is an attractive helmet that seems well built with a couple nice bells and whistles. I am normally not a graphics kind of a person, but I am kind of digging the Día de los Muertos graffiti style art.

A Simple DIY Framebag for the Krampus

I made this over the last couple of days with some leftovers from my ECR bag. I have had some people write and ask, and I took some photos of the process, so time permitting, I’ll soon post a little how-to. Or at least materials and links to better how-tos from which I learned.

Vargo Bot

I had heard about the Bot when I was in Africa; someone pinged me on Facebook and mentioned using it strapped to an Anything cage. At 133 grams with a lid, this genius little titanium pot is also a bottle. The Bot 4” in diameter, and once I saw that spec, the first thing that came to mind was using it as a kitchen container that would slide in the frame bag. I will let you know in a further review.

Ultrapod II

I’ve always wanted to carry a tripod, but it’s kind of ridiculous luxury. I’ve read that the Ultrapod II can support a DSLR and lens with ease. It is tiny and weighs only 119 grams. We’ll see…

Big Agnes Fly Creek UL 1

Another Big Agnes to try on the trail. I know you you can get tarp setups now that are ridiculously light, and I have friends who use ultralight hammocks, but I like a good ole tent. Lugging a 3 person tent up the steeps of Pisgah didn’t sound like too much fun, so I decided to pick up the little brother of the tent that treated us well in Africa. Overall I don’t have any complaints about the FlyCreek design, so expect the same from this minified version. In a small 4×18” package, it weighs less than 2 pounds.

DIY Handlebar Lens bag

I threw this ugly little prototype together with scraps the other night. Basically I wanted to carry a spare lens on the bar opposite my Randi-Jo Bartender Bag. This should do the trick, but I have a few ideas on how to make it better… once I build 2.0, I’ll post more.