Packing for 2 up riding – what do you really need to bring!!!

Packing, for reference this the bike fully loaded for two people on a multi-year RTW

• Jesse Luggage panniers (90 liters)
• Mosko Moto duffle (60 liters and its not even 50% full)
• Wolfman Blackhawk tank bag (8 liters)

Last thing I want to be loaded like is this guy I met in NC back in 2012 and he was solo and NOT camping!!!

or couples riding together seems to carry even more?

Ewan and Thingy

S&L

You want to know what I carry, I want to know what they carry!!!

Our current set up

clothes quantities are pretty much the same for both of us (so just double the numbers for two people)…if at any point we need something we don’t have then we go and buy it – because there are shops in other countries.

• 3x t-shirt
• 2x pants
• 3x underwear
• 3x socks
• 1x seal skinz socks
• 1x warm top and bottom base layers, we use Under Armor 4.0, packs to nothing, dries very quickly and is very warm
• 1x fleece jacket
• 1x waterproof small pack away jacket
• 1x trainers
• 1x flip flops
• 1x beanie (me)
• 1x baseball cap (me)

riding gear, there are a few differences between us

Me

• TCX X-Desert Gore-Tex Boots
• Klim badlands jacket
• Klim Mojave pants
• Goretex waterproof over pants
• Arai XD helmet
• Smith cycling glasses – v90
• Thor MX gloves
• Alpinestars winter goretex gloves
• synthetic long sleeve UA shirt
• Klim hydration pack

Egle

• TCX X-Desert Gore-Tex Boots
• REUSCH jacket
• REUSCH pants
• waterproof over jacket and pants
• no name helmet
• Seal Skinz waterproof lightweight gloves
• Goretex winter gloves
• synthetic long sleeve UA shirt

Gear

• Hilleberg Anjan 3 GT – 3 person tent
• 2x Thermarest sleeping pads
• 1x Big Agnes King Solomon 15 deg. double sleeping bag
• 2x Big Agnes pillows
• 2x camping light
• 1x Alite Monarch Butterfly Chair
• MSR 10 liter dromedary bag
• MSR whisper light stove – multifuel
• Olicamp Ion Micro Titanium Stove, google it, you’ll understand why
• large 450gm camping fuel
• GSI 10″ fry pan
• Sea to Summit X21 kit and additional bowl and cup
• Sea to Summit plates x2
• 1 liter bottle of mixed spices
• UCO Grilliput Portable Camping Grill
• Camping-Fire-Wind-Stopper-Break-Shield-
• Silverware
• Svensaw
• Camping ax/ hammer
• toiletries
• clothes washing powder
• 2x 15″ laptops
• 2x backup hard drives
• 2x P&S cameras
• 1x GoPro
• loads of go pro mounts
• 1 big tripod
• 1 small tripod
• bag full of charging cables, extra batteries and chargers
• bike cover
• 2x extra 20 Liter waterproof bags
• 2x backpacks
• Antigravity Xp10
• 4x large rock straps
• 2x tie down straps
• tow strap
• air compressor
• CO2 kit
• hand pump
• large first aid kit
• spare clutch plates
• front and rear bearings
• drive shaft replacement seal
• valve cover gasket
• 1x 18″ tube
• 2x toolkit
• puncture kit
• fluorescent safety jacket
• multiple HD velcro straps

I think thats about it…it covers all weather and riding conditions in the last year hottest temp 108f/ 42c, coldest 25f/ -4f, enough equipment to camp/cook for weeks on end in any weather, fix everything but a catastrophic failure on the bike

Its funny when we get asked if we are out for a ride for the weekend because we have so little stuff and we say no we are riding RTW…the looks are priceless, then the questions start, but you don’t have…this, this, this, this etc, and when we answer yes, yes, yes, yes the look now is even better

Packing is somewhat of a learned art, I feel WE have way too much stuff and am always looking to try and reduce the volume.

If there was one tip I could give you to pack smaller/ lighter is know what you want/ need before you buy your luggage, use cardboard boxes to measure liter size then buy smaller luggage than that. The other way around if you buy the luggage you think is right and you have extra space YOU WILL FILL IT!

Al Jesse is a good friend of mine and has told me numerous times that he tries to sell smaller panniers to a lot of buyers for that very reason, they refuse and buy the biggest, usually with the same reply…”just in case!”.

 

Yes, you should try and go where these two guys have gone…if you know who they are, they are VERY well traveled and they could give you some amazing tips…but don’t take packing advice from them.