Step 2: The Gear, Part 2 - Camping Equipment

One week's worth of deliveries

It's been about a month since my new bike arrived and after weeks of researching, spreadsheets, YouTube unboxing reviews, some of my gear is finally starting to arrive!! It's like Christmas, only I have to pay for everything and nothing is a surprise... I can only assume that the USPS and Amazon delivery people must hate me right about now. I came home the other day to find our mailbox jammed - literally forced full - of bubble mailers; so much so that the door wouldn't close without it turning into some kind of theoretical quantum-physics experiment.

Much of the stuff is slowly accumulating in a big pile on my office floor. According to my badass spreadsheet, (yes, I know, I'm a nerd), in the past 4 weeks I've received 46.7% (that point-seven is sooo important...) of the myriad of items I've been tracking and, while I'd like to think that this number will improve, inevitably I'll find more and more crap to add to the list. Seems like an exercise in futility but I shall persevere onward!!

(I've also been making some headway on a modification that I'm rather proud of but we'll save that for another day.)

To make this all a little less daunting I broke down the equipment and separated it into four primary groups:

1. Camping gear - everything needed to setup shop for the night - in the wilderness - cook, eat and get some shut-eye.
2. Clothing - specifically motorcycle clothing for various weather conditions and specialty clothing needed to spend a night off-the-grid.
3. Farkles  - all those little functional sparkles (aka "mods" for all you cagers) for the motorcycle that could be useful but that the manufacture felt were overkill.
4. Tools - pretty self explanatory but crucial when off road, particularly for a newbie like me because let's face it; I'm eventually going to crash and will need to find a way to fix my ship. Wait! Ship? Yea, my Ship; with a "T"...

As mentioned in an earlier post, the first hurdle of preparation was the camping gear. Before getting to the list, keep this in mind: the #1 most common mistake that new ADV riders make is bringing too much crap! Make no mistake; I want to be sure and do it right so, as a noob, I too am (probably) bringing too much crap. Why stop and buy something at a store when I can bring it with me, weigh my bike down and overexert myself on the trails?!?! (Sigh...)

This list of items is sure to be in constant flux but, at the moment, I've compiled what I'm planning to bring on my first couple of rides. Once I get a better feel for the journeys I'll start making revisions. I'll address the clothing, farkles and tools later. For camping gear, here's where I'm at:

• Bear spray. It's like pepper spray, buuuut (and stay with me here) it's for bears! Not the first thing most people would think of but our first route lands us in areas where we are likely to encounter the beasts and on the second trip it's almost guaranteed. I do plan to eat while on the trails and since I don't have an SUV to keep all my food in at night, it might be handy to ward off a creature that could use me as an appetizer instead of bothering to pry open my gear cases.
• Sleeping bag. I've already posted an in-depth look at this selection process in another article and landed on a compact, hydrophobic, hammock-capable unit with a good compression sack from Hyke & Byke. For our first trips I opted for the 15 degree F model.

• Tent. I landed on a (rather affordable) Eureka Sunriver 2. It fits (barely) into my Givi side cases, comes with a carrying case and uses flexible aluminum poles. Other features include a removable cover, a single vestibule (handy for storing my muddy gear outside, but not in the rain) and a waterproof pan. It's supposedly a 2-person tent but certainly not if I'm one of those 2 persons. On paper it's one of the longest tents on the market and, while I do fit, let's just say it's TOIGHT - like a tiger! If I sleep on a diagonal I can make it work by brushing up against both corners so I think I can make-do.
• Footprint. No, not my own hoof cast into plaster, but rather a thin tarp-like material with tie-down points at each corner. This goes underneath the tent to help prevent punctures from the odd stone, pine cone or overgrown tumbleweed. The Bessport footprint was not exact but close enough to pair with my tent.
• Camping Tarp. For ultra-wet nights, this one comes with rigging and tie-downs. I opted for the Redcamp 10' camping tarp. This one works well if I decide to ditch the tent and use a hammock instead.
• Blue Tarp. In theory, this can be used to keep me out of the rain if I have to work on the bike. I can setup my tent alongside the bike and stretch this between the tent and the bike to give myself some relief from the elements. Could also be used as a tablecloth, wind barrier or for additional rain-proofing on the tent.
• Parachute Cord. A roll of glow-in-the-dark nylon cord is supposed to be for tying up tarps but will more likely be used to put my bike back together after an off...
• Set of 4 bungee cords. Again, I'm going overkill here but they are handy for tarps and holding things to the passenger seat of the bike. (And holding broken fairings into place.)
• Sleeping Pad. This was an easy choice, but hard to find. Pretty much the only one long enough for my lanky ass was the World Famous Sports ultralight camping pad which includes a built-in pump and a stuff-sack. It's not particularly wide but should work. If worse comes to worse I'll just buy two and stitch them together.
• Pillow. This one has plenty of options and I picked the Trekology inflatable camp pillow. It has a plush case, is larger than most and comes with a storage sack.
• Camp Stove. I must have spent the better part of two days researching this one but ended up with the Fire Maple Star X2. It's similar to a Jet-boil, only slightly larger. Like the brand-name competitor it is a self-contained system where the kettle stores the fuel, a canister stand, burner and lid but adds a few features including a pot-stand and self-lighting burner. The biggest attraction was the price; about half that of its rival. Add in a spare fuel canister for good measure.
• Mess Kit. This shouldn't be needed but, depending on the trip, we may opt to cook more elaborate meals. The Mallow Me 1-liter kit should contain everything I might need to cook a variety of meals and packs up into a self-contained compact kit (that is, after I sanded down the wooden spoon to size). I'll likely omit this for the first trip in favor of using only the camp stove.
• Drinking Mug. This was a freebie from a conference but having a vacuum insulated mug helps keep the coffee warm and, more importantly, my whiskey and cola cold. (Now I just need to find a way to bring whiskey. And cola. And ice...)
• Microfiber towels. A two-pack of these quick-dry towels should be useful. One after a dip in the river, and one to dry off my helmet and mess kit.

My riding partner's laser-cut & engraved cover

• Folding Shovel. I chose a 32" folding tactical shovel. The brand was Aimake but there are two dozen different pseudo-brands that all come from the same production line in China. It's more or less (much less) a swiss-army-like shovel that includes all kinds of "extras" like screwdrivers, fire starters, saws, etc. but it's really just a gimmick as most of it is poorly made and unreliable. The real reasons for the purchase were, in part, to be able to dig myself out of a mud-hole or sand-pit, but mostly to address a darker side of back-woods camping: making the #2's disappear. My riding partner also got one but, unlike mine, his didn't come with a case so he made his own; complete with a set of instructions (see pic).
• Headlamp. Again, after several (ok, 10's of) hours of watching YouTube reviews I landed on the Fenix HL10. I paired this with a set of 18650 batteries that have a built-in USB charger and which also fit into my flashlight.
• Flashlight. This one is the GearLight / Gold Armour Tactical LED flashlight. It's small, cheap and effective with adjustable beam and 4 different lighting modes. They claim that it's waterproof but after disassembling it I wouldn't expect it to hold up to much more than a sneeze so I got the two-pack.
• Folding Saw. The Mossy Oak version comes with interchangeable blades so, in the event that I need to cut my crash bars back (or cut off my arm) I'll have a metal saw (that I'm sure will work on bone), tree saw and all-purpose saw. This also has a nice little storage pouch. Bonus!
• Lighter. For this one I opted for a refillable gas-powered cigar torch so that it will be more reliable, more powerful and more wind resistant than your standard BIC lighter.
• Pocket Knife. Partly because my mess kit didn't come with one, partly so I can carve a marshmallow roasting stick (like when I was a kid).
• Emergency Water Filter. You know, in case I have to drink my own pee. This one, the Etekcity 3-stage survival straw, is supposed to be able to take raw, unfiltered water and make it "drinkable." It should be safe, but I've heard that it doesn't filter out odors so think about that for a moment... It does, however, come with a bottle topper so you can refill water bottles.
• Fire Starter Sticks. Pretty self explanatory... I could try to be a boy scout but, let's face it: I'm lazy and these are just too easy. Just remember to pack them in a zip-top bag as the original packaging will shred once opened and will leave little starter-log crumbs all over my gear.
• Inspect Repellent. I went with the Sawyer brand that has picaridin. Supposedly a safer alternative to DEET. Zika bad, cancer worse. M'kay??
• Aluminum Foil. Not the whole roll, just a small section folded down for camping and cooking. This makes cleanup much quicker and easier. Plus, if we spot a UFO I can make a mind-reading blocker hat.
• Down-Filled Camping Blanket. This is one of those optional items. If the weather conditions call for it then I can throw it in with my other gear but, ideally, I won't need it. Hooray for buying shit that you don't need!
• Combat Wipes. These biodegradable bad boys are for doing the ol' wet-wipe-shower, cleaning dishes, and (more importantly) to accompany the folding shovel (see above). My lovely wife also bought me a 2-pack of camping TP as a backup plan - because that's how much she cares!

• Camp Soap. For this I got a small vial of Sea to Summit biodegradable camp soap. Dawn would probably also work but I'm not sure about it's environmental footprint. Though, it can't be worse than knobby tires tearing up the wilderness. Right? I also got a tiny package of Coleman dissolvable soap sheets. They are supposed to lather up with the smallest amount of water and then quickly disappear. We'll test which of those two statements are true.

So there it is! Part 1 of 4. (I promise, the other parts won't be as boring...)

Stay tuned for the rest of the lists!!