Our camping experiences are split into the following categories:
The Camping Map below shows the places we have stayed; be it in a formal campsite or informal wild camp (tent symbol), or in a hotel or hostel (building symbol).
The following Table lists some of the key pieces of equipment we take bicycle touring, and have proved themselves on tour. The items that have made this list are tried and tested by us, and are recommended.
| Item | Brand / Model | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Tent (Cycle Touring) | Hilleberg Staika | One of the best investments we've made. Strong and dependable, and goes up very quickly and easily. In fact so good, that when the red one wore out after 12 months continuous (daily) use, we bought another! |
| Tent (Hiking) | Hilleberg Rogen | A lighter and slightly smaller version of the Staika. |
| Sleeping Pads | Thermarest ProLite 4 Plus | Super comfortable and durable. Have been going strong for many years now. Excellent warranty as an old pad which failed while on a tour in Europe was immediately replaced for free. |
| Sleeping Bags: | Macpac Epic 400 | Light and small, without sacrificing warmth [Previously used Marmon Plasma 30 which were also very good]. |
| Stove | MSR XGK-EX with 900 ml fuel bottle | Bomb-proof dependable stove that can be used with a variety of fuels |
| Pot | MSR Alpine 2L Pot | Perfect size for single pot cooking |
| Water Filter | MSR Guardian Purifier | Following years of successful use of the MSR Miniworks EX filter, the Guardian is new for 2017. |
| Water Storage Bags | MSR Dromedary Bag 10 litres Ortlieb 10L Water Bag |
Both take up minimal space when empty, are very strong and don't give water a taste |
| Lighter for Stove | Light My Fire Swedish FireSteel | Lights the MSR stove easily and doesn't cause problems with airlines |
| Torches | Petzl Tikka Plus Headlamp | Good hands-free light |
| Mugs/Plate | Snow Peak H450 Titanium Double Walled Stackable Cup | No plates required |
| Cutlery | Sea to Summit AlphaLight Spoons | Well you need a spoon to go with the mug! |
| Flasks | Zojirushi SM-KB36XA 0.36-Litre Stainless Steel Vacuum Mug | Great for very cold days on the bike! |
| Storage Bottles (Water, Coffee, Sugar, Milk Powder) | Nalgene Tritan 32 Oz Klean Kanteen Wide 64oz |
Tired of using messy zip lock bags for storage, the Nalgenes are a lot more durable. Also, the MSR Guardian Water Purifier fits the Nalgenes and Klean Kantean perfectly for direct filtering. |
| Bag Sealers | Linden Sweden Twixit bag sealers | For sealing food in their bags |
| DayPacks | Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Day Pack | Super small and light, and they can pack quite a load. Surprisingly comfortable too. |
| MultiTool | Victorinox Swiss Champ Penknife | Having tried the Leatherman Charge tti on quite a few tours now, we're back to the tried and tested Swiss Army Knife as it seems to suit our purpose better |
| Bike Tool | Wera Zyklop Mini 3 Ratchet & Syntace (Wera) hex bit set | Great piece of kit. |
| Multisized Wrench | Knipex 150 Adjustable Plier Wrench | A single wrench for all sized bolts |
| Bike Lock & Cable | Abus Frame Lock 4850 with Amparo 4850 Cable | No need to worry about locating the lock as it's always attached to the bike. |
| GPS | Nomu S30 Fully Waterproof Android Smartphone | Due to Garmin's very poor product quality (and subsequent poor customer support) on and following previous tours, we have changed our navigation equipment to Smartphones. After much research, we ended up using Locus Map Pro software which has been a great decision as the available maps, routing, POIs, Geocaching integration, customer support, in fact everything, is far far superior to Garmin's offering. |
| Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) | Ocean Signal rescueME PLB1 | Bought specifically for the Bibbulmun Track walk we did in WA in 2020 due to the lack of mobile coverage along the trail. It's tiny and also provides your GPS position to rescuers. |
| Dynamo Power Adaptor | Igaro D1 USB Power Converter | Used to charge batteries, or run the navigation! |
| Portable Solar Panels | Anker PowerPort Solar Panels (21W) x 2 | These are great solar panels; much lighter and efficient than the previous Goal Zeros that we had. |
| Battery Charger | Sanyo Eneloop Portable USB Charger | Super small and light |
| Rechargable Batteries | Sanyo Eneloop AA and AAA | For GPS and headtorch batteries |
| Off-bike Clothing | Aclima Merino Wool Fjällräven | Wool - "Think No Stink", and even warm when wet Expensive, but the best outdoor clothing money can buy; perfect fit and materials. |
| On-Bike Clothing | Showers Pass Rain Gear (Jackets and Trousers) | Great quality; Better than Gore Bike Wear which used to be our favourite. The problem with Gore is the quality has diminished significantly over the years, and even when you find a good product now, it will be discontinued the following year and replaced with an inferior version. |
| Hiking Backpacks | Osprey Exos 48 and Eja 48 | It's amazing how the modern packs are so much lighter and more comfortable than the packs we had 20 years ago (although they won't last nearly as long I'm sure). |