Tips for reducing weight (and volume) on a cycling journey

by   Igor Kovse

• Big things first. A common mistake that we all make as newcomers to ultralight cycling is to start with cutting the handle of a tooth brush. The prospective ultralighter, on the contrary, should start with thinking big. There are 6+1 big ones (in terms of weight or volume) which you should consider first: bicycle, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, cooking equipment, carriers and - last but definitely not least, clothes.
• Bicycle. "Touring bicycle" is a term that was coined to accommodate the growing trend of cycling tourers which took too much stuff. The philosophy of a touring bicycle - take as much stuff as you want and we will build a bicycle that can handle that weight on any kind of roads - is just the opposite to the philosophy of an ultralighter. You can cycle-tour on rough terrain using very light bikes (for example less then 10 kg) if you can control your luggage. I can't give you much advice on particular bikes, because I think there IS no advice: any bike that can reliably carry your body weight should be able to carry the additional weight of ultralight luggage. OK, I might give you just one hint: a very light bike should be ridden more delicately - it is not a tank and you can't treat is as one.
• Tent. The tent should not be heavier than 1500 grams. There are good tents weighing less than 1 kg. You don't need much tent space since you won't have a lot of luggage, so you can leave the tents with big vestibules, sheltered entrances, over-engineered guy lines etc. to your loaded comrades. I am personally quite happy with the single wall tents. There might be some minor problems with leakage and condensation, but these are rare occasions and not too hard to deal with. Your tent won't stay up in a tornado and you won't stay completely dry after 12 hours of tropical rain, but you probably wouldn't even if you had a 4-season tent. Extreme cases are better dealt with extreme measures - by taking shelter under a roof for example.
• Sleeping bag. Down sleeping bags are the way to go. They are warm, light and can be packed to small volume. 1 kg is a good starting estimate for a down bag for sleeping temperatures to -5 C, and extremes to -10 C with your warm clothes on.
• Sleeping pads. As a final step in the evolution of my sleeping kit I now have a body-sized strip of bubble-wrap as a sleeping pad (less than 100 grams). This might look too extreme, but I really don't remember being any more comfortable on a 5 mm foam pad that I had previously. As a great example of multiple use, the bubble wrap serves me also as a wrapping material to provide structure and waterproofness for my bags. The bubbles don't pop or flatten that easily. You can have the same strip for 50++ nights. And by the time the bubbles flatten you will be trained - in the manner of great Asian martial artists - to sleep on hard packed ground without anything beneath.
• Cooking. No cooking utensils. I can survive on cold, dry food for a couple of days until I get to the restorant or some other form of eatery. If the restorant is expensive, I extend cold food treatment for another couple of days. I can't emphasize enough the importance of this: there's no cooker, no mugs, no pots, no plates, no cutlery, no fuel, no fuel container, no cleaning utensils, no bags for storing all this junk, no additional cooking water and no bags of raw, useless food. In addition, you don't waste your time in cooking, cleaning and searching for fuel and can concentrate on cycling instead. And there's a thing less to be broken. The only thing I need from all these is a small plastic spoon - taken from the meal served on the plane.
• Carriers. Don't underestimate the weight of carriers or 'containers'. These things, i.e. panniers, bags, backpacks, etc., are larpourlartistic inventions for storing other, presumably valuable, things. They are nevertheless necessary (unless the number of things that you are carrying is less then 4), so choose them so that the ratio of content weight to container weight is as high as possible, but not less then 3,142 (also known as 'pi').
• Backpacks. Based on the previous axiom, I'd chosen a backpack instead of panniers as my primary container (picture to the right). A backpack (stripped of unnecessary straps and belts), together with a bungee cord or two, is lighter than any pannier(s) of the same capacity. For example, my 40 l backpack was 1120 g, and is now 820 g after I cut off the waist belt and removed few other appendicies. For comparison, if you take 2 Ortlieb 'Back Roller' panniers, the capacity is the same, 40 l, the weight is almost twice as much, 1630 g (data taken from Ortlieb website).
  Besides the weight argument, backpack is excelent for hiking and site-seeing and very appropriate when carrying your bike and stuff for larger distances (across river, mud, sand, stairs and other obstacles). The excelent thing about it is that it has no mounting system that can (and eventually will) break. It fits on any type of rack, never gets into the spokes, doesn't bounce while riding and has no issue of 'heel clearance'. It never gets wet in river fording, and even if the rack fails it isn't the end of cycling - you can still pedal on with your luggage on your back. One additional advantage, which, to be honest, I haven't fully proven, is the possibility to reduce the aerodynamic drag if you position your backpack lengthwise on the rack. Backpacks have so many advantages that one wonders why so few people use this setup. My answer is: they are effective only if they are reasonably small - which brings us back to weight and volume reduction. I use a 40 liter backpack with internal aluminum frame - it is important that a backpack is rigid and doesn't hang over the rack. Don't ever carry the backpack on your back while cycling.
  P.s. Nowdays I don't use backpacks - I found much lighter alternatives. See stuff-sack setup below.
• Waterproof bag. An even lighter alternative to the backpack is a waterproof stuff-sack/bag. My waterproof bag is almost one half of the weight of the backpack of the came capacity (40 l). The bag has additional advantage of waterproofness, but, alas, is not appropriate for hiking and, also, items inside are not as quickly accessible. Nevertheless, for a pure cycling trip, it's ideal in my opinion.
• Front and rear. I use both front and rear containers. The original reason for this was the possibility to transfer weight between rear and front in case of damaged wheel. It is a kind of anachronism nowadays, when I don't have enough weight to cause the damage, but I still carry a handlebar bag mostly to store frequently used objects such as camera. It goes without saying that this bag fulfils the ratio condition mentioned above.
• Stuff sack. Just when I thought I can't go any lighter, I discovered another option. On the South American tour I used a very light stuff sack (160 g) tied to rear rack together with a tent. Instead of foam sleeping mat I had a strip of bubble-wrap; this reduced volume significantly and beside that I could wrap all my things in bubble-wrap and put the bundle in the stuff sack, making it practically waterproof. See the pictures of this set-up below. It worked wonderfully and it's going to be the standard from now on. When I decide to replace the big SLR camera with a tiny digital one, I think I'll be able to get rid of the handlebar-bag too.

• Books. No books! Paper is extremely heavy with respect to its usefulness. Read your tourist guide before the trip and leave it at home. The only thing that I need from a guidebook on the trip are maps of towns. I photocopy these or tear them off the guide - there is no place for sentimentality here. On a long trip it is sometimes nice to have something to read. When this mood hits me, I stay a day or two in some hostel where they have books to lend.
• Digital cameras. I'm not an expert in digital photography and am a classical fan myself, but from the volume/weight point of view I'd reccommend the use of digital cameras. Old style SLR film cameras are 3-6 times heavier than digital ones. The spare batteries/charger that you'll need for digital cameras are in the weight class of spare films for SLRs. You are looking at about 500 g of saving here, minimum, not to mention the volume.
  P.S. I wrote this paragraph 3 years ago and now it is obsolete: nobody uses film cameras any more. However, you can read it as "compact versus DSLR" musing. With regard to weight and bulk DSLRs are a huge step backward from compact cameras. And to those of you why prefer the DSLRs because of their superior picture quality, I say: tell me that when you make your first poster print or publish an article in National Geographics.
• Underseat bag on handlebar. I addopted the above mentioned camera strategy on my trip to Indian Himalaya . The digital camera was small enough to fit in a middle-sized underseat bag, which I modified to be used as a handlebar bag. The combined effect of lighter camera, lighter bag and no spare film rolls resulted in the lightest set-up so far, which you can see on the pictures below. I may have sacrified the quality of photograps a bit by using digital - be a judge yourself: pictures from India.

• Cockpit. Here is a picture of my cockpit with the underseat bag used on handlebar. There are several interesting things here. The underseat bag is attached to the handlebar with three velcro straps (two at the top are seen). The handles of the bag zippers are replaced by pieces of (blue) fabric - this might have saved 0,5 grams, more importantly this eliminates the rattle of the zipper handles. The spare tube is taped to the head tube. A small cable lock (48 g) is put around the spare tube and serves as a protection against the fricton on the bag-to-spare tube interface. On rough roads this friction will puncture your spare tube if not protected! The mirror is on the inside, so the bike can be leaned against the wall or layed down freely. The computer is on the stem, so that it doesn't take up precious space on the handlebar. Additional brake levers could have been removed, they are usually not used much. They are, however, useful on long or steep dowhills, especially on gravel, when they provide additional position to prevent fingers becoming numb from braking.
• Locks. My philosophy for securing the bike is to have it always in sight. On few occasions when it is not possible, I lock it with the small cable lock to a solid object - and hope for the best. I assume that any kind of lock can be broken, so you might as well have the smallest and lightest lock. As you can see on the picture I use now a small cable with combination lock (48 g). The cable is just thick enought that you can't break it with your teeth - unless you are a character from James Bond movies. This means that you'll need a tool to break the lock. But if you are determined to steal the bike to the point that you brought the tool, then you'll break any kind of lock.
• Credit card touring. You can go far lighter then that if you never intend to camp. "Credit card touring" is not my preferance, but if you fancy it, as an illustration, see the pictures below from my short 1-week tours in the Alps (first, second). Not having camping equipment reduces the bulk of things so much, that you suddenly enter the miraculous circle of weight reduction - you have so little that you don't need any kind of racks. All the things can be supported by bicycle frame. On those credit-card (i.e. no-camping) tours I carried camera, overshoes, towel and skin ointment in a small handlebar bag (a modified middle-sized underseat bag) and other items like spare clothes, spare glasses, tools, etc in a bag behing the seat.

• Bivy bag. The set up for a credit car tour can be extended to include emergency camping in a bivy bag. I tested this approach on a 2-week winter tour in Jordan and Israel. The setup is pictured and explained on the following photo - below you will find also a kit list. I carried bivy bag and silk sleeping liner in the second bottle cage. Spare clothes, tools and few other miscellaneous items perfectly fitted in the compression bag which was secured behind the seat with two straps. Camera and few other minorities, as usual, was in the small under-seat bag on the handlebar. The spare tube was taped to the head tube. Thus, there was no need for a rack. In all it was 4 kg less from my usual "camping" setup. This can be viewed as a middle ground between full tour with camping and credit-card touring. To be honest, the bivy bag didn't work very well in the Middle East's winter, even though I slept outside only twice in rather balmy weather near the Dead sea. The night temperatures (5 to 8 deg C) were too low. But, with the addition of light ground sheet (a bubble wrap for example), I think this approach would work well for summer tours (with night temperatures above 10 C) in regions with good roads and frequent accommodation possibilities or in counties where camping is not easy. There are quite some parts of the world that would fit in: SE Asia, India, parts of China, Europe, North America.
• Cycling jersey. Make a good use of cycling jersey's pockets. They are ideal carriers: light, aerodinamic, accessible on the fly. You can store 200 to 300 grams there - possibly everything you need while riding on an average day. Some additional stuff can be tucked under the leggings of cycling shorts.
• Bicycle frame. Lot of stuff can be taped on various parts of the frame. I usualy tape less frequently used items to the frame: spare tubes, spare tyre, spare spokes, canisters with oil and sun screen, duckt tape, pump, light, lock. This reduces the stress on the racks a bit and more importantly reduces the volume of your stuff bags, so you may end up by using smaller stuff bags in the end.
• Maps. Cut your maps and leave parts that are not on your itinerary. You can save up to 150 grams, an amazing amount for a single object. Again, no sentimentality here - train your relentlessness, you'll need it on a trip.
• Digital maps. In my recent trips (India, Alps and Australia) I experimented a bit with a "no-map" approach. What I did was to make notes of the towns, directions, distances and road numbers, all on a small card (10x6 cm) which I plastified and wore in the back pocket of the cycling jersey. It saved me a little weight (~50 g), but the main benefit was that I didn't need big handlebarbag to store the map. I also was not distracted by taking out, looking at and storing back the map, and that probably gave me advantage of a few kms per day. This approach really works for me and I don't think I'll be taking maps any more. But what really surprized me was the fact that I didn't use the card too much either - it looks like that one can comfortably cycle around the world without any kind of map or navigation tool, other than the knowledge of few town names. See "Digital Maps" for more detail.
• Water bottles. Cycling water bottles - what a waste. They weigh 70 to 100 grams and give you at most 0,75 l volume. Throw them away and use plastic bottles, 1 l or 1,5 l (weight less than 50 g). You may not need the second bottle cage (another 80 g saved) or, alternatively, cut the second plastic water bottle in half, and use it as a very light and waterproof container for assorted items.
• Camera film container. Use plastic boxes for camera film as a container for liquid or loose objects such as tooth paste, sun screen, detergent, chain oil, grease, bolts and nuts. The box weighs 5 grams, less than any original container. Besides, you don't need the whole tube of chain oil or tooth paste for one month, do you?
• Dish washing cloth. Take dish washing cloth (chamois) instead of a towel. It's another ~50 grams saved. Wrap it around wet clothes and sqeeze to dry them. It is also usefull for wiping the condesation from the inside of your small tent in the morning and refreshing your face with it afterwards. We don't use big tents with vestibules and other luxuries here - a tent heavier than 1500 grams is out of the question!
• Nylon stockings. Use women's nylon stockings (cut, of course) as arm or leg warmers and save on a long cycling trousers - an enormous weight and space saving. Don't let prejudice interfere with your principles. If there's not a trace of transvestite in you, wear them under regular trousers or rain pants. They are usefull as sun-screen for the arms and legs too: you can forget about that mix of sweat, sun-screen and dirt on your body, that you were so proud of during your "self-sufficient" stage.
• Improvisation. Take only the things that you need indispensably. Imagine an average day of cycling and go mentally through the daily procedures and the things needed. Don't concentrate on too many accidental events. If they happen - and these are low probability events by definition - count on improvisation and help or paid service from the local people.
• Buying new. When buying things think about their weight and volume. This is particularly important when buying equipment for the first time. Pay more for the lighter equipment if needed. The first thing to buy is a scale. NEW I think a word of warning is in order here: beware, lightweight touring can be addictive! Which means that like a drug addict you may start spending more and more money on lighter and lighter equipment. I'm maybe not the right person to give advice, since I already went too far, but to avoid this I suggest to set yourself a goal, but also a limit. For example, your goal may be to lighten your luggage to 8 kg. Then I suggest to make your "virtual set-up". This means that you first make a list of all the items you need. Then search the net for the best, albeit the most expensive equipment that will be within your limit. When doing this virtual set-up make sure that the items in your list are both compatible (for ex. that your handlebar bag is big enough to store your camera) and that there is no redundancy. This is an iterative prosess. You'll have to go few time through it, if you want to optimize things in weight, in price and in suitability. At least that's what I would do if I started from scratch. And If I had patience. If you are certain that you won't go below the limit, you'll never be sorry even if you buy the most expensive stuff. If, on the other hand, you are most likely to improve your equipment permanently, then I guess the best way is to buy the cheapest stuff.
• NEW Clothes. Clothes as a colective item is one of the 7 big ones - in most cases the second big one, after the bike. So you should definitely take into good consideration what clothes you choose. Take a scale with you to the shop when you buy clothes. The people will laugh at you, for sure, but believe me - you will save a lot of money. The most expensive items are not always the best nor the lightest. Never take two items for the same purpose, e.g. two cycling shorts. The only possible exception to this rule is a spare pair of socks. Layering or comlementing items is a good thing to consider. A combination of a windbreaker + light rain shell is usually lighter and warmer then a single all-purpose rain/wind jacket. Arm warmers complemented with short sleaved jersey make a good subsitute for short and long sleeved jerseys. When one item is in the wash, slip into a complemenatry item while you wait it to dry (e.g. underwear + long trousers or rain pants when you wash your shorts). Wash your clothes in the evening so they dry by the morning. A case of special need of consideration are the shoes. For reasons explained elsewhere, I find special cycling shoes one of the most bizzare choises for a touring cyclist, especialy the lightweight-one. There are much lighter and more suitable alternatives. An excelent choice, that I used so far with great success, are the shoes for in-door football. These or similar low-tech trainers or light summer shoes can weigh down to 600 g for a pair. I am not against the combination of sandals and waterproof socks either. Right now I am experimenting with the "crocs" (340 g a pair).
  I generaly have two, complementary sets of clothing. Usualy I wear: hat or cycling cap, wind/rain jacket, cycling gloves, cycling jersey, cycling shorts, socks and shoes. The complementary set: fleece cap, fleece top, underwear (usually bathing trunks), trousers and second pair of socks is in the bag and comes into use on extremely cold days or nights, when off the bike or when the first set is in the wash. Other than that there are some additional items for the rain: rain pants, overshoes and gloves. I carry these in the hood pouch of the rain jacket - after I cut off the hood. Often I take a second T-shirt - sorry to disappoint you, everybody makes compromises sometime.
• NEW Rain. Rain is a special subject which I will research in deeper detail in the years that will follow. So, unfortunately, I can't give you much useful advice now. Come back here in about a year's time and you'll hear the words of an old wise man. For now, based especially on my last trip through rainy North America, I only know that nothing that I tried so far, works well. I tried all sorts of jackets, pants, breathables and unbreathables, overshoes, even tyvec suit for nuclear power-plant workers, and I still haven't find the solution. Well, maybe one - and a very lightweight indeed: just grin and bear it. If I am doomed to be wet I might as well do it with less/lighter gear. Who knows, maybe the best way is to ride naked through the rain, having your dry clothes ready tucked away in your bag.
• Washing. In everyday, non-cycling life I don't use much toiletries; water, soap and tooth paste do it for me. So it's easy for me to give up on them on a cycling tour. Beside that I like to cycle alone and I am free of any social restraints, including body odor. If people don't like the way you smell, whose problem is it anyway: yours or theirs? I do like to shower or wash at the end of the ride, but if there is no such possibility, it's no disaster: I know the sweat will dry out in an hour, leaving the dry, crisp layer of salt that I lick off and replenish the electrolytes that were lost. I used to carry liquid detergent and tooth paste in film boxes taped to the bicycle, but stopped doing so after I realized the pure water is enough to make me feel fresh and clean (even for shaving and brushing teeth). Sooner or later I come upon a camp or a hotel where they have some stronger chemical stuff for more radical treatment. I don't know what is my days-without-shower record, but it's certainly nothing special compared to some "self-sufficient" stories.
  On the other hand, it pays off to wash your stuff. The dirt, sweat and dust collect in the tissue and make clothing up to 10% heavier. Or even more. My old bubble wrap sleeping pad (which I never washed) is almost twice heavier than the new pad of the same dimension (135g vs 72g). Of course, the same applies when you wash yourself. I'm still not sure why I feel good after a wash: because I am clean or because I am lighter?
• Cutting. Cut, cut, cut. The things produced nowadays - apart from those made for TdF racers - are redundantly designed. Cut your shirts, tear off buttons, straps, collars and not needed pockets. You will save few 100 grams, you will learn how the things work and will develope an eye for ridiculously redundant equipment. If you are creative enough, you may start making your own stuff. It is well known truth that the only equipment that fulfills all your requirements is the one you make - or at least modify - yourself.
• Number of things. An equally important point to weight/volume is a number of things. The more things you have, the more time it takes to pack them and to find them - and there is more probability you'll loose them. The ideal would be not to take some things at all - I got rid of stoves and books in this way. There is a deffinite beauty and elegance in traveling in minimalistic style. Alternatively, use the same thing for multiple purposes as much as possible. I can't give you much advice here - obviously this is a promising field that needs much more research.
• Adding up. Little weight and volume savings add up. For example: on the australian tour I had the smallest and lightest pack so far, below 6000 grams, even though I had a helmet (280 g) which I usualy don't wear. About 700 grams lighter pack compared to the one on Indian trip came from little changes: lighter rain jacket, ommision of batery charger, lighter lock, only one spare tube, razor blade instead of a knife, cutting the pedal wrench in half, shorter socks, ommision of tooth paste, smaller medical & sewing kit, cutting the handles of a razor and toot bruch, less pages in a notebook, etc. Some modifications to the bike were made too: I cut part of the seatpost and removed the kick stand.
 
• Mountains. Do you like riding in mountains? Have you wondered why is riding in mountains much slower then on flat ground? Well, it must be connected to weight somehow. See the miscellaneous bicycle wisdom page for an explanation.
• NEW Tools and spares. The amount of these depend on particular destination. The "core" tools are: pump, 2 tyre levers, 2, 4, 5 and 6 mm allen keys, spoke key, 2 razor blades, small flat screwdriver and 14 mm pedal spanner (cut in half). The "core" spares are patch kit, 1 spare tube, about 1 m of duckt tape and a film canister with a bit of chain oil. This core weighs about 300 grams. I'd take only core tools and spares on a tour lasting up to a week or even more if I travel in an area with high density of good bike shops (e.g. Europe, North America). Additional tools and spares for any type of tour are: chain tool, a bit more of duck tape, few zip-ties, second spare tube and emergency spoke (170 grams). I take a hypercracker, 2 spare spokes and spare tyre when I expect very tough roads in very remote areas (220 grams).
  So far this worked well for me. I don't take tools for major repairs such as hub, bottom bracket or derailleur repair, as my experience teaches me that I have marginal probablity of using them. The same goes for brake and gear cables and I even find spare brake shoes unnecessary, since they wear down so slowly (same 2 pairs for 16000 km now). If anything happens to my bike that I could fix if I had the tool, I am positive I'd be able to improvise and (slowly) cycle to the first bicycle/hardware repair store anywhere in the world to get it fixed.
  I'd advise against using multitools: they are heavier then wisely selected separate tools, many of their parts are never used (or useless) or are awkward to use. If you can, modify the bolts and nuts on your bike so that you need as little different tools as possible. I'd also strongly advise to educate yourself as much as possible in bicycle repair. If you know how things work it's easier to improvise. The list of the tasks (in order of importance) that I had to deal with on tours is: adjusting handlebar and sadle position, replacing pedals, fixing a flat, cleaning and oiling the chain, adjusting derailers, adjusting brakes, truing the wheel, replacing a spoke on the drive side of the rear wheel, adjusting the headset, building the wheel from scratch with just a spoke key, making a tyre boot. In addition, you may find instructive if you tried: changing the cables, adjusting hubs, changing the bottom bracket. See the Sheldon Brown's site for the procedures. As a curiosity: I had to go to the repair shop (other then to borrow a tool) only once so far - and even than the thing didn't happen during the ride: my bike fell off the speeding bus. Knock on wood!
• Lightening the bike. Once you've cut down your gear to roughly 8 kg, it's time to start thinking about lightening your bike. Saving weight on components is quite expensive thing. If you buy completely new bike it's roughly 100 EUR per 100 grams less. It easy to remember: 1 gram less = 1 Euro. Buying components separately would mean even more. So, I suggest to change to lighter components when old ones wear down or are not adequate. Some hints: Get a lighter rear rack. Since you have little load, you don't need heavy duty racks. This is relatively cheap and could save you up to 200 g. If you don't use panniers (as I reccommend), you can saw off the unnecessary rack struts whose only function is to keep the pannier from hitting the spokes. Get a shorter seat post - or cut the old one. Narrower tyres. Folding kevlar beaded tyres instead of wire-beaded ones (up to 100 g less for 2). Lighter front wheel: the original front wheel is usually the same as rear one, but is far less stressed. If you can, modify the bolts and nuts on your bike so that you need as little different tools as possible.
• NEW Rack or no rack. If you came this far in reducing your weight, you'll probably ask yourself the ultimate question: do I need a bicycle rack at all. There exists an aversion against racks, maybe even derision, among top ultralight cyclists. The alternative is to carry your luggage in underseat bag, handlebar and/or frame bags, which attach directly to the bike. But is this really a big step forward? With regard to weight, the frame bags are probably winners - altough just tightly. On the other hand, with a small, light rear rack without unnecessary struts weighing 400 grams including the mounting hardware, 30 L stuff sack (130 g) and a bungee cord (70 g) you've got yourself a versatile and simple carrying system of 600 grams, that will flawlessly carry most of your stuff including a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad and set of warm clothes). I don't believe any reasonably sized single frame bag is big enough for that, and any two bags will struggle to keep their weight withing the 600 grams. Also, a big frame bag will probably be more unstable (or will need much stronger (=heavier) attachments) then if it's bungeed to the rack. Then there is a question of elegance. You haven't gone this far reducing your luggage and sacrifying your comfort (so they say), just to end up with amorphous black blots covering your bike all over. If you don't believe my words, just look at the picture above, showing my bike on the Middle East tour. It doesn't have a rack, but is stained all over with bits of stuff strapped here and there. And, last but not least, it's so simple to bungee anything on the rack - a rain jacket for example when the weather is changable and you take if of and on all the time.
  This is not to say I am against frame bags, or that I will not experiment in that direction, but for now, until the world cames up with something more elegant and inovative, I prefer the versatility of a small and light rear rack - at least for full-kit camping tours.
• Monitoring. Once on the road, monitor the frequency of the use of various objects. The ones you use infrequently are the candidates for omission on the next trip.
• Circulus viciosus. Always think of the mystical circle of light weight touring: less weight -> less volume -> less containers -> less weight -> less mechanical problems -> less spare parts and tools -> less weight -> ...
• The ultralight Zen. At the end let me address the usual, fully loaded way of touring. My intention is not to convert anyone to either light- or loaded- or any other way of touring. This site is ment to provide some ideas for those who are willing to sacrifice some comfort for a lighter pack. There seems to be an oppinion that by doing so one sacrifies also his/her 'freedom', 'independence' or 'self-sufficiency'. I don't share this view - let me end with a bit of Zen-touch: the true freedom is in having less.

Packing lists

Lists from my last trips

            I T E M                                        W E I G H T [grams]
                                      Kyrgyzstan  Tibet  S.America  India   Alps  Middle Canada
                                                                                   East
FRONT
Handlebar bag.                           510       450     510       -       -       -      -
2 small bungee cords.                     -         -       30       -       -       -      -
Underseat bag used as handlebar bag.      -         -       -        90      90     90     90
SLR film camera with battery.            885       885     950       -       -       -      -
Digital camera with battery.              -         -       -       325     325    325    325
'Monocular' - the right part of small     80        -       -        -       -       -     80
binoculars with dioptry adjusting ring
used for focusing.
Potocopies of maps, town maps,            10        10      10        5       2      2      2
and distance table (2 A4 sheets).
Parts of maps.                            30        10      -        -       -       2      -
Gloves.                                  100       110      50      190      64     56     56
Woolen cap.                               55        55      -        -       -      34      -
Neckerchief.                              20        15      -        15      -       -      -
Rain pants.                              140       140     140      140      -     135    135
Overshoes.                                -         -       70       70      10     78     78
Tooth brush + paste.                      20        20      20       10       6      6     12
Soap.                                     25        25      25       -       -       -      -
Skin cream.                               20        20      20       20       6     10     10
Sun screen.                               20        20      -        10      -       -      -
Razor.                                    10        10      10        5       2      6      6
Dish washing cloth used as a towel.       10        10      10       10      -      10     10
Lighter.                                  15        15      15       15      -       -      -
Pen water filter.                         30        20      -        20      -       -     20
Plastic bags.                             20        20      20       10      10      6      6
                                        2000      1835    1880      935     515    760    830
REAR
Backpack.                                830        -       -        -       -       -      -
Waterproof bag.                           -        445      -        -       -       -      -
Stuff sack.                               -         -      160      160      28     78    160
Tent.                                   1350      1350    1880      905      -       -    888
Bivy bag.                                 -         -       -        -       -     262      -
Sleeping bag + plastic bag.              840      1190    1090     1090      -       -    592
Silk sleeping sheet.                     210        -       -        -       -     174      -
Bungee cords (1 or 2).                   160        80      80      100      70      -     70
Nylon straps.                             -         20      20       20       4     30      -
Foam sleeping pad.                       155       155      -        -       -       -      -
Strip of bubble wrap.                     -         -      120      120      -       -     72
Underwear (1 or 2).                       60        30      30       30      30     30     30
Socks (1 or 2).                           80       100      30       40      -      40     76
Polar fleece jacket.                      -        400      -       245      -     250      -
Light fleece jacket.                     185        -      185       -      202      -    185
Cotton pullover.                         330        -       -        -       -       -      -
T-shirt.                                 120        -       -        -       -       -      -
Long trousers.                           320       300     300      300     312    295    295
Tyvec protective suit.                     -         -       -        -       -      -    172
Nylon stockings as leg/arm warmers.       -         15      15       15      10      -     10
Spare glasses in soft case.               50        50      35       35      35     40     40
Medical kit. Sewing kit.                 120       120      85       70       8     20     26
Spare camera battery & charger.           30        -       -       170      -       -     86
Spare camera films (6 to 8 rolls).       175       160     125       -       -       -      -
Spare cycling computer.                   -         -       -        60      -       -      -
Spare tubes (2 or 1)                     200       200     200      200      94    100    100
Mini flash light.                         25        25      25       25      42     18     18
Fishing line.                             -          -      30       -       -       -      -
Mosquito net.                             -          -       -       -       -       -     14
Cell phone.                               -          -       -       -       -       -     70
Plastic bags.                             90        90      90       50      30      6     40
                                        5330      4730    4500     3635     865   1343   2944
MIDDLE
Underseat bag.                           110       150      -        -       -       -      -
Spare tyre                               200       250      -        -       -       -      -
Cable lock.                              170       170     170      170      46     48     48
Spare spokes + nipples.                   40        40      20       20      -       -      -
Duct tape.                                30        30      30       30      -      16     18
Tools: Mini tool kit, screwdriver,       390       370     345      400     170    206    236
knife, Tranz-X, pump, patch kit,
pedal+small wrench or adjustable wrench,
spoke tool, tyre levers, hypercracker,
bolts, oil.
                                         940      1010     565      620     216    270    302
MYSELF
Hat/cap/helmet.                           90        90      90       90      40     28     30
Glasses.                                  40        40      40       40      40     40     40
Cycling jersey.                          175       175     175      160     170      -    230
Long sleeved jersey.                      -        275      -        -       -     204      -
Cycling gloves                             -         -       -       45      34     34     28
Arm warmers.                               -         -       -        -       -      -     62
Rain/wind jacket.                        220       225     500      500     112    112    114
Windstopper.                              -         -       -        -       -     160    160
Cycling shorts.                          185       185     185      135     152    152    152
Passport, air tickets.                   110       110      90      100      10     48     60
Notebook, calendar and a pencil.          60        50      50       50      12     20     28
Socks.                                    30        30      30       30      46     20     20
Ankle/knee straps.                        10        10      -        -        4      4      4
Shoes.                                    -        925      -       660     734    688    616
Sandals.                                 635        -      635       -       -       -      -
                                        1555     2115    1785      1810    1354   1510   1544
FOOD & WATER
Water in one or two plastic bottles.    2590      2590    2590     1545     925   1045   1045
Food.                                    200       700     500      300     100      -      -
                                        2790     3290    3100      1845    1025   1045   1045
BICYCLE
Bike, rear rack, two bottle cages,     12000     12800   10400       -       -       -      -
kick-stand, computer, altimeter.
Bicycle alone.                            -         -       -      9600   1090    9600   9600
1/2 bottle cages with bolts.              -         -       -       140     120    135     72
Rear rack with bolts.                     -         -       -       520      -       -    454
Computer.                                 -         -       -        25      25     30     36
Altimeter.                                -         -       -        30      -      30      -
Kick-stand.                               -         -       -       220      -       -      -
Mirror.                                   -         -       -         -      -       -     35
                                       12000     12800   10400    10535   11045   9795  10197
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TOTAL: GEAR                             9825      9690    8740     6970    2950   3883   5792
TOTAL: GEAR+WATER+FOOD                 12615     12980   11830     8815    3945   4928   6837
TOTAL: GEAR+BIKE                       21825     22490   19140    17505   13995  13678  15989
ALL:   GEAR+WATER+FOOD+BIKE            24615     25780   22230    19350   15020  14723  17034

List by category

ITEM WEIGHT POSITION Frequency [grams] of use [1-5] BICYCLE Bicycle alone. 9600 bike - 2 bottle cages with bolts. 140 bike - Rear rack with bolts. 520 bike - Computer with holder, magnet and reciever. 35 bike - Altimeter. 30 jersey pocket 4 Kick-stand. 220 bike - Lock. 160 bike 2 10705 CARRIERS Underseat bag used as handlebar bag. 90 bike - Main stuff sack (30 L). 160 rear rack - Stuff sack for tools. 20 tent - Stuff sack for medical kit, spare glasses, etc. 20 stuff sack - Bungee cord for the main stuff sack. 70 rear rack - Spare nylon belt. 20 stuff sack 3 Spare velcro straps. 10 stuff sack 1 Plastic bags. 100 stuff sack 2 490 TOOLS & SPARES Flat screwdriver 30 tool sack 2 Mini tool kit with spoke key, allen keys 25 tool sack 2 and philips screwdriver Knife 25 tool sack 2 Pump 100 tool sack 1 Patch kit 20 tool sack 1 15 mm pedal wrench (cut in half) 40 tool sack 1 8 mm & 10 mm wrench 20 tool sack 1 2 tyre levers 10 tool sack 1 Bolts and nuts 20 tool sack 1 Oil 10 bike 2 Duct tape 10 tool sack 2 3 spare spokes 10 rear rack 1 2 spare tubes 200 stuff sack 1 Spare tyre 300 rear rack 1 820 CAMPING Tent. 905 rear rack 1 Sleeping bag. 1090 stuff sack 1 Strip of bubble wrap (sleeping pad). 120 stuff sack 1 Mini flash light. 25 stuff sack 1 2140 FOOD AND WATER Water in 1.5 l plastic bottle. 1545 bike - Emergency food. 300 stuff sack 2 1845 CLOTHES Hat. 90 myself 5 Glasses. 40 myself 5 Cycling jersey. 160 myself 5 Cycling shorts. 135 myself 5 Cycling gloves 45 myself 4 Socks. 30 myself 5 Shoes. 660 myself 5 Rain/wind jacket. 500 rear rack 4 Neckerchief. 15 stuff sack 2 Polar fleece jacket. 245 stuff sack 2 Long trousers. 300 stuff sack 1 Rain pants. 140 rain jacket 2 Underwear. 30 stuff sack 1 Plastic kitchen gloves. 50 rain jacket 2 Light fleece gloves. 50 rain jacket 3 Overshoes. 70 handlebar bag 2 Spare socks. 40 stuff sack 1 Nylon stockings as leg/arm warmers. 15 jersey pocket 3 2615 PHOTOGRAPHY Digital camera with battery. 325 handlebar bag 5 Spare camera battery & charger. 170 stuff sack 1 Bubble-wrap protection 10 handlebar bag 5 505 PAPERWORK Passport, air tickets. 110 myself - Notebook, calendar and a pencil. 50 jersey pocket 5 Potocopies of town maps and distance table. 10 jersey pocket 5 170 MISCELANEOUS Tooth brush + paste. 10 stuff sack 1 Skin cream. 20 handlebar bag 4 Sun screen. 10 handlebar bag 2 Razor. 5 stuff sack 1 Dish washing cloth used as a towel. 10 handlebar bag 2 Lighter. 15 stuff sack 1 Pen water filter. 20 stuff sack 2 Spare glasses in soft case. 35 stuff sack 1 Medical kit & sewing kit. 70 stuff sack 2 195 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 19485 TOTAL without bicycle, water and food 7035