How much should touring gear weight?

Quoted message said:

How much should the gear needed for a 3 week bike tour weigh? Here's
one opinion
http://ebent.wordpress.com/2006/06/18/how-much-will-my-touring-gear-weigh.

I would think modern gear would be lighter than this? Any suggestions
other than sleeping under a tarp with no bag?

I don't think 'modern' gear is really necessary. Most of my camping
gear is at least 20 years old but it's still much lighter than what's
given at that website. I use a NF Blue Kazoo sleeping bag (30 years
old) with a total weight (incl. stuff sack) of 2.0 lbs. It's a bit of
overkill for bike camping since I've used it for backpacking at
temperatures down to single digits. Going with an equivalent bag but
with a higher temperature rating should drop the weight to 1.5 lbs or
less. My nominally 2-person tent weighs 3.5 lbs and on trips where I'm
really weight-conscious I use a solo tent that is 2.5 lbs. Never use a
ground cloth with either one and the floors are still in fine shape
(but zippers and the fly are starting to go on the 20-year-old 2-person
tent). Sleeping pad is an ultra-light/short Thermarest that weighs 0.7
lbs.

Glancing at the list of items it appears to me that there's
considerable redundancy. E.g. he lists a Leatherman multi-tool, an
Alien multi-tool, and a knife although both of the others include a
knife. My mini-Alien seems sufficient so I don't take the others (and
it includes the tire lever as well). Similarly, a good small headlamp
serves as a bike light, camp light, and reading lamp - no need to have
separate items. I also select bike shorts that are ok for off-bike use
and shoes that are comfortable enough for walking as well as cycling.
Having a bike with the same size tire front and rear saves the need for
extra spare tires/tubes.

Unlike backpacking, most bike touring takes you near stores along the
way, so I don't bother carrying many of the listed items like 24
patches (1 patch kit should suffice), acetaminophen/ibuprofin, chain
lube (emergency oil can be found in gas station trash cans), blister
patches etc. If needed then I can obtain such items at the next town.

Overall that should cut the weight about in half - I aim for under 20
lbs instead of the 43 lbs listed - exclusive of food/water supplies
that are replenished along the way.

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In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

How much should the gear needed for a 3 week bike tour weigh?

It SHOULD weigh about 5 lbs %-). However, I've never managed
to get it much below about 35lbs just for a week and I'm a
weight wheenie when it comes to backpacking gear. I tend to
carry more tools and spare parts than is probably really necessary.

Quoted message said:

Here's
one opinion
http://ebent.wordpress.com/2006/06/18/how-much-will-my-touring-gear-weigh.

I would think modern gear would be lighter than this? Any suggestions
other than sleeping under a tarp with no bag?

If the 43lbs includes the weight of the racks and food that's not
uncommonly heavy. I hung out on the Phred Touring list for a while
and 90lbs bike and gear is fairly common for loaded tourers with
a taste for luxories or a computer addiction. Since you don't
carry it directly on your back, it requires more discipline to
keep a bike touring load light than with a backpack touring
load. The difference between a 80lb bike& load and 90lbs isn't
that great when you compare the difference between a 25lb load
and a 35lb one when backpacking.

Camping is camping, so with a big wallet you could probably get
the camping gear load down to 20lbs or so.

_ Booker C. Bense

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