Minimizing my hammock set-up.

[team FTB]

Good eye. On my day rides I simply carry 1 21" tube for the reasons you suggested. On my multi week trips I actually carry 3-4 tubes. Sounds crazy doesn't it? Why you ask?

Number one is often there are no replacement tubes available nearby in nations that consist of mainly scooters where I am in South East Asia. So if I use my one spare tube but have another two weeks of riding and no spares anywhere it gives me a case of the worries. Another reason is I have an uncanny knack for exploding tubes. My friend laughing at a tube i ruined.



I actually even tried the Nuetech Tubliss system for 4 years to eliminate the need to carry spare large tubes. It saved tons of room and i was a happy camper. However I could never get them to seal reliably enough to warrant taking them on my long range trips.

Even on a short four day trip the Tubliss tube punctured forcing me to utilize a traditional tube.

[zealander]

Great to see other gents on dirt bikes getting away and camping. Your pics look great!!

I found for me minimizing has a lot to do with mindset. First of all I had to be comfortable with not bringing a lot of things that I used to view as needed. I personally could pick out a few items from your list that I would trim off, however that's from my perspective and what's fine with me may not be fine with you. Case in point. The fire extinguisher. If a situation gets out of control and a fire is created it's an invaluable tool. My query would be what is the likelihood of needing the item? I've never in my 35 years of bike riding had a bike catch fire that I could not extinguish with smothering or dirt. If in your riding group many people light their bikes on fire for some reason or neglect a campfire and it gets out of control then you'll have a differnet perspective on the tool. Does this make sense?

So first look at you gear I would be not packing (for my riding/conditions/situation):

Fire Extinguisher: reasons noted above
Trowel : I can dig a hole with my hand/boots/screwdriver/6 inch extension, etc. to crap in and fill it later without needing a specific tool.
Plate: I would eat out of the cooking pot
Camp knife: for me the knife on my leatherman has been all I've needed for blades
shoes: if you already have Teva's no need for two pair of camp shoes.
Lantern: I use a headlamp as it's smaller and throws a good beam of light, though not as nice a mood setter as the lantern.

Now keep in mind that's what I would do which by no means is what would work for you. You may have specific reasons for packing the items I would delete. No harm done as there's no one correct way of packing, haha.

You're also off to great start by utilizing Whoopie sling for a suspension.

Best of luck with your riding and hope to see more updates from you.

Fire Extinguisher is required for some of the places I want to ride, it is heavy, but not hugely bulky so not a huge issue (not to mention the insurance factor, it is nice to know it is there).
Trowel - Yep, gone next time
Plate - takes up very little room/weighs bugger all, consider it a luxury item, will consider skipping it.
camp knife - yeah, next time I won't bother. Thinking about it (hindsight) with my solid fuel burner/cooker I do not really need to consider cutting wood for a fire to be a necessity.
shoes - I ended up with shoes and jandals, next time it will just be the teva's or the shoes.
lantern - not as nice as I had hoped for lighting (had to give it a try since it cost me some $) won't be taking again.

One of my major issues is taking too much clothing. I need to embrace the smell of a hard days riding and just run with it.

Phase 2 of the trip starts next week, I am not even close to feeling 100% yet, but I am ready to get on the bike. I am pretty sure that is the one thing is missing from my recovery.
I just finished making my whoopie slings, so I am feeling pretty ready to shed some weight/bulk from the gear and get out there and hang.

[team FTB]

Good luck on your phase II. If you want to talk shedding stuff from your clothing bags talk/listen to the thru hikers. They carry next to nothing and just wash undies and socks everyday. I err on the side of caution with two pair of socks and undies because if arriving to camp in the dark I like to change into some clean undies and socks before setting up camp as riding in SEA the heat has the ones being worn soaked in sweat and swamp water from the riding. Otherwise the rest of my clothing is simply pants, Tshirt and thermal top and bottoms.

Good luck with coming to grips with leaving things out of your pack/bags. It pays off huge dividends in terms of riding enjoyment without the large load affecting the bike.

It looks like I'll be staying with my current WBBB and Edge tarp since from other posters on the board it looks like I cannot go much smaller on the tarp and still protect my down UQ from rain. I could go with a single layer smaller hammock but that will only save me one layer of 1.0 fabric which is not a huge amount of space to warrant another $165 expenditure if I cannot also go with a smaller tarp. Darn.

[zealander]

Good luck on your phase II. If you want to talk shedding stuff from your clothing bags talk/listen to the thru hikers. They carry next to nothing and just wash undies and socks everyday. I err on the side of caution with two pair of socks and undies because if arriving to camp in the dark I like to change into some clean undies and socks before setting up camp as riding in SEA the heat has the ones being worn soaked in sweat and swamp water from the riding. Otherwise the rest of my clothing is simply pants, Tshirt and thermal top and bottoms.

Good luck with coming to grips with leaving things out of your pack/bags. It pays off huge dividends in terms of riding enjoyment without the large load affecting the bike.

It looks like I'll be staying with my current WBBB and Edge tarp since from other posters on the board it looks like I cannot go much smaller on the tarp and still protect my down UQ from rain. I could go with a single layer smaller hammock but that will only save me one layer of 1.0 fabric which is not a huge amount of space to warrant another $165 expenditure if I cannot also go with a smaller tarp. Darn.

Phase 2 of my trip us underway. But due to a recent cyclone most of the places are inaccessible. And being apirl things have turned very wintery. I have hsd a couple of cold nights in the hammock with my diy underquilt. It is not quite up to the task of this time of year. It is at best a 1 season quilt. But an interestng experiment. I do have an old down duvet cover I might tear apart and upgrade it to a down bag. But buying a proper one might be a better option.

In the gear sheding front I managed to drop a bit if stuff even with the more wintery layers required for this tme of year but next time it will be ultralight or nothing. I have a winter camp trip planned will see how minalmist I can manage for that.