On Feb 26, 2006, at 12:27 PM, grantholbrook123 wrote:

> Our tentative plan is about 100 miles per day. I'm setting up a small
> front rack and a saddlebag support w/ Carradice Camper, in addition to
> a Camelback. I'm intrigued by Jardine's sleeping quilts and shelters
> based on their cost and weight. Does anyone here have input on his
> stuff one way or the other? I'd rather not spend $300 on a sleeping
> bag, and he sure does a thorough job of trashing down construction.
> Keeping the cost down is on par with keeping the weight down on my
> student budget. I appreciate any input, and I'm glad to see there is
> a list so specifically aimed at my bike interests.
>

Grant, thanks for helping to get things going.

Yes there's the "Ray way" and then there's everybody else's way. Ray
has been really great for the sport. He is just a little too
opinionated. I like down bags. They keep their loft much longer
than synthetic, they're lighter and I wouldn't want to sleep in down
OR synthetic if it was wet. I would like to try a quilt. I already
had a really good down bag when I got into this stuff. I try to keep
my costs down as well. For a tarp Campmor has silnylon cheap. I use
a 5X7' when I go solo and an 8X10' when I go with Patti. For stoves,
make your own- http://wings.interfree.it/html/linguini.html The
rest of the stuff you either already have or you can pick up on sale
or at thrift stores. Someday I'm going to buy all the high end
stuff. I wonder if I'll be any more comfortable though. Keep it
simple and be sure and do some overnights before your trip to work
the bugs out. Keep us posted. I think we each have to experiment
until we find what works for us and our conditions.

Gary