Gary Blakley wrote:

>Jeff, thanks for the write up. This brings up something. I think we
>need to differentiate between lightweight and ultralight. I propose
>the following. Lightweight: sub 25lb. Ultralight: sub 12lb. This
>should include everything except food, water and bike tools/spares
>To be realistic we need to include the pack weight, the weight of how
>you haul your stuff. Jeff, if you weigh your rack, panniers and bar
>bag I'm guessing it's going to be 7-8 lbs. There is no way you can
>get to ultralight status with it. As soon as we add panniers we've
>pretty much given up on ultralight. They weigh 4-7 lbs. all by them
>selves. Handlebar bags aren't light either. The same goes for all
>the Carradice and Baggins bags. Weigh those things. Add the weight
>to any rack you use, Bagman, SQR, etc. I don't think you can be
>ultralight hauling those things around either. I'd like to see some
>weights from you guys on just your carrying system. Photos are
>always great to.
>
>
>
It alway bugs the crap out of me to put 7 lbs of gear into a 2 lbs
pack. The pannier solution, Carradice bags, etc. seemed to all favor
withstanding nuclear blasts rather than lightweight bags. Lately for my
commutes, I have gotten by with a 10 oz. backpack to carry all my
clothes (morning clothing differs greatly from afternoon clothing). I
think, mostly I could get by with a 3 oz. backpack but sometimes I end
up carrying "hard" things like laptops that might overwhelm a 3 oz.
backpack.

On my one and only tour, I ended up with 12.3 lbs of gear packed in
three stuff sacks, lashed to the bike with AirCore Dyneema rope. It
wasn't the most convenient but it was light. I would say of all the gear
the only thing I would totally re-evaluate is the dental hygiene system
(a dog toothbrush, 1 oz. of toothpaste, a small unraveled roll of floss
and the ziplock to carry it separate from the other stuff.

I was much happier with the stuff sack solution rather than panniers for
the weight to capacity ratio.

Then as you point out, the heavy item was the rack. I have a bolt on
seat post rack that weighs in at 2.5 lbs. I have toyed with the idea of
making my own rack that is far lighter. However I am also aware that
sometimes the terrain is so rough and the bike is bounced around so much
that a less "sturdy" rack might not have survived. As it was, after a
particularly grueling 8 miles of gravel, I had to relash the stuff sacks
as they had shaken themselves loose.

The whole write up of the tour is at
http://www.ufp.com/photo_essays/tour_2005.html and there are more
illustrative pictures in the Pictures section (including the ultralight
wallet I made for the trip :))

Generally the gear that you pack is there already. For ultralight bike
touring the trick is what you pack it in and how you carry it.

r