Unessential gear you wouldn't ride without...

So I have been planning a 10 day ride in June. I have a pretty long list of things I need to get...from some new riding gear, to spare this and that, to tools and camping equipment that I either want to replace or just plain need. Everytime I go back to it I cross something off and find something else to add. By the time I go for the ride half it will be long forgotten and I will only have what I really need. What I need isn't what I'm talking about though.

Outside of the life or death essentials, what are things you are always going to make room for on your ride? For example my French press is coming along wrapped in my sweatshirt. It's going to make my mornings and thusly the rides that day that much better.

What are the things you wouldn't ride without (but obviously you could live without)? Even it may be a spendy piece of gear that most would bring but just kicks ass for X reason.

I bought a JetBoil system from REI that can cook food for me AND has a French Press. That's a good way to combine several things into one.

I would die without my iPad or laptop or both.

Laptop.
Big Agnes camp chair (it uses the Big Agnes sleeping bag pad to make a camp chair).
Guide book (I like to read about the area that I'm traveling to).
Michelin road atlas (We have a GPS, but I like paper maps, so I make room for it).

Yeah I have been looking at the jet boil stuff. Haven't been able to justify replacing my whole cook set though. The laptop I can live without (nice to get away from the screen for awhile to me). Music on the other hand is a must.

The big agnes chair looks nice. I have their lost ranger bag, but use a thermarest pro lite pad. I doubt it would fit... I do love their stuff though. Actually they are definitely going to me next tent purchase after using the bag for three seasons. Super high quality stuff. Their sleeve system is great too.

I actually have been looking for a good compact atlas. I also have a GPS but sometimes its just easier to find campsites and roads on paper. Plus its nice to read at night then know what to punch in the GPS.

I don't know what cook set you have, but the JetBoil system really reduces the amount of stuff you need to carry. You can put one thing inside of another, and it essentially disappears! OK, not really, but it does get smaller. And time from waking up until having coffee hot and read is a matter of minutes.

I'm revising my thoughts about a laptop. I'm just going to take my iPad. It has books on it. I've loaded up a lot of pdf's for repairing my bike. I've got a video guide for repairing an R1200 on it. I'm still trying to figure out how to convert the shop manual into pdf files, but I never quit. And, it holds my huge music library.

Does my banjo count? Wait, that's definitely essential to any serious rider, never mind.

Less is more. Unless you are leaving the planet, you can buy coffee everywhere, there are cold beers and sodas everywhere.

The less crap you bring, the less crap you have to pack in the morning.

If you find you really need something, then just buy it along the way.

Pack a few snacks and a cup. Everywhere you camp, a car camper or someone in a nice gigantic RV will me making coffee. Probably cook you breakfast too. You may have to hear a little bit about Jesus, but that's not much of a sacrifice for a hot meal.

You really want to be cooking and cleaning in the dirt? in the dark?

Tunes, phone, camera, minor first aid, small flashlight, and basic tools. Sleeping bag, small tent or shelter and something to sleep on.

There is almost no place in this hemisphere that is not an hour away from a hot cup of coffee. Especially on a motorcycle.

Yeah snacks beer etc are usually picked up before setting up camp. Alot of times I'll grab something so I dont have to cook (sandwich etc.). The coffee though...I'm not even thinking of picking up camp till I've had a cup of sludge and a cigarette...let alone riding anywhere to get it Not to mention sometimes you are the one making friends with a good cup of coffee.

Also it's not always the case but I try not to be anywhere near an RV and many times other campers...

I'm all for cutting out the crap and being minimal, I was just curious what are those things you make extra room for. I mean you're not backpacking, you're on a bike.

Big difference in the time line. Again, this is NON-essential gear. A cup of coffee while I wipe the crud out of my eyes makes my morning much better. Seeing a motorcycle, the great outdoors, and all the things you missed rolling into camp tired and dirty the night before when my eyes finally come into caffeine-fueled focus is the best way to start the day.

Now I wouldn't pack the jetboil and a coffee mug on a weekend dirt trip but if my day consists of waking up in a tent, opening a map, closing my eyes and pointing, and then saddling up and winding my way in that general direction, than yes, I can afford the luxury of a little hot dirt water

I sometimes take an extra pair of socks along. I also make room for my ipod. But you can see why most of my buddies don't like going on extended trips with me, I tend to travel fairly light. If you are not going far off the road a lot I imagine taking the extra stuff along would be kind of cool.

I'm in wholehearted agreement. And I don't know about you, but waking up in the trees and fresh air makes that coffee taste really really good.

Sometimes I'll sit on the back patio and drink my coffee since I'm one of two houses on the block with trees in the backyard. But it's still not the same.

Before I had a jetboil french press I had jetboil, coffee, filters, and mugs. I knew I would come up with something. Sure enough, put coffee in jetboil, boil, put filter over mug, pour. The wet filter holding technique needed some practice but it was worth it. The more work it takes to make a cup of coffee the better it tastes.

The atlas that I use is the Michelin Road Atlas. It's about 9" x 11" with a spiral binding. True, it's not the smallest atlas around, but it's got a lot of detail and information, and includes Canada and Mexico. It shows camping spots as well.

Music is a must, Ipod full of songs.Coffee, OH YEAH! Nothing better on a chilly morning than hot , fresh coffee and then a couple hundred miles on the bike.


2008 KLR650
2001 RoadKing
1967 Triumph

I have a Zumo 550 on my bike. I can access Google Maps on my computer. But there is just nothing like a real atlas to plan out a trip. Or to choose that twisty ride across the mountain rather than the 6 lane interstate.

I don't think there are many compact atlases published any more, maybe because of readability. I am a big fan of the Michelin Atlas for the following reasons:

1. It organizes the maps more logically. Northern California and Oregon connect on one map. It doesn't try to organize by state, since you have to switch a bunch of pages to find where your road continues.
2. The cover is plastic, so if you spill your nice coffee, it reduces the destruction.
3. It is probably the smallest of the road atlases. Because it doesn't focus on a state by state map, it actually can provide more detail from region to region.
4. The maps are quite detailed, but still easy to read. I think it's a digitized map that's printed, making it quite easy on the eyes.
5. My tires are Michelin. They must know something about where those tires take us!

There are a bunch of playlists on iTunes where people put together the best motorcycle songs.

Good camera and small tripod.

Not essential, you can travel around the world without a camera, but why bother? On a long (month or longer) trip I'll often carry a spare camera just to make sure I won't miss any once-in-a-lifetime shots.

Just me, but I never carry the makings for coffee. Prefer jumping out of the fart sack and getting active in the fresh air to wake me up. Coffee is best used for washing down a breakfast topped off with pancakes or waffles - about 100 miles down the road from my campsite.

but a light one. I use the Thermarst'r. Weighs 8 oz or so and I can have somewhere to lean back. Perfect for watching sunrise cocooned in a warm bag sipping a cuppa joe.

OK, I get it, I'm weak.

My Father in law gives me hell cause he camps with a pad, and a bivy. I use a three man dome tent(that I can set up in about 10 minutes in complete darkness), and an air mattress. Before ya'll draw and quarter me, I have had to have back surgery, and will deal with the extra time/and batteries to inflate/deflate my bed so I can be in a little less pain.

Secondly, I have an old steel camp perkalator that I don't leave home without, made alot of friends with that little beauty over the years.

IPod(or equiv.), isn't that mandatory riding gear anyway...it is for me.

And my camera.

For me, I usually find a way to fit my Kermit Chair. Took it on the KTM 250 on the TAT last year -- my son laughed at me in the beginning -- by the end he was using it when I wasn't!

Almonds, dental floss and nail clippers.

JPEGS on the camera of maps, route sheets, parts diagrams, riding suggestions, emergency info, registration, driver's license front & back, insurance card, phone numbers and any other info I think I might possibly need...

And, if I am camping I take my hardcopy Coleman National Forest Campground and Recreation Directory 2nd Edition.