GEAR NOTES

Contains more detailed information about the gear I like to take with me.

WATER BOTTLE
I’ve attached a bicycle-style water bottle cage to the frame of my motorcycle. The cage is available at any bike shop; I attached it with stainless steel hose clamps, so it can be removed with very little effort. The plastic water bottle holds a half-quart or so of water – it doesn’t stay cold, but it stays wet. I’m a bicyclist, so I’m not fussy about cold – wet works fine for me. And I can drink while rolling. (Not recommended in heavy traffic or roads that take total concentration.)
I also carry a spare (full) water bottle in my saddle bags. I’ve never used it, but if I broke down and was stranded somewhere for awhile, better to not be thirsty along with my other problems.

HAND TOWEL
I carry 2 or 3. One in the tank bag – handy for wiping face shields, glasses, etc.

FLASHLIGHT
I’m somewhat of a flashlight fetishist. I like the flashlights. I lean toward “AA battery” size flashlights for motorcycle travel, where weight and volume are issues.
- I’ve got a cool flashlight, 2-AA-batteries, about the size of a “Mini Mag,” that converts between a standard flashlight and a “tent lantern.” I really like it, but I don’t think it’s available any more, and I’m having trouble finding replacement bulbs for it. So its days may be numbered. (A standard “Mini Mag” can be used in lantern-mode by unscrewing the flashlight head, but the tiny bulb is vulnerable. A “lantern” is nice in the tent at night, especially if you can hang it from the ceiling.)
- I also like to carry a “CMG Infinity Task Light” with me. It has a bright LED instead of an incandescent bulb, and operates on a single AA battery. It’s tiny. I’ve got one with an amber/yellow colored light. It isn’t super-bright, but it’s adequate for most tasks. It’s supposed to get 40 hours of life on one battery – I’m still on my first battery!
- I just got a Petzl “Zipka” light. I think it’ll be good. It has 3 bright blue-white LEDs, and uses 3 AAA-size batteries. (150 hours advertised life, on a set of batteries.) It, too is tiny, and has the added feature of a spring-wound cord that you can stretch and put it on your forehead, wrist, or ‘most anywhere else, for more light-directing options.

EAR PLUGS
I love to wear ‘em on longer rides, or multi-day trips. No matter what kind of helmet you wear (I always wear one), a set of plugs will cut down noticeably on road and wind noise, which is very fatiguing, whether you know it or not. The el-cheapo foam plugs work fine, if you install them correctly. If you haven’t tried ear plugs, I urge you to… you’ll like it.

MAPS
I’ve got a clear plastic map-pocket on top of my tank bag, and love to keep track of where I am, where I’m going, points of interest along the way, etc.

CAMERA
For the last couple years, I've been using a super-compact digital camera. (I chose a Casio 3 megapixel, but there are similar models from Canon, Pentax, Minolta.)  About the size of a deck of playing cards.  I carry a couple extra batteries and memory cards.
(In the past, I've used a small 35mm autofocus point-n-shoot. Mine is a Yashica T4, which is small, water resistant, and takes very nice snapshot photos.)
I also have a little German-made “mini-pod” that has a clamp, some tiny tripod-legs, and a wood-screw, so I can put it ‘most anyplace.
My wife makes a mockery of my bike-photos… I think she’s jealous!

CELL PHONE
I rarely use it… but it’s good emergency equipment. Obviously, if you’re away from population, it’ll probably be out of range. (If I’m gone for a week, I’ll check in a couple times with home… it’s as cheap as a pay phone with long-distance charges, etc.)

GROOMING KIT
Varies depending on where I’m going, and for how long. I always carry “Gold Bond Medicated Powder” in a small shaker, soap (I like Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile liquid soap, in a small plastic squeeze bottle), toothbrush and paste, sunscreen, and lip balm.

RAIN GEAR
I generally go on my extended rides in the summer months, when extended periods of cold aren’t a concern. But rain can always appear – if you’re unprepared, I’m convinced that increases the chances of rain. My preferred rain-gear is a bright-yellow Gore-tex BICYCLE rain suit, from Performance Bike. It’s spendy, but it packs fairly small, works great, is comfortable, and the yellow is good for visibility. (If it’s raining, it’s harder to be seen, is what I figure. I want the cagers to see me!) I wear mine a lot, for bicycling. If you only use it on the motorcycle, and when it’s raining, unless you live in Seattle it would probably last a lifetime. A coated-nylon rain suit would probably do in a pinch. I’d avoid plastic – too easy to tear.

TOOLS
I’ve got a roll-up tool kit that has some essential tools. I also have a tubeless flat-tire repair kit and a bicycle-type (small) pump. I carry them with me, in the very bottom of my saddle bag. I hope I won’t have to use them – I’d much rather have them and not need them, than need them and not have them.
(add list of tools)

FIREARM
I take a bit of comfort in having my pistol with me. I carry a Glock 26 – 9mm with 10-round capacity.  It’s kinda like the tools – I hope I’ll never need it, but better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.  When I’m alone among strangers, I hope to meet only nice people, but I have the duty to myself to be prepared for whatever could happen.   (Bad guys or bad critters.  Likely?  No.  Possible?  Yes.)  Legalities – I have a Concealed-Carry License for Idaho, so I’m legal in my home state.  Elsewhere, I like to think that if it became an issue, the fact that I have the CCW permit in Idaho, I’m not a trouble-maker, and the premise that I’m entitled to self-defense, would cause a fair-minded judge to be lenient with me.  (If Canada is on the docket, the gun stays home, or arrangements are made, so I’m not carrying a gun across the border.  They don’t cotton to that self-defense stuff, up that way.)

PORTABLE CD PLAYER
They’re small, and they’re nice in the sleeping bag at night. I just got a model that also plays MP3-encoded CDs – nice because you can have 10+ hours of music on one disc. Uses the same AA batteries as the flashlight. On my recent trip to the Oregon coast, I experimented with listening while I was riding. I used some Koss “The Plug” earplug-style phones. The experiment was partially successful – the ambient noise will always be a factor, but other than that… (Note: I would NOT recommend this for anyone else. If it’s legal in your jurisdiction, try it at your own risk. In any case, I discourage you from doing it on roads where you’re dealing with traffic.)

CAMCORDER
I’ve got a small Mini-DV camcorder, and I’ve taken it along on a couple trips. Even tried some down-the-road, hands-free motion videography. (Fun to watch, but rather complicated. I built a little chest-mounted, strap-on rig out of ¼” plywood, that was okay, not great. I’ve also tried with a handlebar-clamp camera mount. That, too, was okay, but not great. Helmet-mount… now THAT would be COOL!)

NECK COOLER
Have you seen ‘em? They look like a rolled-up bandanna, but they have some water-absorbing polymer crystals inside. You stick ‘em in water for a half-hour before you ride, and they suck up several ounces of water. Then they work using “evaporative cooling” during the hot part of the day. Better living through chemistry. Take a zip-lock plastic bag to carry ‘em in when not in use, and let them dry out thoroughly or you’ll be dealing with mildew.

SLEEPING BAG
If I were Bill Gates, I’d probably just stay in motels all the time. But since I’m Steve Hulme, I generally camp 2 nights, and then stay the 3rd night in a motel. I use a down-filled sleeping bag, because it packs so small and light. (Down has to stay dry to be effective – I have a waterproof bag for it, so it won’t get wet if I’m riding in a rainstorm.) I’ve got a “tapered” style, about halfway between a rectangular bag and a “mummy” bag. Got it from Campmor.com – they have lots of cool camping and travel gear. (Note on sleeping bag – when you’re not using it, don’t leave it packed up tightly or it will lose its loft. Hang it up inside a plastic bag, or keep it in a storage bag – the one I got from Campmor came with a nice bag to store it in.)

TENT
Any tent is a compromise. An 8-foot-square tent with a 6-foot ceiling would be nice, but would take up so much packing space. I once got a super-compact “Eureka Solo” tent, that was made for bicycle trips, etc. It packed super-small, but I hated it – I couldn’t even sit up in the thing, and it was like sleeping in a coffin! I’ve found a nice compromise – a “SIERRA DESIGNS CLIP FLASHLIGHT CD” tent. It’s supposedly a 2-person tent – but you’d have to be REAL good friends or Siamese twins... know what I mean? (They make a 3-person model, that would probably be adequate for 2 real people.) It’s just right for one person – I can stow most of my stay-dry gear inside if it’s raining, it packs up very small and light, it sets up in about 5 minutes, and I can sit up in it, get dressed in it (with some effort), etc. Seems like I paid about $180 for it, and the footprint.  You can buy a tent for less, or for WAY more.  The only thing I would like to change… it’s not free-standing. Which means you need to stake it. Not that big a deal, unless you’re 50 miles north of Seattle, setting it up in rocky soil, while rain pours down on you. (I speak from personal experience. Fortunately, that isn’t a frequent scenario.)  I have a "footprint" ground cloth, cut in the same shape as the floor of the tent, that goes between the ground and the tent.

AIR MATTRESS
The older I get, the less tolerant I am of hard ground, as a sleeping platform. I tried a hiker-style blow-up air mattress. It worked for about one year, and then got leaky. It was pretty nice while it lasted. I replaced it with a ¾-length Therm-A-Rest self-inflating mattress. I got the super-compact, and lightweight, hiker style. I’ve been pretty happy with it. It’s only an inch or so thick, but just that much thickness makes a world of difference. You lay it out flat, open the valve, and in a few minutes, it inflates itself. Give it one or two puffs to finish it off, close the valve, and you’re set. (If space and weight weren’t a major factor, I’d probably go with one of their “camper” models – slightly bigger and heavier, but an inch thicker. THAT would probably be super-adequate.)

PILLOW
A pillow is a hassle. I’ve tried just stuffing my clothes into a bag, but that’s stiff and uncomfortable, and it’s shifting around all night long. Nightmare! I gritted my teeth and got a tiny little pillow – made by the folks who make the Therm-A-Rest mattress. It’s fiber-filled, and isn’t very big, but it packs into a built-in pouch, and is about the size of a big clenched-up fist when it’s packed.

BATH TOWEL
If you stay at a campground with showers (as I always do), you will be sorely disappointed if you can’t dry yourself off after you take your shower. (I also carry a small clothesline with spring-metal clothes pins, so I can hang my towel and other gear out to dry overnight. If it’s raining… that’s a problem isn’t it?)

Steve Hulme, January 2005