Intro: The Gear

Since I started planning, I’ve been buying things, like, a lot of things. All the things in that picture I did not own before I started planning the trip, except both cameras. It seemed ridiculous to me to be buying so much, but when this is everything I have to live on for the next year,  it seems more reasonable. I’ll renew gear, buy more and remove as I go along, but you’ve got to start somewhere.

And no, I’m not taking the folding chair or cactus.

Once it’s all packed up, believe it or not, I have quite a lot of spare room.

The Panniers are full to the brim with the camp gear, they only just close, but that keeps all the weight low and I only need to get to it once a day.

The rollbags however are a little roomy. The large one holds all the things I usually don’t need everyday, most of the clothes, spare food, cables, and tends to be mostly full. The smaller one holds the day to day stuff, change of clothes, torch, food, batteries etc. but has a lot of spare room.

The tankbag holds the basics I need while riding, camera, tripod, battery chargers running while I ride, sun cream, insect repellent; leaves a fair bit of room to throw things in.

My rucksack is my pick up and go, I don’t wear it riding, but it holds all the important stuff, laptop, and documents. When I leave the bike I throw the expensive bits in there (camera, GPS etc.) and go, so it’s also quite empty, I don’t want to carry a heavy rucksack around a city.

Obviously all my luggage is waterproof, otherwise rain would suck big time. I also keep the clothes in waterproof rollbags inside the rollbags, just in cas there’s a spill, and it helps separate things.

For the gear nerds, here’s the top down photo with a list in what is hopefully a logical order.

1. Boots – Daytona
2. Helmet – Nexx XD1
3. Jacket – Klim Karlsbad
4. Gloves Winter – Spada
5. Gloves Summer – RST
6. Gloves Winter with holes – RST
7. Riding Trousers – Klim Karlsbad
8. Camelback – Klim Fuel pack
9. Rucksack – Kriega R30
10. Panniers – Magadan MK2
11. Tank bag – Wolfman
12. Tent Inner (red) + outer (green) + Footprint (grey) – MSR Elixr 2
A little big, but packs very small in a compression sack if you split out the poles. A 2 person tent also means I can bring all my gear in the tent with me

13. Tent poles + pegs (red bags)
14. Sleeping bag – DD Jura 2
15. Sleeping mat – Thermarest
Very comfy, 2 meters long and packs very small

16. Pillow – Thermarest
17. Sleeping bag liner
18. Paracord
19. Ratchet strap
20. Head torch
21. Hand Torch
22. Hanging Torch
23. Spare Batteries
24. First Aid Kit
25. Lighter
26. Multi tool
27. Petrol Stove – MSR Whisperlite Universal
This has been amazing so far, it’s tiny and runs on petrol and performs perfectly

28. MSR Solo Pot
I just make one pot meals and eat from it too

29. Mini Air Pump – Dynaplug
This may have been more expensive than it was worth, though it is very compact

30. Fuel Bottle 1ltr – MSR
31. Spare Oil 1ltr
32. Chain Oil – Scotoiler
33. Chain Cleaner
34. Rear Sprocket – JT
35. Front Sproket – JT
36. Chain – AFAM
37. Spark Plugs
38. Hose
39. Tool Roll
40. Cruise Control Clip
Just clips onto the throttle to make it easier to hold the throttle in place, I love it.

41. Off bike Shoes
Decent walking shoes, for walking decently

42. Mint Cake
A gift from my cousin, it’s basically Lembas bread, which makes me happy

43. Spare cash (USD and EUR)
Hidden away in my bag for emergencies

44. Water Container – MSR Dromedary 8ltr
Makes it very easy to always carry at least 5 litres of water

45. EU Plug adapter
46. Wireless Mouse
47. Battery pack
21 Amp Hours of charge, perfect for keeping the phone going

48. Universal plug adapter
49. Spare headphones – Senheisser EP630
50. Spare cables – USB Various
51. Non important documents, copies
52. Notepad
53. Hard drives + SD Cards
54. Important Documents
55. Waterproof packet jacket – Regatta
56. Wash bag
Includes toothbrush, deodorant, soap and basic medicines

57. Insect repellent – Deet 100
This stuff melts plastics, but keeps the bugs away

58. Camera battery charger
59. Aux phone battery charger
60. USB Cable
61. Laptop – Asus K501U
Expensive, but it’s my only real computing power for the trip, plus it can run StarCraft

62. Laptop charger
63. Flexible Tripod
64. Camera – Sony Cybershot
This is old, and I’ve now realised, worse than my new Phone

65. Nintendo DS XL
Because Nerd

66. Satnav – Garmin Zumo 660
I don’t like satnavs but I caved for the trip, they make cities so easy

67. Kindle – Paperwhite
Because who can travel without a book?

68. Many cables
Various USB cables, chargers and adapters

Clothes:
I have quite a lot of clothes, mostly under gear for hot and some for cold. I may trim this down as I realise I don’t wear certain items

69. Thin Fleece – Mountain warehouse
70. Long sleeve jumper – Moutain Warehouse
71. Thermal top – SubSports
72. Long sleeve top – Mountain Warehouse
73. Under Armour t-shirt x 2
74. Under Shirt – Revit
75. Waterprrof overgloves – Spada
76. Inner/Walking Gloves
77. Dry bags Lots of
78. Rock straps x4
79. Off bike trousers x2 (wearing 1)
80. Wool under trousers
81. Under Trousers – Revit warm gear
82. Hat
83. Underwear x4
84. Padded Underwear – Moto Skiviz
Like siting on a cloud, a hot sweaty cloud

85. Merino wool socks x2
86. Trainer socks
87. Cotton socks
88. 60L Roll bag – Enduristan 2L
89. 30L Roll bag – Enduristan 2M
90. Cargo Net
91. Steel Cable Locks x3
For wrapping around the Magadans and Rollbags if I leave the bike

92. Bike Cover – Held
Not sure how long I’ll keep this, but it’s great for security, putting the bike out of sight.

Not Pictured, because some were under the bike seat or I forgot, and I was taking the picture with my phone….duh!
93. Oil Filter
94. 4x Brake Pads
95. 1x Brake pads rear
96. Super Glue
97. Tie Wraps
98. Compass
99. Flip Flops
100. Phone – LG G5

I swear to all that I care for, I did not alter this list in anyway, I wrote the list out, then numbered them and it was exactly 100; I’m going to call that subconscious OCD.