michnus
Bachelor Dog
Some people asked me to list some of the stuff that worked for us and what not for our trip.
Please add to this thread what worked for you or if you have better options than what we used.
Luggage
First thing must be what to pack your stuff in. I am not a fan off hard luggage, reason being it's a lot heavier than soft luggage, cumbersome through traffic, expensive, and can break you leg or ankle in a place you can't afford to walk your bike out. Either the pannier break your bike in a fall or the pannier get damage, soft luggage sort off take falls better than panniers, imho. It's just my preference.
I understand in some instances hard panniers do make sense, like when you travel alone and have to leave a bike when going through a border post. People told us we are crazy using soft luggage in Africa, they gonna cut the bags and run. It might happen but it did not, people generally stay away from the bikes. Whatever your decision make sure you choose the correct option that suite you.
We used our ATG waterproof roll bags instead of topboxes. It weighs nothing compared to a topbox and do not go AWOL on a bad dirt road. We met up with other bikers using the same kind of bags and never had they had a problem with security issues because it was a soft bag. One other reason is that we do not want weight high up on the back of the bike. The heavy stuff was packed in the soft panniers and the light stuff in the roll bags.
Our laptop, some of the clothing and sleeping stuff were packed in the roll bags, easy to take off when we stopped. And when you have to load up some more beers for the evening the roll bag always have some more space. :biggrin:
We also used it for a washing clothing.
Less than 30kg on a bike was the target weight.
Clothing
Use quick dry shirts and pants and they pack small. Fleece jacket each, socks. We each had a pair of plakkies and light weight shoes. We only packed 3 shirts and two sets of pants each. No hair dryers and such rubbish.
Columbia and Capestorm produce good quality garments. These garments can take the abuse of frequent washing and constant wear. In Dar, Nairobi for example there's young bliksems that's looking for a easy pick pocket and having pants with zippers for closing up pockets is best. They stole a wallet out of the pocket of an elderly gentleman that was on a taxi with us in Addis.
total weight of the clothes was around 3.5kg.
Electronic stuff
The one thing that's a big schlep is the batteries for new age cameras. The AA batteries is great, the camera companies do not think so. I bought a charger that was able to charge any of these from the bike. The problem is I think it under charge the batteries and eventually gave up the ghost.
I am still looking for a decent charger that can be used on a Hella plug and charge off the bike.
Power directly from the battery into the tank bags with a quick coupler. It meant we could leave cell's, bike comm's, Ipods and other stuff in the tank bag, lock it and leave it while it charge. The other female Hella plug was fitted to the bike to run the air pump.
We got a Mecer 11" laptop to use with one additional external hard drive to back up pictures. The laptop lived in the roll bag in it's own bag, reason being it was protected from dust and dirt and with an off the soft panniers on dirt wont smash the laptop.
The Sena10 headsets was the best. I never used any other so can't compare, it made life a lot easier when we got into busy cities or when either of us just wanted to stop for a picture. We hate bloody wires that must be plugged into a helmet, these units have no wires or such drags. They charge from the hella plug, run 2 weeks between recharge and lasted with rain and dust. Elsebie damaged her unit in the fall in Uganda, they are quite robust the unit survived and we were able to open it up and fix it.
With regards to camp lights. We used the LEdLenser headlamps, they are small, use rechargeable AAA batteries and can charge directly off the Hella socket on the bike. Besides they are really powerful.
This LED I bought at OutdoorWharehouse, it draw 0.00000000001nothing Amp current and can run the entire night on the bike battery. Added a 5meter flex wire with a Hell plug and stored it in a small pencil case. Lights up quite well around a camp site. LEDlenser is the only head lamp in my opinion, the rest sucks. And for bike travel the only one offering charging while travelling and charging through USB. Also it's super bright!
www.awesometools.co.za
Kitchen
We had two luxuries, the one is the espresso coffee thingamabob. Stored some stuff in it while packed. One small pot, forks and a long ice scream spoon. This clever idea we got from Nardus, you can use this spoon for mixing the grub in a pot, and everything else. The Leatherman's knifes was used for eating.
The multi fuel is the only stove we will take on such a trip, from Namibia you go petrol. Gas canisters if you lucky enough you might find in Lusaka. The multi fuel is easy to repair and clean if things go wrong. I took petrol from the bike when we need too.
We did not take a water purifier it just add to the weight. There's enough water, soda's or beer to drink. We used a 3L tripper each for water.
Sleeping stuff
Sleeping on these useless rubbish blow up pillows are not my thing, we bought feather cushions and packed them very tight into a small ball with a quick strap.
We also only had 2 light weight sleeping bags that can zip all the way open. With that we used the stretchers and 2 very small blow up mattresses. Depending on where we stayed, sometimes if it was late and nice flat grass we would use the blow up mattresses and if we stayed longer we would use the mattress on the stretcher. Otherwise we would only use the stretcher.
Tent, was a big two man tent with removable flysheet. Africa is hot most of the times we used only the inner part to keep the mozzies at bay.
Tools
This one got me a bit. The tools weigh in at a hefty 9.5kg excluding the pumps and other bits and tubes.
I really tried to cut on tools as much as possible, I have used every one of them on the trip at one stage or another. I did not take any screw drivers as the Leatherman got a Philips and a flat, that is the extend I tried to save weight on tools. The rest was nothing special, chain breaker and such stuff.
If there's tools out there with inter changeable bits I would love to get my hands on them. One handle and different size open head spanners for example. Titanium whatever is available.
There's 2 tyre bead breakers, the one too heavy and the other too expensive. I had to repair tubes in Ethiopia alone 6 times. The bikes side stands are not made for this abuse and my bike side stand started to bend.
On tubes I have changed my mind a bit. We took heavy duty tubes, they are difficult to pack and I had to make space for them in the white tubes in the place of the dummy exhaust. The reason I changed my mind on them? Got a puncture from a small Bougainvillea thorn at a camp site. This small little thorn juuuuust pinched through the heavy duty tube to give me a slow puncture. If this was what happened to a heavy duty tube then I could just as well have carried a normal one and still had to fix the flat. Biiiig difference is I could have carried 3 tubes in the place I packed 1 enduro tube. Plus the cost on them.
Tyre levers. Lost mine at some stage, with a bit of luck in Nairobi a Canadian biker stopped his trip and was on his way home. He said I can buy his 3 BMW tire levers off him. Not impressed with the small size levers,I had no choice but to take them. There's the small ones you buy at any bike shop. They are fatter than the BMW ones and I hate them, you always struggle to get the point between the rim and tyre. The BMW ones worked very well to my surprise. I am not sure whether they are sold in SA, but they work well and pack small. I can replace a rear tube in under 25min and be back on the road again, ust a hellova lot of sweat and cursing. :biggrin:
What did I miss?
Please add to this thread what worked for you or if you have better options than what we used.
Luggage
First thing must be what to pack your stuff in. I am not a fan off hard luggage, reason being it's a lot heavier than soft luggage, cumbersome through traffic, expensive, and can break you leg or ankle in a place you can't afford to walk your bike out. Either the pannier break your bike in a fall or the pannier get damage, soft luggage sort off take falls better than panniers, imho. It's just my preference.
I understand in some instances hard panniers do make sense, like when you travel alone and have to leave a bike when going through a border post. People told us we are crazy using soft luggage in Africa, they gonna cut the bags and run. It might happen but it did not, people generally stay away from the bikes. Whatever your decision make sure you choose the correct option that suite you.
click on the pictures for bigger sizes
We used our ATG waterproof roll bags instead of topboxes. It weighs nothing compared to a topbox and do not go AWOL on a bad dirt road. We met up with other bikers using the same kind of bags and never had they had a problem with security issues because it was a soft bag. One other reason is that we do not want weight high up on the back of the bike. The heavy stuff was packed in the soft panniers and the light stuff in the roll bags.
Our laptop, some of the clothing and sleeping stuff were packed in the roll bags, easy to take off when we stopped. And when you have to load up some more beers for the evening the roll bag always have some more space. :biggrin:
We also used it for a washing clothing.
Less than 30kg on a bike was the target weight.
What a pannier can do to legs and ankles.
All this stuff was tied down with ROK straps. Never had any thing shaved through and it keeps stuff on the bike. Clothing
Use quick dry shirts and pants and they pack small. Fleece jacket each, socks. We each had a pair of plakkies and light weight shoes. We only packed 3 shirts and two sets of pants each. No hair dryers and such rubbish.
Columbia and Capestorm produce good quality garments. These garments can take the abuse of frequent washing and constant wear. In Dar, Nairobi for example there's young bliksems that's looking for a easy pick pocket and having pants with zippers for closing up pockets is best. They stole a wallet out of the pocket of an elderly gentleman that was on a taxi with us in Addis.
total weight of the clothes was around 3.5kg.
Electronic stuff
The one thing that's a big schlep is the batteries for new age cameras. The AA batteries is great, the camera companies do not think so. I bought a charger that was able to charge any of these from the bike. The problem is I think it under charge the batteries and eventually gave up the ghost.
I am still looking for a decent charger that can be used on a Hella plug and charge off the bike.
Power directly from the battery into the tank bags with a quick coupler. It meant we could leave cell's, bike comm's, Ipods and other stuff in the tank bag, lock it and leave it while it charge. The other female Hella plug was fitted to the bike to run the air pump.
We got a Mecer 11" laptop to use with one additional external hard drive to back up pictures. The laptop lived in the roll bag in it's own bag, reason being it was protected from dust and dirt and with an off the soft panniers on dirt wont smash the laptop.
The Sena10 headsets was the best. I never used any other so can't compare, it made life a lot easier when we got into busy cities or when either of us just wanted to stop for a picture. We hate bloody wires that must be plugged into a helmet, these units have no wires or such drags. They charge from the hella plug, run 2 weeks between recharge and lasted with rain and dust. Elsebie damaged her unit in the fall in Uganda, they are quite robust the unit survived and we were able to open it up and fix it.
With regards to camp lights. We used the LEdLenser headlamps, they are small, use rechargeable AAA batteries and can charge directly off the Hella socket on the bike. Besides they are really powerful.
This LED I bought at OutdoorWharehouse, it draw 0.00000000001nothing Amp current and can run the entire night on the bike battery. Added a 5meter flex wire with a Hell plug and stored it in a small pencil case. Lights up quite well around a camp site. LEDlenser is the only head lamp in my opinion, the rest sucks. And for bike travel the only one offering charging while travelling and charging through USB. Also it's super bright!
www.awesometools.co.za
Kitchen
We had two luxuries, the one is the espresso coffee thingamabob. Stored some stuff in it while packed. One small pot, forks and a long ice scream spoon. This clever idea we got from Nardus, you can use this spoon for mixing the grub in a pot, and everything else. The Leatherman's knifes was used for eating.
The multi fuel is the only stove we will take on such a trip, from Namibia you go petrol. Gas canisters if you lucky enough you might find in Lusaka. The multi fuel is easy to repair and clean if things go wrong. I took petrol from the bike when we need too.
We did not take a water purifier it just add to the weight. There's enough water, soda's or beer to drink. We used a 3L tripper each for water.
Sleeping stuff
Sleeping on these useless rubbish blow up pillows are not my thing, we bought feather cushions and packed them very tight into a small ball with a quick strap.
We also only had 2 light weight sleeping bags that can zip all the way open. With that we used the stretchers and 2 very small blow up mattresses. Depending on where we stayed, sometimes if it was late and nice flat grass we would use the blow up mattresses and if we stayed longer we would use the mattress on the stretcher. Otherwise we would only use the stretcher.
Tent, was a big two man tent with removable flysheet. Africa is hot most of the times we used only the inner part to keep the mozzies at bay.
Tools
This one got me a bit. The tools weigh in at a hefty 9.5kg excluding the pumps and other bits and tubes.
I really tried to cut on tools as much as possible, I have used every one of them on the trip at one stage or another. I did not take any screw drivers as the Leatherman got a Philips and a flat, that is the extend I tried to save weight on tools. The rest was nothing special, chain breaker and such stuff.
If there's tools out there with inter changeable bits I would love to get my hands on them. One handle and different size open head spanners for example. Titanium whatever is available.
There's 2 tyre bead breakers, the one too heavy and the other too expensive. I had to repair tubes in Ethiopia alone 6 times. The bikes side stands are not made for this abuse and my bike side stand started to bend.
On tubes I have changed my mind a bit. We took heavy duty tubes, they are difficult to pack and I had to make space for them in the white tubes in the place of the dummy exhaust. The reason I changed my mind on them? Got a puncture from a small Bougainvillea thorn at a camp site. This small little thorn juuuuust pinched through the heavy duty tube to give me a slow puncture. If this was what happened to a heavy duty tube then I could just as well have carried a normal one and still had to fix the flat. Biiiig difference is I could have carried 3 tubes in the place I packed 1 enduro tube. Plus the cost on them.
Tyre levers. Lost mine at some stage, with a bit of luck in Nairobi a Canadian biker stopped his trip and was on his way home. He said I can buy his 3 BMW tire levers off him. Not impressed with the small size levers,I had no choice but to take them. There's the small ones you buy at any bike shop. They are fatter than the BMW ones and I hate them, you always struggle to get the point between the rim and tyre. The BMW ones worked very well to my surprise. I am not sure whether they are sold in SA, but they work well and pack small. I can replace a rear tube in under 25min and be back on the road again, ust a hellova lot of sweat and cursing. :biggrin:
What did I miss?
