Help me get ready for a LONG trip.

I picked up one of the therma rest pads. Posting from my hammock now (backyard) 37 degrees, and snug as a bug. Let's see how this works.

The Exped and BigAgnes pads generally pack down to a cylinder ~6x10 inches. Some of the non-insulated ones a little smaller if only camping in warm weather.

Even though I do the cooking at home, to me it's too involved to cook conventional meals while camping. I know some on here can, big props. Jetboil Sol and some Mountain House meals ride along for times that restaurants aren't nearby.

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I tend to travel real light. Which is fine. If you forget something, that's why God made Walmart.

The one thing that consistently comes up is, at some point in the trip, it always winds up being colder than I think it will be. That beautiful mountain summer morning gets darn chilly with a 90mph windchill. Gets colder at night than you think it will be.

I think part of the answer is to make sure you have a decent baselayer along. Most efficient way to extend the temperature rating of your sleep system (especially with a head covering) and an effective way to keep from freezing to death on the bike.

Since it's hard to find decent base layers at Walmart, I would say that deserves a lot of thought prior to the trip. Polypro and fleece garments can be had for nothing if you pay attention to the internet (ever been to steepandcheap dot com?) But as cheap as I am, I will actually spend money on a decent polypro top. It has such a huge temperature range, you wind up wearing it more than any other item in your bag. Other than my Comfort Drawers, which you might as well staple to my backside.

Granted I'm on the road, if you're humping through the wilderness that's a different matter. That said, I get by with whatever lousy tent/sleeping bag/camp stove I happen to have stumbled across. If I even bring a stove. I've been in the same $20 tent for years. Toted around a cheap fleece sleeping bag up until this year, when I finally treated myself to a $30 USGI surplus sleeping bag. It's all good. But not having a decent base layer stuffed in there somewhere would have brought the whole thing to a screeching halt several times.

I'm trying out a new piece of gear that has the same potential to turn non-optimal situations into tolerable ones, something that might have utility if you find yourself BVR from Walmart: a USGI poncho liner. You can use it as a quilt, sleeping bag liner, sleeping bag, seat, pillow, mechanic's mat, meditation cushion, overcoat.... really, anything other than, well, to line a poncho. The theory is, you stuff it into the nooks and crannies of your luggage so it doesn't necessarily take up a slot. I'll let you know how useful it is; so far it makes me very, very happy for reasons I can't fully explain.

That's the thing. You want things that work on the road, and can be used flexibly with a little imagination -- one thing that can be used for many things. In the summer, I bring convertible fishing pants that can be pressed into service as shorts or khaki's. They dry quickly meaning it's not a disaster if you get rained on, and you can wash them in the sink and use them the next day. For cooler weather, I found some expedition-weight polypro pants that look like sweats or yoga pants, so I knock around camp in them, or wear them to the laundr-o-mat, or use them as jammies if it gets chilly. A tube can be used as a neck gaiter, a dust mask, a do-rag, or to keep your noggin warm if you're trying to sleep. That's the concept.

AbqDave, awesome post!

Ok, I think I've got my basics down for my sleeping arrangements. The Thermarest pad seems to be the right addition to make my hammock work. I've got plenty of tools, so I think that will be more an exercise in paring down what I don't need and properly packing my tool tube. Riding gear is the easiest part for me, (I can get it at work ) Thermal base layers and a selection of gloves are definitely going in the kit for my long ride, numb hands suck!

What I'm still trying to grock:
Cloths: As I intend on wearing a full set of 'adventure gear' I'm trying to figure out a good option for something to wear under it. Polypropylene / moisture wicking shirts are a lifesaver.

Camp tools: Been ages since I've been camping, what do I need to take beyond sleeping gear? I can sit in my hammock so I don't need a chair, but I don't even know what to start with, haven't camped since I was a kid.

Food: Restaurants are cool. Poptarts make functional emergency rations. But I'd like to be able to make at least one meal a day in camp, or spend a couple days just kickin it through less populated areas.

Thanks for the help so far!

RE camping gear. Random thoughts, not trying to be comprehensive.

Light. Consider:
- Headlamp. Cuz it's easier than holding a maglite in your mouth when you're trying to read.
- Keychain flashlight. On you at all times, for when you forget your flashlight. Navigating by feel in the woods can be done, but it's not optimal.
- Tactical light. My favorite non-lethal self defense item. They can't jack you if they can't see you.

Poop system. Trowel, TP, ziplock baggie. (For ladies, I would add pee funnel.)

Comfort meds. Tylenol, Benadryl. Stuff for your tummy.

Baby wipes.

ShaveSecret. (Police that mooostache! Y'all startin to look like Elvises!)

Monocular.

Science books; you know, those little pocket sized things. Whatever floats your boat (birds? rocks and minerals?) although I would strongly recommend an astronomy book, because it's probably been a long time since you saw the night sky the way God made it, and if you're of a certain age you might never have seen it. Almost no matter which way you go, you should cross some of the least light-polluted areas in the lower 48. The desert on the border of Nevada and Utah is highly recommended, although really anyplace out West, outside of town will blow you away. Brother, you are in for a treat.

Mass is more important than weight for bike travel.

IE A cheaper steel cookset takes the same space as that titanium set but is heavier, but it will also last longer and will be easier to cook with.

While on the subject of cookware, stick with stainless steel. Coated pans do make cleanup easy, but you can't put them in a fire.

A few years back I was in south gaI , away from the big cities, and looked at the sky with gen 3+ light amplification. I saw galaxies.

When it comes to cooking en route, remember that if you bring a cookset, you're going to have to bring cleaning supplies. I go with a jet boil and that's enough to make a warm beverage and hot water for a freeze dried meal. Freeze dried is the way to go because there is no clean up required and supplies can be easily replenished at camp stores and wally worlds so you don't have to carry more than a day or two worth of food.

Bring one cup for coffee and one small bowl for oatmeal. One or two multi sporks. A good heavy knife for hacking things.

Harbor Freight has great lighting options for a tenth of the price of the fancy stuff at camping stores. I find I don't really use a lantern but I went all out and got a braxton no mantle or glass globe lantern that folds up to a pack of smokes size. I bring it cause it's small, but I really don't use it much.

Baby wipes replace TP.

Lots of socks. You can wear the same underwear for days but you need you some clean socks every day. Cappeline boxers are great and pack small.

Got some time to read? Browse through the pics and lists in this thread.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237723&highlight=equipment

You're doing the right thing that I used to do when starting out. Practice in the backyard. Yea, that 37 degrees may seem fine at bedtime but wait a few hours. The cold will soak through. Same thing with meals. I pack light for meals. More snacking throughout the day during fuel stops or photo stops. I'm not a coffee drinker but will fire up my MSR pocket rocket for oatmeal on a cold morning or boil some flavored rice with some chicken in it for dinner. Depends a lot on my mood. The link below gives some great ideas for what is good and what to avoid for your menu.
http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=290127&highlight=cook

Same thing with bike maintenance. Have you swapped or patched a tube using what comes out of the bike tool kit and not the stuff you have in your garage? Give it a try.

http://www.trailcooking.com

With a little advanced prep all you need to worry about cleaning is utensils.
Only need to heat water in a cup/bowl,so no clean up needed there and your eating container is thrown away at the next available trash bin.

Also home prep gets away from all the additives in freeze dried and other prepared foods,if thats a concern to you.

Merino wool socks and undies can be worn for a few days without developing funk or smell,plus usually a lot more durable than cotton or poly.Can be found in various weights for summer vs cooler weather riding.
Just air them out at night,if no laundry facilities available.

JR356

You can scramble eggs and make an omelet in a ziplock bag, heck, there are lots of things you can make in a ziplock bag. Use the heavy duty freezer bags or the ones made fro boiling water.

Also, if you're cooking over a fire you can cook right in the can. Put a dent in the can, throw it in the fire, when it pops back into shape it's done.

When I travel on the bike there are a couple of clothing items I've found very useful:
- Travel Pants/Shorts that zip off. Sometimes you don't want to look like an astrounat. The shorts double as swim trunks. They are synthetic and dry fast as well, and pack very small I find it's nice to change outta my stinky, dirty riding gear at the end of the day and be comfortable.
- An extra insulated layer: Some sort of warm, synthetic layer I can throw on for cold nights and mornings, nearly always get's used, and is missed when it's not there. I have a cabelas one that has worked fine. If you can find something that looks "nice" for going out to a restaurant that can do double duty. Also add's bulk for a pillow if needed
- Down sweater: These pack really small and make a nice pillow when not used. Can be used under coat to add a warm layer as well, or used as a blanket over your top if the weather is too warm for your sleeping bag etc.
- Sandles: I like the Keen Arroyo's. They double as my "Going out shoes", wearing in gross shower shoes, wading shoes, and just generally getting my feet out of my hot boots at the end of the day shoes.

Camp Tools:
- Multitool: I like a leatherman Wave. Too many uses to list.
- Sven Saw: This has a lot of duties, from clearning trees across roads and trails, to cutting lengths for firewood and when assembled it makes a good trail stand to change you tire. Doesn't take much bulk.
- Small Axe: Some like the Gerbing, I carry a Estwing Camping Hatchet. Doubles as a Tent Stake hammer, moral protection, and firewood splitter and general BFH.
- Get a good headlight.
- Get your charging cables together in a small sack. Consider an Anker battery from Amazon. You can charge your phone 6 times or so without power. Get a camera, MP3 player, GPS, Headlight etc that run off the same power connector if possible.

I organize my gear by different small stuff sacks:
- Kitchen: Spare fuel canister, cook knife, instant coffee, spork, Salt and Pepper.
- Food: Goes in its own bag along with a rope to hang it. I carry a zip lock of various snacks (Nothing that will melt), and bunch of mtn house and my breakfest mik. My breakfest mix is: Granola, Dried Bluberries and Powerdered milk all mixed together. When camping I put a serving in a bowl (Cup from Jet Boil Sol), and only have to add a bit of water, and I get a nice bowl of cereal for breakfest - works Great! Tastes the same as the "Blueberry Granola" that mountain house sells, but I can get a weeks worth for the price of their one (And I hate Oatmeal). The Mountain House eggs are kinda gross to me. Their skillets are good. The Mountain House entrees are pretty good though. My favorite is Sweet and Sour Pork. Very filling.
- Bathroom Bag: Wetwipes in a zip lock (Not TP), 100% Deet Bottle, Head Net, Deodorant, Small Packing Hand towl, Razor, Camp Sudz Soap and a travel Axe Aftershave. That way I can carry this one bag to a bathroom/cleanup spot and have all I need in one place.
- Toilet Bag: Get a small backpacking toilet organizer. Use pill packs vs. big bottles, and travel size items. I pretty much carry Camp Sudz, MonkeyButt Powder, shampoo, travel toothbrush paste, eye drops, some q-tips, couple of dollars in quarters, Meds, Tums, Pepto Tablets and ear plugs in mine.
- Clothes Bag: Doubles as pillow, or support under my shoulders on smaller sleeping pads
- Electornics in small Fleece Bag: I carry an iPod and small speakers which I enjoy. This bag also has spare batteries, my chargers (in a smaller bag), and other gadget stuff.
- Bike Accessories: Spare Gloves, Visor Cleaner and Soft Non-Scratch towels (See Harbor Frieght for these), BalaClava etc.
- Spare Parts Sack: Nuts Bolts, Travel Roll of Duct Tape, Zip Ties, Safety Wire, Fuses, Thread Lock, Valve Step, Valve Caps, Expoxy Tube etc. This sack in the size of a balpark Hot Dog, and every one of those above items has been used.

Tried a bunch of stoves and keep going back to a Jet Boil Sol. Get the pot support for it and you can heat up a can of soup for dinner. I don't cook in my JetBoil, so I carry a smaller cook pan. Currently trying a Snow Peak Hybrid Cooking set to extend my cooking options a bit for when I run out of Mtn House.

I'm also a fan of the REI Flex Light chair/Heliox Chair. They are small and I really enjoy having a nice place to relax and enjoy a beverage, hot meal from my stove and enjoy the view/being in nature. One of my favorite things to do.

There are as many ways to camp as their are campers. More experience will help you pare down your list. The above are just ideas that work for me.

All the above stuff about having some trial runs is great info.
Just do it. Experience IS the best teacher.
My experiences have over-all been very positive.
A AAA card would be handy and of course extra $$...seriously.
if you can't find people readily willing to help you out when you're needing help just because it is the Right thing to do...having some ready cash-ola helps

Enjoy yourself, be Positive, friendly, and helpful and you should meet lots of people similar...just the fact you're asking on such a thread introduces you to a lot of really great people...check out the tenting thread too where you can find people willing to put you up for the night just because you're an inmate on ADVRider...it's awesome.
Best of Luck
yatman

So a few people mentioned polypropylene, sorry but stay the hell away from that crap.

That was great in the 50's till about the end of Vietnam, but 2015 is around the corner and there is so much better stuff out there.

Polypro stinks to high heaven, and that's before you decide to sweat in them. It off gasses terribly.

Sure it's cheap, that's about the only decent thing about it. I gave away all my polypro years ago. Only bought it because I was riding around and somehow managed to leave some clothing behind at an inmates house and needed some cold weather gear at 14k feet and didn't want to spend too much cash.

Some minus33 merino wool can be had for $20, not much more than the $5-$10 polypro costs.

Yes for merino base layers. 2 tshirts, 2 underwear, 2 calf height socks (smartwoolmakes and good pair for skiing) and that's all you need. All of the above will pack in a Nalgene bottle. It dries overnight. Bring along liquid laundry soap in a small squeeze tube (like they sell for travel size 3oz liquids) so you can quickly wash stuff anywhere. It will dry overnight read for you to change.

You can go a few days without changing and there is no smell.

For pants, it depends on weather. For most normal weather conditions I bring a pair of synthetic shorts (North face) and a pair of old navy (yes, I know but they're great) nylon active wear pants. I usually bring shoes that can be rolled up (timberland dock shoes type) and a pair of Walmart sandles made of the same foam as crocs. Those can be strapped on to the luggage. In wam weather, I skip the shoes and add a pair of shorts.

For tops I have my merino shirts, usually add along sleeve shirt (again merino) and a fleece.

Wool all the way socks can go for days without discomfort or stink foot, same with tops and shorts. Smartwool is expensive but wil last years

http://www.smartwool.com/

For a minimal cooking setup I use an MSR Pocket Rocket stove (stowed in it's case) with the gas canister fitting inside a Titan Mug. This allows you to cook up things like noodles, soup or oatmeal directly in the pot or heat up water for bag meals....which obviously saves clean up. Sporks are cheap and good for all of the above and have a long spoon if just eating out of the bag. Additionally I have a small pot scrub, lighter and pack towel along with my camp knife and a small polyprop cutting board to maintain the semblance of being civilized.

As has been mentioned Titanium is not an advantage in this instance but I used this set up in my climbing days where weight is a premium. Stainless is ideal but I've never found one the right size for the canister like this one. For a more luxury camp cooking setup I take a slightly larger pot as well that has a lid that can be used as a fry pan. This allows you to use a cup when in 'polite company' and still have a pot for pasta and saueting your favourte road kill etc.