what "back-up" items do you take?

[darbeze]

Spares yes.

Back up items no. Unless you class paper maps and compass in case Garmin Dakota fails...

Si

[johnnystorm]

For TD I had edge 810, phone with maps, paper maps and a spare garmin. Special case though as A) beyond the route I had little knowledge of the terrain/places and B) being on the correct route is crucial to the whole thing not being an expensive mistake.

That does mean my dakota has done the TD twice now without ever being switched on.

[Cheeky Monkey]

No backups that I can think of but then the number of trips recently (ish) and just generally don't tend to be the substantial distances others do. Possibly contributes to a mindset of "sod it, I'll just go home if it goes wrong" mentality.

[BigdummySteve]

A modern phone is a very capable GPS,in fact I sold my garmin and use my iPhone as it's better. Get a dynamo hub and a battery, it will almost keep up with power needs on its own. I don't take any duplicate items apart from changing leads as they fail without any warning.

wow!
are you never paranoid having such an expensive, and delicate item exposed to crashes?

Not really, my main reason for having the phone is for mapping. Garmins are not exactly cheap either, besides as I rapidly approach 50 I tend to crash less

[cloudnine]

Backup cake and some decent backup rum..

[Richard G]

The only "back-up" stuff I think I carry now is a battery. I've run out my main spare battery a few times (shitty Garmin / phone battery life) so I like to have a safety net.

[RIP]

"I've realised that I don't actually carry any back-up items". Whilst obviously nowhere near Stu's level of expertise, I aspire to and try to aim for this. I'm with ATK too: generally you can pay your way out of trouble, so card/cash is the backup (re-reading that, it sounds a horribly arrogant thing to say, but..). "Depends how far from 'civilisation' one will be"?

Being ornery, all this talk of batteries and GPS doesn't affect me and my maps . I suppose a spare iron might help when they get wet.

Oh and yes cake obviously

[Asposium]

"
Being ornery, all this talk of batteries and GPS doesn't affect me and my maps . I suppose a spare iron might help when they get wet.

years ago I used to do trailquest with a paper map on the bars, that was a right royal faff.
much nicer having a moving map on the screen
though the "WTF" moment when the Garmin kept dropping GPS fix was annoying; thumbing the map on a screen.

[RIP]

"much nicer having a moving map on the screen" - cue fun and loooooooong pub banter on said subject . We are indeed a broad church here which is good (with old farts like me with their funny old-fashioned ways dozing fitfully on the back pews ) .

[ZeroDarkBivi]

The only backup I carry is a spare Garmin. Phone is for communicating; The battery life using GPS is cack, I don't want to carry a massive power bank, and dynamos are also cack off-road. I've also been told the touch-sensitive screen doesn't work so well in the wet.

[Alpinum]

Back up or hack up.

There's so much that can be fixed in a way that will see you through defects with some imagination and calm mindset.

I came out of awkward situations with a smile this way. Just hack the sh*t out of what you have with you and you'll be fine (mostly).

[Charliecres]

No back-ups for me, aside from dry clothes to sleep in (so not back-ups).

[danielgroves]

This one is very situation dependent. When I was cycling across Europe last summer I took far more spares than for an average weekend trip. For the weekend I'd probably throw a few extra camera batteries in and leave it at that. Can always ride out, worst case.

Cycling across Europe on the other hand I knew I was going through some pretty remote areas, so I had a full set of spare brake pads, spare gear cable, spare break cables, 3 spare tubes (not tubeless on the road bike), backup power (solar panel, two Anker batteries, two USB camera chargers -- gotta keep that camera running), spare GPS batteries, spare bike light, glasses (I normally wear contacts riding) and probably other things.

The thing to keep in mind here is that I knew I wouldn't always be able to source spares easily, and I wasn't racing so I was much less bothered about weight that I could have been. I had sub standard loads of stuff I would leave behind going ultra-light. I haven't listed clothing in that list, I had plenty of spares there but in six weeks on the road there was no way I'd be wearing the same set of bibs the whole time (as a standalone example), so in this context I didn't consider them spare. It's all subjective.

[HaYWiRe]

I still fail to see the distinction between spare and backup no matter how many times its reworded.

I carry parts to fix more likely problems, like punctures, chain breakage, loose common bolts.
Try and cover as wide as possible without carrying too much, spare links and bolts are tiny but could be useful. Want to carry spare brake pads as im doing bigger decents now, never needed but again...fairly likely and tiny.

Thought about spare cables but less likely to break if looked after and wont affect my ability to get home safely. Not shifting sucks but not braking is dangerous.

Only real backup i guess is food, glucotabs and insulin...i guess it could be spares but either way i never skimp. Some may go hungry till the next food stop but in emergencies i cant risk not having enough to treat a hypo or ofcourse if i break an insulin pen i am properly f**ked so i carry a backup.

Should carry backup testers but i guess i can survive until i get home without testing but cant really survive without insulin for long

[Bearbonesnorm]

I still fail to see the distinction between spare and backup no matter how many times its reworded.

Below are spares

I carry parts to fix more likely problems, like punctures, chain breakage, loose common bolts.
Try and cover as wide as possible without carrying too much, spare links and bolts are tiny but could be useful. Want to carry spare brake pads as im doing bigger decents now, never needed but again...fairly likely and tiny.

Thought about spare cables but less likely to break if looked after and wont affect my ability to get home safely. Not shifting sucks but not braking is dangerous.

Only real backup i guess is food, glucotabs and insulin...i guess it could be spares but either way i never skimp. Some may go hungry till the next food stop but in emergencies i cant risk not having enough to treat a hypo or ofcourse if i break an insulin pen i am properly f**ked so i carry a backup.

^ a back-up but a very sensible one I think.

[MuddyPete]

Back-ups: chargers for the bike lights & small blinky light in case I can't find electricity.

+1 for maps here Reg, but...

...I suppose a spare iron might help when they get wet...

...is that just in case the iron you usually carry breaks down? Is that likely? And how long's the extension lead?



But at least there's plenty of space to unfurl the map and have a proper look at the route.

[RIP]

Top man Pete! Obviously an afficionado of Extreme Ironing too! Good point re 'spare' iron - my 'main' one of course is me on top of a mat on top of the item to be ironed...

[RIP]

And also good point re plenty of room to spread the map - a lovely and well-thought-out bit of 'double usage' there...

[voodoo_simon]

Normally carry a (spare or) backup spork and sometimes will take a wind proof jacket or vest as well as a waterproof

[MuddyPete]

And also good point re plenty of room to spread the map - a lovely and well-thought-out bit of 'double usage' there...

Always keen to avoid taking unnecessary stuff, Reg.

[rich.mike]

I feel my situation on Saturday may have brought this thought up in your mind... thanks again for use of your powerbank! From now on I'm bringing 2, never want to be in that situation again. It surprised me how quickly I went from enjoying myself to feeling extremely vulnerable