what "back-up" items do you take?

[Asposium]

I am coming to appreciate that effective bikepacking is travelling light, and only taking what is needed.
it is a challenge finding that balance; some of you guys make it look so easy

from doing some long events and chatting with people during these events has made be realise that things do break.

so, what "back-up" [*] items do you take

for myself, wondering if two small external battery packs are preferable to one larger.
and, given the important of GPS for navigation a second Garmin

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[*] for this discussion a "back-up" item is a second item of the same function.
For example, ...extreme I know but get the idea.
A mech hanger would be a spare
A complete second bike would be a back-up



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sat at my desk ponder, post YD300 stiff ankles (childhood injury)
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a spare is a part for an item.
spare wheel for a car
spare battery camera
spare laces for one's walking boots
a back up is a complete item of the same function
a second back up car
a second camera
a second pair of boots.

a spare permits continues use of the primary item
however!!! is useless if the spare item does not fix the particular fault that has occurred
a back-up replaces the primary item in terms of its main function.
obvious example is taking a second camera (body and lens) as a wedding photography. a second body is a back-up body; however, only a spare camera. a spare body doesn't help if the lens /battery /memory card dies <<< I was chatting with a photographer

[Bearbonesnorm]

Err, after a little bit of thinking time, I've realised that I don't actually carry any back-up items. I figure it's a path that leads directly to, 'what if', 'just in case' and TMS.

[Scattamah]

Batteries...enough to give me a charge until I hit civilisation again.
Aquamira tabs in case the Sawyer flips out.
Hanger + bracket for when the drive train needs love.
Tube + skabs for when the tubeless fails.
After watching Pistonbroke break spokes in Spain, I'm thinking some spare spokes might start living in my downtube.
Dry socks.

Greetz

S.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Batteries...enough to give me a charge until I hit civilisation again.
Aquamira tabs in case the Sawyer flips out.
Hanger + bracket for when the drive train needs love.
Tube + skabs for when the tubeless fails.
After watching Pistonbroke break spokes in Spain, I'm thinking some spare spokes might start living in my downtube.
Dry socks.

Aside from the Aquamira tabs, all those are spares, not back-up / double-up items.

[atk]

Credit card. Back up for (but not limited to...) debit card/cash, food, shelter, bike, transport, good weather etc.

[whitestone]

It's a balance between: light, durable, field fixable. I'm not going to be able to fix a borked GPS device beyond doing a device reset, as far as I'm concerned it's "No user serviceable parts inside". I'd say bike bits are all spares, it's stuff attached to the bike that would have "backups"

I'd consider a map as backup to GPS especially for a ride that is "space" constrained like the YD300 or the Bearbones events, i.e. I'm not riding across America or something like that.

[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.

[ianfitz]

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.

Almost is the key word here. For shorter or more leisurely trips with electricity to recharge I found iPhone fine.

For anything else more battery power is needed and often Dynamo power is not sufficient to keep batteries topped up.

[Asposium]

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?

[Ray Young]

Nothing unless you count a phone with the route on viewranger in case the the Garmin crashes.

[Asposium]

Nothing unless you count a phone with the route on viewranger in case the the Garmin crashes.

yup, that would count as a back-up

[Dave Barter]

I had this idea that we could crowdsource between us a "What if?" document. Which could detail a whole series of what-ifs for scenarios like:-

-ripped tyre
-smashed rear mech
-cracked frame
-broken pedal
etc....

I've seen loads of ace trail bodges over the years and spend a lot of my riding time thinking through what I would do if X went wrong (it never does Y breaks instead). I was thinking of starting a shared document that anyone could use and contribute to. Any takers?

[Bearbonesnorm]

I've seen loads of ace trail bodges over the years and spend a lot of my riding time thinking through what I would do if X went wrong (it never does Y breaks instead). I was thinking of starting a shared document that anyone could use and contribute to. Any takers?

Sounds like a cracking idea Dave. It also sounds like another sub-chapter for my book

[benp1]

That's actually a very good idea Dave

[Bearbonesnorm]

That's actually a very good idea Dave

He says that like you never have them

[rowlandpg]

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?

A second hand smartphone (iphone 5s for me) is cheaper or around the same price as a garmin.

Mine sits in a watproof case attached to my handlebars and I've never even thought about the fact it might be broken. It would need a pretty large and unlucky crash. My only worry is the case is not 100% waterproof, but its never failed so far.

[windjammer]

i carry a spare freehub body, as i bust one last week,i managed to weave a gear cable through the largest sprocket and around the spokes to get me home.
the wheels are the most important part of the bike so just carry stuff to fix them,you can still do a fred flinstone if your gear bust but how do you push a full laden bike if the wheels pooped

[fatbikephil]

Its hard / impossible to predict what will break so I tend towards things that help you bodge anything (cable ties, puncture stuff, chain joining links, a few handy nuts and bolts). The exception on longer trips is a rear mech link piece as they weigh nowt, can be changed easily and often get bent in a crash or rock interface.

[Mart]

Spares for me are carried, but I work on the scenario ..... Will it stop me riding? Obviously there is a limit to what you can carry but I do take the following to keep me going

- Spare Chain link
- Spare Chainring bolt
- Inner Tubes & Puncture repair stuff (levers, patches & tyre boot, valve cores etc)
- Small multi tool and pump
- Cable ties
- Mech Hanger

Sometimes also include
- spare brake pads

[Bearbonesnorm]

I think the distinction between spare parts and back-up items needs some thinking about ... many people are listing what I'd consider to be spare parts for the seemingly inevitable mechanical.

I'd list back-up items as a second of something you're already carrying, so carrying 2 hats, 2 pairs of gloves or 2 gps as already mentioned. Quite different from mechanical parts.

[whitestone]

That's my take on it Stu.

On the HT I took two spare pairs of gloves and two spare pairs of socks and a spare pair of shorts but for a slightly different reason: hands, feet and bum are your contact points to the bike so having different clothing can ease any potential soreness. Gloves have subtly different padding, etc. (could be complete cobblers!)

[Asposium]

I think the distinction between spare parts and back-up items needs some thinking about ... many people are listing what I'd consider to be spare parts for the seemingly inevitable mechanical.

I'd list back-up items as a second of something you're already carrying, so carrying 2 hats, 2 pairs of gloves or 2 gps as already mentioned. Quite different from mechanical parts.

in my opinion

a spare permits continues use of the primary item ((a spare inner tube))
a back-up replaces the primary item in terms of its main function. ((a back-up IPhone as GPS))

[Asposium]

That's my take on it Stu.

Gloves have subtly different padding, etc. (could be complete cobblers!)

I saw a blog post by a lady cyclist who carried two different brands of shorts because they had different padding and therefore different contact points.

after a bit of googling......

2 x different brands of chamois shorts to change up the “tread” every day

http://www.ankamartin.com/blog/2016/3/2 ... nlyaeht5lb

[benp1]

Different gloves feels different to spares of the same set. I.e. full finger vs fingerless mitts

[Dave Barter]

That's actually a very good idea Dave

He says that like you never have them

He's right. I'll get on the case.