Most useful gear

Hat:
Nike DRI – FIT Mesh Cap
I did not know how happy I am for this hat, until I lost it, of course… like all other tings that I absolutely need I end up loosing. This cap was lite and very breathable, it was grey in the front part so that the light would not reflect down and easy adjusting velcro and that is all I needed in a hat.

The hat also kept the sun from burning my head, sometimes my saddle or the phone when I took breaks, and it was only $15, again great value.

A bonus to the hat was that it could be used as a fan for lighting/starting my camp fire.

 

Dry bags:
Alpkit Airlok Dual 20l Dry Bag
The Alpkit have dual openings and they come with two straps, I use them on my handlebar for clothing and on my rear rack for food and miscellaneous gear. Though I find them heavier than the other dry bags but the build quality is really good, and the double opening is a blessing, I do not know why other company does not do this, it saves a lot of hassle from having to pull everything out of the bag/s to get what is needed at the bottom.

Another good thing is that it has strap holders as well, this is really good to keep the dry bag from moving from side to side, and to keep the straps on without being moved as well, great detail.

One thing I do not like about them are the straps because they are hassle to adjust, so I end up using my PODsac straps instead.

PODsacs XXL 30l & Lifeventure 70l
Besides the the Alpkit I have these two, the POD XXL is used for my sleeping gear (Bivy/SLeeping bag/Liner) the Lifeventure is used as a multi functional dry bag, such as a tarp for the bivy, but mainly as a rain cover for my backpack. Once or twice I’ve used it to keep the top of the bivy from touching the sleeping bag by trapping air in the dry bag.

 

Adjustable Straps:
Sea to Summit Alloy Buckle & PODsacs strap
Without these tings my other things would not stay on my bike, duh.. I have tried regular cords, strings and Bungee Stretch Cord, and have found that these are the best.

I bought the POD 1m strap last year and find them to be the best at everything, they are wide and sturdy and the adjusting mechanism is really good at maintaining the strength and it is very easy to make adjustments, lastly great value.

The Sea to summit once are good quality, but it is made with aluminium adjusters, which in turn cuts into the strap and wear it down fast, it does not maintain it’s strength well, ever so I would have to re tighten the strap, lastly the width of the strap is smaller and thinner, so I will have to scrap them and buy POD straps instead.

 

Knee Warmers:
Endura Thermolite SS15
They were bought to keep my knees warm during the cooler conditions in Scotland, but it turns out that they are great for knee support as well. I tried not wearing them for about 50mi and my knees started hurting, the good thing about them are, that they dry really quick and they have a great value for the price.

 

Chamoise cream:
Udderly Smooth
My girlfriend bought it for me, and I can’t believe that I have not thought about using chamoise cream before. I can say that this cream have saved my butt from burning up, without it I could not bike for 12-15 hours a day or more than 40 miles, I have not tried other brand before, but this definitely works for me.

 

Solar Panel Charger:
Instapak 10
I have a mp3 player, a smartphone(as navigation), usb lights and a battery bank, all this technology needs charging, and if I have to take time off to recharge all this tech from day to day, I would not make 80 miles+. And as of now, it is summer in the U.S. so there is plenty of sun light to keep the panel going.

The solar panel has two usb, so I can easily charge my phone and another device at the same time, what I do most days is to just connect it to my backpack and voila, everything is charging while in use.

But sadly I lost the solar panel a back in a park one day when I took a brake, and just left the solar panel on a park bench with the external battery. I was not happy the day after.

 

External Battery Power Bank:
Anker 2nd Gen Astro2 9600mAh
The battery is used on days where there is not sufficient sunlight, my phone can be charged during the night when I am asleep, and it can be charged by the solar panel during the sunny days or when I stop to take a break every 3-5 days.

 

Lycra Shorts:
Altura Stream Cycling Shorts
I bought a pair of Shimano lycra shorts and they saved my butt from a lot of pain last year, on my small short trip. But the shimano was a bit lose so I bought two more the Altura and a Specialized, the Specialized short had too much padding and were very uncomfortable, so I stick to the Altura, even though the shorts do help with my butt not hurting super bad after every 40mi I still need to apply some chamoise cream smoothen things out.

 

Baby powder:
Equate Mild Baby0 Powder
This is one of the items that I has not thought about, but knew that it would help wick moisture away from the body. I use the power before slipping into my sleeping bag instead of taking a shower, of course I only used it where I did not have access to a shower and it made me smell like a baby 🙂

The drawback from applying it on the body, is that it sticks to the skin because, like everything else here in the U.S. it is made out of corn. This is not the case in my native country of Thailand. And there would be a big variety to choose from as well, but none or less I could get a good night sleep without sticking to the liner, sleeping bag or to myself.

And I slept like a baby.

 

SGS 3 mini as navigation