Get Home Bag Help

[CamoDeafie]

30 miles...... you know.. a week ago; I decided to get my 270 pound fat butt onto my bicycle and pedal to Lebanon from Albany....I succeeded in doing so....now; bridges; roads; such...you might want to think about having a folding mountain bicycle along with your get-home bag; if you want to be able to get home quicker than walking if you have to abandon your vehicle. Sure the good ones are pricier than what you can find on Ebay from China; but they're quality...one that I like (and AM looking for is the Montague Paratrooper series....comes in Olive Drab already; have rack mounts I think for rear pannier bags; and are pretty solid....without the annoying "broken top tube" folds...it pivots from the seat tube area; with a quick release unit located on the top tube. Again; that's if you can afford it..otherwise; there are plenty of MTBs out there and with quick release wheels; you can pack them into the trunk of your car or carry them on the back of the truck; depends on what vehicle you have

 

[Sgt Nambu]

Riding beats shanks mare anytime! If you go with a mountain bike but aren't "mountain biking", that is, riding primarily on pavement, think about getting road tires for your mt bike. It's a lot easier to propel the bike, especially with a load of gear. Or, a load of azz as in my case! They are a good bit quieter too! Pretty sturdy, more so than the high pressure "road bike" tires!

 

[CamoDeafie]

Riding beats shanks mare anytime! If you go with a mountain bike but aren't "mountain biking", that is, riding primarily on pavement, think about getting road tires for your mt bike. It's a lot easier to propel the bike, especially with a load of gear. Or, a load of azz as in my case! They are a good bit quieter too! Pretty sturdy, more so than the high pressure "road bike" tires!

thats if he goes with road bike rims; I see that a LOT of road bike tires are essentially half the width of the MTB rims....

I would suggest using Michelin Wild Run'rs or similarly profiled commuter/hybrid tires; they help support the load; and are more likely to feel "faster" than the usual wal-Mart super-knobby tires...go to a Local Bike Shop; Universal Cycles has a shop in Portland; they have a great selection of tires that's usually similar priced to Wal-Mart but of much higher quality and make...

 

[Sgt Nambu]

^^^ Also try Bike Tires Direct, online or at their NE Portland store. I got my son some Continental commuter tires there. Full width to MT bike rim, very tough! Thanks CamoDeafie, commuter tires were what I meant!

 

[erudne]

No matter how carefully you pack, a rucksack is always too small.
No matter how small, a rucksack is always too heavy.
No matter how heavy, a rucksack will never contain what you want.
No matter what you need, it's always at the bottom.

 

[Velzey]

Go to the Army Surplus store in Boring and pick yourself up one of these USMC packs, you will be glad you did. $40.00 and all you will need to do is clean it a little. Some of them have stains.
These packs are great! Current USMC Issue GEN II ILBE Main Pack

 

[AMProducts]

The ILBE is a great pack, however it's also a big pack. If you are going to go with a larger pack (to give room for cold weather gear etc) you should have a smaller shoulder bag where all your expensive stuff lives... handgun, ammo, GPS, tritium compass, radio, cell phone, multi-tool etc. Thieves have realized that GHB's and BOB's are a fantastic source of all kinds of expensive gear that's easy to sell on craigslist and ebay. If your pack is too big to keep with you everywhere (carry into the office, into the house, into the store/mall) you should have all your really good toys in a bag you can keep with you everywhere. Some years ago my GHB got pinched, I'm really glad I didn't have a gun in it, as it was I probably lost about $2000 worth of stuff (multi-tool, GPS, radio, spare cell phone, knife, flashlights, etc). I'm sure if you start totaling up the dollar value of your GHB stuff, you'll surely realize it's too much $$ just to let sit around in the car. OTOH, clothes and sleeping bags are cheap.

 

[unklekippy]

I'm an order of magnitude bigger than you are, 6'7@280, the pack I really like is the US army Molle II assault pack. For what you're going to be carrying it should be plenty of stuff. The only downside is it doesn't have a built in hydration system (USarmy issues a separate hydration system that's worn under the pack). However I've found a hydration system built into the pack invariably develops leaks (if kept full of water) which gets your stuff wet.

My number one suggestion is to go with a smaller pack than you think you need, and then learn to pack efficiently. Extra weight is just extra weight, and does no one any good.

I am 6'4" and weigh about 240. I also very much like the Molle II. I also keep an ALICE pack around for the Mrs.

So, are you saying I don't need this extra hair dryer and dvd player in my pack?

 

[Velzey]

I like the extra room when needed, and use the cinch straps. They really compress it down.
For a smaller pack I use the add on assault pack.

 

[CamoDeafie]

I'm starting to be a fan of "ultra light" backpacking as a concept to apply to Get-Home Bags....

the big stuff are nice and handy when you have winter/bulky items though.....they also are handy at making it near impossible to go more than 10 miles a day..

I find that I've been able to pare stuff down, and get 4-5 days of travel into one small USGI "butt pack" with two sets of clothes in it plus the one on me...and this depends on me scavenging for foods and such; or use a backpack to carry the food and water separately.
Also; more people die from exposure than lack of shelter...one needs to consider having an emergency blanket or something similar as a way to make a bed of sorts for some situations...a combination of the mylar/space blanket and a fleece sleeping bag liner could do one very well in the summer months; for the winters though; a well insulated winter sleeping system is far more important than finding shelter....