Well it wouldn’t be a cycle tour blog without a good ol’ kit list…
Having absolutely zero cycle touring experience, we are indebted to the many other cyclists who have shared their wisdom, in particular The Slow Race, World Spokes People and Lets go and do fun stuff. Without their advice and willingness to share what they’ve learned, knowing what to take would have felt like an impossible task, so thank you all! A lot of this stuff we already owned from building up kit over time for hiking trips, but we did surprise ourselves with how much new stuff we felt we had to buy and the kit we needed to upgrade (eg getting a multifuel stove and a more hardy tent).
This list has evolved over time as our needs have changed, especially with the colder weather on the Andean altiplano, which saw us buy some extra warm layers and Milla upgrade her sleeping bag. We always try to stay light and really just take what we think are the essentials to get by, although hardcore tourers will undoubtedly balk at some of the more frivolous items (THE EYE MASKS WERE A GIFT AND WE CANNOT WAIT TO USE THEM).
We’ve crossed out items we’ve chucked or sent home, and anything new added is in bold. Enjoy!
Camp & Kitchen
Kitchen
- MSR cooking pots
- Primus OmniFuel stove
Camping kettle donated by our flatmate- x2 Collapsible bowls
- x2 metal mugs
- Veg peeler
- Mini IKEA chopping board
- Kitchen knife with cover
- Sporks
- Tin opener
- Salt and Pepper shaker
- Sawyer Squeeze water filter
- Dehydrated meals leftover from previous trips (going to see how long we can hold out before we get lazy and cave)
Camp
- Hilleberg Nallo 2 tent
x2 Rab storm bivis- Exped SynMat HL Duo Sleeping Mat
- x2 Sea to summit thermolite reactor sleeping bag liners (increases temperature limit by 8 degrees)
- x2 Thermarest air head pillows
- Milla: North Face blue kazoo sleeping bag & Rab silk liner
- Chillo: North Face cat’s meow sleeping bag & silk liner
- Oliver Bonas lavender silk eye mask (best leaving present ever)
Mini hot water bottle- x2 Petzl Actik headtorhces
Goal Zero crush light lantern [we lost it 😦 !]- Trowel (outdoor plumbing)
Clothing
Milla
- Rab Womens Microlight Alpine jacket
- Arc’Teryx Atom LT Hoody (won at an Adventure Queens raffle. Absolute gem.)
- North Face fleece
- Woolly hat
- Merino wool buff
- Polar buff
- Mountain Equipment gore tex jacket
- Mountain Equipment gore tex trousers
- Short sleeved merino t shirt
- Long sleeved merino top
- Cotton t shirt
- x2 Lycra leggings – one long, one 3/4 length
Comfy harem pants- Cycling cap
- Sunglasses
- x2 Icebreaker merino sports bras
- x2 trainer socks
- x2 hiking socks
- Alpaca legwarmers
- x4 pairs of pants
- x3 pairs of boxers (more comfortable to cycle in)
BikiniSwimming goggles (because I like to see under the water!)
Chillo
- Rab Firewall Waterproof Jacket
- Rab Microlight Alpine Jacket
- Rab Nucleus Pull On
- x2 Icebreaker Merino Wool T-Shirt
- Rab Firewall Waterproof trousers
- North Face zip-off trousers
Cranesports padded cycling shorts (stolen from work & washed)- Lightweight sports shorts
- x3 Saxx underwear
- x3 Hilly socks
Jeans& smartish shirt- Woolly hat
- Patagonia Trucker cap
- Buff
- Sunglasses
Swimming goggles (in case it gets really dusty on some roads)
Bathroom
Washbag
- Tangle Teezer hairbrush
- Multi purpose soap
- Moisturiser
- Suncream
- Insect repellent (with DEET)
- Lush shampoo & conditioner bars
- Mooncup
- x2 Toothbrushes
- Toothpaste
- Razor
- Nail clippers
- Tweezers
- Deodorant
First aid kit
- Plasters galore
- Bandages
- Antiseptic wipes
- Tough fabric scissors
- Sterile needles & syringes
- Pills – painkillers/hayfever tablets/rehydration/immodium etc
Electrics
- Kindle
- Anker portable charger
- JBL Clip 2 speaker
- Apple MacBook Air
- x2 iPhones
- Cat Eye Velo 7 cycle computer
- Garmin inReach Mini tracker
- Round the world adaptor
- Multi-USB charger – US plug
- Steripen Ultra UV water purifier
Maintenance
- x4 sets of brake pads
- Spare tubes
- x2 spare chains
- Birzman chain extractor
- Topeak multitool
- Park tool tyre lever
- Spokes
- Cable ties
- Mini pump
- Superglue
- Duct tape
- Electric tape
- Spare screws for our panniers
- Pump adaptor – adapts our Schrader valved to a Presta one; useful to turbo pump your tyres with petrol station air machines
Chills and Mills 