December 3, 2012
Some Quirky Gear Choices
Last night we set up the tent in the greenhouse, and slept out there. Although it may have seemed like some sort of belated (very belated!) childhood sleepout, in fact it was us trying to decide if, at 7 degress Celcius, we could get by with our summer sleeping bags, silk liners, and merino hoodies, or if we would have to drag our bulkier, heavier, winter bags.
This was just the latest episode in our ongoing quest not to be satisfied with the gear that we have used on past trips. Here is a review of some of the maybe a little quirky gear choices we are going with now:
Summer Bags, with Merino Wool everything else (unless it's silk!)
Our summer bags are goose down, with 7 cm of loft for Dodie and 18 cm for the wimpy Steve. For winter, we could have put Dodie into a second 18 cm bag that we have, and put Steve into at least a longer, if not even thicker, bag. Instead, we are following on with a Merino fad that brother-in-law Erhard started us off on last year.
In Europe we used thin Icebreaker T shirts and found that they we somehow warm, cool, breathable, and UV protecting. They are also quite fabulously expensive. Undeterred by cost, we went to the dedicated Icebreaker store in downtown Portland, and stocked up on zippered hoodies, underwear, leggings, and socks. Mountain Equipment Coop later got to add two long sleeved tees.
So last night when we ventured into the frigid greenhouse, we were clad entirely in wool. Add to this a silk bag liner, and the down bags, and we were a pretty all natural operation.
We are hoping the wool will also help if needed with its ability to stay warm when wet. The whole wardrobe seems kind of fitting for the "wet coast". For years people here routinely wore the woolen Cowichan Sweaters as an outer garment. Even the Queen got one. However, Goretex parkas from the camping equipment stores pretty much put an end to that on the streets of Victoria. But wool in the form of refined Merino is definitely making a comeback - on the shelves of those same stores.
Thermos Bottles
Here is another old timey piece of gear that we are trying out. In summer I had a small thermos bottle for coffee. It allowed one handed operation and it was great to think that my bike was so advanced as to offer hot beverage service! Now, in winter, we are thinking - how about hot meal service?
So we have strapped giant, wide mouthed themos bottles behind our seats. Our plan is to fill these in the morning with hot soup - either thin or chunky - and then use it at lunch time. We are also aware of people who use the bottles as a cooking utensil, adding rice or meat and letting them slowly cook over time. (See for example message #11 in Matthew Barnes' review of the Kleen Kanteen.) The bottles themselves are a bit heavy, but in terms of total weight we benefit from not having corresponding bottles of plain water, like in summer.
By the way, the wide mouthed bottle made by Stanley was on offer at REI, for $40, while one of the same size by Thermos was $20 at Walmart. Overnight tests out on the chilly porch showed each bottle to be exactly as effective as the other.
Tablet in the Handlebar Bag
Our former netbook kit weighed 6 pounds and used up pretty much one front pannier. Here you see 3 pounds of Android tablet gear and other stuff, snuggled in a handlebar bag. The tablet is "quirky" though. Read my Review.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Bar Mounted Little Pouch
We found this at Adventure Cycling. It is holding our headlights, which will be readily avaialable if (when) we arrive at a campsite in the dark.
Combo Stand and Dog Whacker
Two mirrors were broken last summer, as our heavily loaded bikes with teeny stands were blown over in the wind. Finally, in Passau, we moved to sturdier double legged stands. One of these subsequently just cracked. So now, taking our cue from the Clic Stand we have acquired a pair of relatively light weight carbon fibre walking sticks. These will jam under the seats and form a strut to support the bikes. We have also gone back to teeny kick stands for really quick stops. We cooked up some scabbards out of white plastic PVC pipe to hold the sticks. In theory we can whip the sticks out of these and whack any attacking dog. Telling ourselves that has allowed us to dispense with those other quirky products: bear spray, whistles, and the Air Zound!
Anti-swing pipe
One of the ways in which our bikes seem to fall over is when the front wheel decides to wing around, after being parked, under the weight of the front panniers and face almost backwards. A water bottle mounted under the monotube of the Bike Friday mostly stops this, but the pannier seems worse for wear when it bashes the bottle. A spare piece of pipe instead of a bottle seems to do a better job. Plus if we run into any plumbing jobs along the way, we are all set.
| Heart | 0 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Canadian Flag
We stated off flagless in Europe, because as Canadians we are too modest to fly a flag. But people seemed very interested to learn we were Canadian and we soon attached some flag stickers. So here we are with regular flags. Hopefully no one will throw beer bottles at us.
The Turtle and the Duck
The Turtle represents Dodie's spot at the back (way back) in the continuum of bicycle racers. (Hey, atleast she is drug free, except for Ibuprofen!). The Duck represents my spot behind Dodie, hoping against hope that she knows which way to go, and giving me a focus point when we cross anything high.
Both the Turtle and the Duck are doing return engagements from last year. They are pieces of equipment that did not have to fear for their jobs!
Flash: New Hire - a sea glass angel from our friend Lisa. A good luck charm and likely to be our only Christmas ornament on December 25.
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 0 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |