THM's Road/Trail Tour Experience 2016

[The History Man]

Panniers : rear are very old karrimor one that are excellent. Fronts are avenir and ok but not very secure with plastic clips. They bounce off on rough ground so I use bungees as well

Racks are axiom ones that have been great.

The folding stove is a Vango one that was about £20 nice and small and light.

Luxuries that made life pleasant were a kindle and a pocket radio with headphones for evenings.

Cutlery was 2 sporks and an opinel knife.

Don't forget a decent lock. It helps you sleep.

Oh and earplugs and an eye mask thingy. Otherwise I wake up at about 4am.

 

[widowmaker]

Re:

Thanks for the info , I have been researching stoves and seen the Vango Triangia range. Not sure if the smaller Mini Trangia at £27 odd would be ok of go for the larger 25/27 with the wind cover and lids etc.

Probably going to do a route like the South Downs.

 

[The History Man]

I have a trangia meths stove but prefer the ease of use of the gas to be honest. Especially for a quick pint of coffee and pastry first thing rather than a hot breakfast. Then brunch later in a cafe.

Trangia are very zen and quiet though.

And heavy when you factor in the fuel in a decent container.

 

[widowmaker]

Re:

Thanks for the info chap

 

[roadking]

Very interesting thread THM, thank you for it.

Jon.

 

[joe careless]

Re:

Cool, next time drop me a line, I'm up for pedalling the beast that the Roberts had become

 

[The History Man]

Thanks chaps. I look forward to next year. Thinking maybe Peak District with drop off and pick up. Not decided yet. Will be a week again though.

 

[hamster]

Personally I prefer gasoline stoves (MSR Whisperlite or Coleman) as they simmer well and cook properly even on the last dregs of fuel. Coleman fuel is ruinously expensive, but Aspen 4T is a good (and cheaper) alternative available at lawnmower / pro groundsman dealers. An effective windshield (even just a foil strip) makes a huge difference. I use a Camping Gaz Twister for a bowl of noodles on a long winter ride though. The Trangia pan system is brilliant and I generally take their pans regardless of the stove I'm using.
If I was going to the back of beyond I would take my Trangia is it is unsurpassed for reliability.

 

[widowmaker]

Personally I prefer gasoline stoves (MSR Whisperlite or Coleman) as they simmer well and cook properly even on the last dregs of fuel. Coleman fuel is ruinously expensive, but Aspen 4T is a good (and cheaper) alternative available at lawnmower / pro groundsman dealers. An effective windshield (even just a foil strip) makes a huge difference. I use a Camping Gaz Twister for a bowl of noodles on a long winter ride though. The Trangia pan system is brilliant and I generally take their pans regardless of the stove I'm using.
If I was going to the back of beyond I would take my Trangia is it is unsurpassed for reliability.

This is the one item that I have been researching more than any other for next years tour, getting the weight/cost/speed of boil balance right :?

 

[hamster]

If you just want to do hot drinks or dehydrated food then go for Jetboil - incredibly light and compact. What you gain in efficiency you can use for a smaller gas cartridge. Alpkit do a Jetboil imitation which seems good vfm.

Gasoline packs the highest energy density per volume - a small (325ml) MSR bottle with Aspen 4T will last me a week's tour. Similarly my ancient Coleman Peak 1 will do a long weekend comfortably with its internal fuel tank, and takes up less space than most gas stoves plus cannister. They all seem to come out at around 400-500g.

There is no single right answer on this one! The best of many worlds is a Trangia with a gas conversion burner.

Good advice here, although very much slanted to climbing and high altitudes...
http://andy-kirkpatrick.com/articles/vi ... gas_stoves