So you STILL want to go bikepacking?
EVEN MORE camping kit that I love
I mean, I don’t blame you. This week’s weather has been bloomin’ G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S. Who wouldn’t want to sack off all future plans and immediately go on an adventure?
You may remember that a few weeks ago I wrote a newsletter where I talked about all my favourite tried and tested camping kit. Well guess what? It was a huge success. In fact, it was one of my most-viewed newsletters ever. Which I’m going to take to mean that everyone is incredibly invested in making their bikepacking dreams ✨actually happen✨, but need a little extra nudge to take that first step.
That, or everyone is just super nosy about other people’s kit. Which I’m also totally cool with.
Either way, I thought I’d write a follow-up with a bunch more camping kit that I am obsessed with. Last time, we focussed more on items of the sleeping variety. This time, we’ll delve a little deeper into how to keep ourselves fed. Because as we all know, a hangry cyclist isn’t a happy cyclist 🙅🏻♀️
So, let’s dive in!
Something to cook on
Once you’ve got your sleeping situ sorted, the next thing you’re going to want to think about is how you’re going to eat. Sure, you can rely on supermarket flybys or evening offerings from the local pub, but sometimes those options won’t be available and you’ll need to fend for yourself. For that, I recommend a trusty camping stove.
Don’t worry, we’re well past the days of lugging a 3kg trangia around in a backpack. Now, you can pick up a super lightweight, super packable stove which fits in the palm of your hand (although I recommended you stash it in your saddlebag). My personal favourite is the MSR PocketRocket2.
Widely regarded as one of the best ultralight backpacking stoves, it weighs an astonishing 73g, making it one of the lightest on the market, as well as packing down small enough to fit inside a mug or small pot, taking up minimal space in your (already cramped) bikepacking bags.
But that’s not all! It’s also super fast and efficient, boiling 1 litre of water in about 3.5 minutes, which is great for making coffee, rehydrating meals, or purifying water on the go. Just twist it into a standard fuel canister (which are widely available in most outdoors shops) and, hey presto, you’re good to go.
Something to cook in
Having a stove is all very well, but you’re also going to need some kind of container to house your delectable camp meal. That’s where a cooking pot comes in. Not only can you use it to boil water to make hot drinks or rehydrate a meal, you can also fill it up with a tasty dish of your choice (supernoodles, anyone?).
If you want to go all out, MSR actually sell a complete cookware set that includes both the stove, an insulated pot, a mini pot handle, a 16 oz “bowl”, AND a lid that doubles as a strainer. It’s a pretty pricy investment, but if you’re looking for the quick ‘all in’ solution then this could be an easy win.
Alternatively, there are plenty of cheaper options on the market. I personally use an old pot from an Esbit cookset which does the job just fine. Or Alpkit sell a nice middle-range option which includes a variety of pan sizes, as well as the luxury of a makeshift frying pan. Ooh-la-la!
Something to eat with
I bet you can’t guess where this is going. That’s right—utensils! It’s all very well having a steaming pot of noodles if you’ve got nothing to eat them with. I’m not going to sit here and preach that you need to buy a super-duper-expensive titanium fork and spoon set (but aren’t they pretty?), but what I would recommend is that you think about what you’re going to be eating and how you’re going to eat it.
What do I mean by that? Well, if you’re going to be mainly boiling up a pot of supernoodles then a cheap and cheerful spork will do just fine. But if you’re going to be reaching into the depths of a dehydrated meal bag, you may need something a little more fine-tuned.
And for this, I personally believe there’s nothing better than the ECO Utility Spork. Don’t be fooled by the name; it’s a pretty bog-standard plastic cutlery set, but with the added edition of being able to combine the two halves together to make an extended utensil. Perfect for getting into those hard to reach places without getting your hands all grubby / aka covered in food.
Something to drink from
Now we’ve got the food part out of the way, let’s talk about the other camping essential: keeping ourselves hydrated. Whether it’s water or wine, there’s nothing that screams bikepacking luxury more than a collapsable mug or cup.
My fave brand for this is Sea to Summit, who stock a wide range of collapsable camping goods to fit almost every adventure need. You can pick up one of their compact cups from Decathlon for just over a tenner, or why not really push the boat out and invest in a collapsible bowl and cooking pot too!
Seriously, how much collapsible cookware is too much collapsible cookware?!
If collapsible isn’t really your style, there’s plenty of other cup options out there, and sometimes a stainless steel camping mug works just fine 👌
Something to feel fancy
Now all of the essentials are out the way, why not add something to truly elevate your camping cookout? This one might not work if you’re trying to keep lean with your setup, but if you’re touring with a bit of extra space in your panniers, I refuse to ever stop talking about The Nomads Kitchen.
I mean, I don’t think I even really need to say anything about this. Just look at it. What an absolute thing of beauty. Tiny spices, tiny salt and pepper, tiny cooking oil, tiny chopping board, tiny flint lighter, tiny penknife, tiny foldable spork.
Let’s be honest, you’re going to be the envy of everyone within a 200m radius of your tent when you whack this bad boy out in the morning to whip up your breakfast 👩🏻🍳
Voila! A bunch of extra exciting camping items to whet your appetite and get you stoked for all the adventures to come. And if you’re starting to feel pretty well prepped with all your gear but don’t know where to take it, why not check out some of the incredible wild spaces that CampWild have to offer?
Sunshine. Cycling. Food. Nature. Bliss.
P.S if you’ve enjoyed my writing so far and think others might quite like it too, it would mean the world to me if you could spread the word 💜