Some items in our packing lists are older and no longer in production, and are provided only as a reference or example. Whenever possible, we provide suggestions for comparable items available for purchase, either through our store, Cosmic Bikes, or through our affiliate partners.
Here’s a complete listing of gear brought on a sub-24-hour overnight camping trip on a Brompton folding bike. The trip took place in mid-October, with daytime temps in the low to mid 50’s and low 40’s overnight.
LUGGAGE
- Brompton-mounted T-Bag
- Lightweight nylon backpack, nothing special.
Comments: My original idea was to get everything in the front-mounted T-Bag. This bag is comparable in size to the current Borough Roll-Top Bag. In warmer weather, this would have been completely doable.
ESSENTIALS
- Bike: Brompton H3E Superlight (any C-Line Brompton would perform well)
- Phone & charger
- Wallet
- Toolkit (fitted inside Brompton frame), spare tube and pump
- Front and rear rechargeable bike lights
- Personal items: toothbrush and toothpaste, Advil (just in case)
SHELTER AND SLEEPING
- 2-person Nemo Galaxi backpacking tent (fits neatly at the bottom of the Brompton bag)
- Nemo Tensor Ultralight Sleeping pad (this is amazing and rolls up smaller than a beer can)
- REI synthetic sleeping bag, nothing special
- Thin alpaca wool blanket —this would not have been necessary in warm weather, but made a crucial difference on this trip since I knew my sleeping bag would be insufficient.
The 6-pound Nemo Galaxi tent is no longer in production. I love the 2-door/2-vestibule design. A couple of great alternatives at a comparable weight are the super-durable MSR Elixir 2, or the budget-priced (but not low on features) Hyke & Byke Zion 2 tent.
COOKING & FOOD
- Pre-cooked spaghetti with meat sauce packed in plastic container
- MSR Pocket Rocket camp stove and one fuel canister (fuel canisters can be purchased in store only)
- Older MSR Camp Cookware Set (More than I needed but it was the only one I had. Here’s a more minimal option.)
- Insulated steel tumbler
- Tea bags
- Matches
- Folding eating utensils
- 32 oz bottle of water
- MSR Trailshot Pocket water filter (I didn’t need it, but I did’n’t know what the water situation would be)
- Pssst, don’t tell anyone! 1/2 small carton of Bandit Cab to enjoy with my spaghetti.
Comments: I considered bringing coffee-making apparatus, but opted for tea bags for optimum simplicity. It turned out I did not miss the coffee. Similarly, I would have enjoyed having a hot breakfast at the campsite, but decided against the complications of carrying extra stuff and having extra clean-up.
CLOTHING
- Thin stretch cargo pants (these were sufficient for the ride in, but were packed away once I arrived in favor of warmer gear)
- Gym shoes (my Brompton does not have clipless pedals)
- Thin merino base layers (top and bottoms)
- Insulated windfront biking pants (not tights)
- Cotton t-shirt
- Insulated synthetic jersey
- Neck gaiter
- Synthetic fleece hat
- Thin packable puffy jacket (older but similar to this one)
- Lightweight gloves
- 1 pair of thin merino socks
- 2 pairs of thick merino socks
Comments: at night I wore pretty much everything except the jacket (which I used as a pillow) and the cargo pants. I layered the cozy merino socks with air gaps between the layers, and they kept my feet warm all night. My go-to merino wool socks of any weight come from Darn Tough Vermont.
Click here for the full account of my trip.