Here is my complete bikepacking gear list – a detailed listing of each and every item I carry with me on my off-road bikepacking adventures.

My Complete Bikepacking Gear List:

Feel free to use this bikepacking gear list as a template for your own bikepacking adventures. Pay attention to the bike I’m riding, the bikepacking bags I’m carrying my belongings in, the clothes I’m wearing, the bike tools I’m traveling with, and my notes on the various items I’m carrying with me.

Please note that food and water is not included in this particular bikepacking gear list. The amount of food and water you chose to carry depends on where you are in the world and how far it is to your next re-supply point. Always leave room inside your bikepacking bags for extra food and drinks.

Chumba Ursa 29+ The Chumba Ursa 29+ is a mountain bike designed specifically with bikepacking in mind. It’s extra wide 29+ tires make your ride on the bike super comfortable and it has all they eyelets you need to mount racks and water bottle cages.

Shimano SPD Pedals When I’m cycling off-road, I chose to ride with SPD shoes and pedals. This way my feet don’t accidentally slip off the pedals as I’m cycling over rough terrain. Instead, my feet are locked in and I feel confident on the bike.

3 Water Bottle Cages The way I set up my bikepacking rig, I have two regular water bottles mounted to the sides of the front fork and an additional water bottle mounted on the underside of my bicycle’s down-tube.

5 Water Bottles

While there may only be three water bottle cages on my bikepacking bicycle, I actually have the ability to carry a total of 5 water bottles, thanks to the two Rattlesnake Stem/Bar bags I have mounted on the backside of my handlebars.

Divide Frame Bag

Inside the main triangle of my bicycle, I’m using the Wanderlust Gear Divide Frame Bag, which I use to carry soft clothing items, food, a few bike tools and a mix of other random accessories.

Sawtooth Bar Bag

I love the Wanderlust Sawtooth Bar Bag because not only is it big enough to carry my tent, but it still has room inside for a warm fleece jacket and my rain jacket as well, if need be.

Shenandoah Seat Bag

Being one of the larger bags on my bikepacking gear list, the Shenandoah Seat Bag is where I carry my sleeping bag as well as some additional clothing items (such as my fleece pants, socks, etc.).

Beargrass Top Tube Bag

The Beargrass Top Tube Bag, as its name implies, sits between my legs on the top of the top tube of my bicycle – near my handlebars. Because the bag is right in front of me as I ride, it’s the perfect place to store and easily access my camera.

2 Rattlesnake Stem/Bar Bags

These two small bags make bikepacking an absolute joy! Now there’s no longer a need to bend over and wrestle with your water bottle cages each time you need to take a drink. With your water now situated right in front of you, staying hydrated has never been easier.

Monida Accessory Bag

This cylindrical bikepacking accessory bag can be used for a number of different ways and mounted on a number of different points on your bicycle. I, however, have it mounted to my bicycle’s down-tube (near the bottom bracket) and it carries my sleeping pad inside.

Salsa Anything Cage

The Salsa Anything Cage is basically a big, oversized water bottle cage, which can carry an oversized water bottle, but is also perfect for mounting the Wanderlust Gear Monida Accessory Bag, which is how I use it.

Marmot Always Summer Sleeping Bag

This small, lightweight sleeping bag won’t do you much good in colder weather conditions, but if you’re planning a summertime bikepacking trip, this is the perfect sleeping bag to keep you warm during the cool nights.

REI Flash Sleeping Pad

The REI Flash is one of the smallest and lightest inflatable sleeping pads on the market today. It’s comfortable, easy to inflate and deflate each day, and lifts you up off the ground as you sleep – ensuring you stay warm even in cold weather.

Lezyne Sport Drive HV Hand Pump The Lezyne Sport Drive HV hand pump is an inexpensive bicycle pump, but it has worked flawlessly on my travels all around the world. It’s compact, lightweight, easy to use and relatively inexpensive as far as bike pumps go.

Multi-Tool The wooden multi-tool I carry is a little on the heavy side, but it has all the Allen wrenches, screwdrivers, and such that most bikepackers need. The only thing missing in a chain tool, which can come in handy at times.

Tire Levers In the event I need to remove my tires from the rim of my wheel, I’m carrying two small plastic tire levers along with all the other tools in my bikepacking gear list.

Tubeless Tire Plug Kit

Most bikepacking bicycles are now equipped with tubeless tires that self-patch small holes caused by needles, glass and thorns. But if you get a big hole in your tire, you’ll need some of these tubeless tire plugs.

Chain Lube

Be sure to add chain lube to your bikepacking gear list! Then be sure to clean your chain and apply new lube on a regular basis. The terrain you’re cycling through will dictate how often your chain needs to be cleaned and lubed.

Folding Knife For preparing food, I carry a small folding knife with me on my bikepacking adventures. I use this knife to cut food up, peel fruit, and perform other simple tasks around camp. It could, however, be used as a weapon of self-defense if need be.

Bike Helmet The Giro Revel isn’t a high-end bike helmet, but it fits my head well and is remarkably comfortable. I wish the visor were a little bigger (to help shield my eyes from the sun), but otherwise it is a nice, inexpensive bicycle helmet.

Long-Sleeve Cycling Jersey I bought this long-sleeved cycling jersey from Fox, thinking that I would rarely, if ever, wear it, but it has turned out to be my favorite cycling jersey ever. The jersey is light enough that I can wear it even in hot weather and the sleeves help to protect my arms when cycling through trees and bushes.

Shorts I don’t ride in a pair of special bicycle shorts. I just cycle in a pair of black Hurley shorts – like the kind you might find at your local surf/skate shop. I find these to be more than comfortable for my bikepacking adventures.

REI Rhyolite Rain Jacket The REI Rhyolite rain jacket is lightweight, super compact, waterproof and great for blocking out the wind. It can be squeezed into any empty spaces you might have inside your bikepacking bags, but it isn’t very warm, so it needs to be used in conjunction with a warmer, insulating jacket.

Fleece Jacket My main insulating layer is a fleece jacket from Columbia. You can wear a jacket like this during the day while you are cycling and then wear it to sleep, if need be, when you’re confronted with cooler weather conditions.

Fleece Pants For sleeping at night, I pack a small, light and compact pair of fleece pants. These pants are great to wear around camp or inside my tent while I’m sleeping.

T-Shirt In addition to the single bike jersey I ride in each each day, I also have at least one T-shirt that I wear to around camp, walk around town in, and use to sleep in at night.

2 Pairs of Underwear No bikepacking gear list is complete without at least a pair or two of underwear. I rotate between the two pairs of underwear I carry – with one pair almost constantly being in the process of being cleaned or dried.

Full-Finger Cycling Gloves

I use a pair of Fox mountain bike gloves to protect my hands as they bounce and move around in rocky off-road terrain. These full-finger gloves also work to keep my hands warm in cooler weather conditions.

3 Pairs of Black Socks I pack three pairs of black socks on my bikepacking trips. Black helps to hide the dirt! I rotate between two pairs of socks when I’m cycling and then keep a third pair for sleeping in at night.

Pearl Izumi SPD Cycling Shoes

These Pearl Izumi shoes are the ones I’m currently using for my bikepacking adventures. They are special SPD cycling shoes that allow you to clip into the pedals and walk around in relative comfort when you step off the bike at any point in time.

Sunglasses A quality pair of sunglasses are essential for any type of bikepacking gear list. I have a pair of Nike sunglasses that I’ve been using for years, but almost any pair of sunglasses will do.

Digital Camera To document my bikepacking adventures, I use the Canon G7X Mark II as my high-end photo and video camera. The campera is heavy for its size, but compact enough to br carried inside my top tube bag as I ride.

Smartphone For mapping out my route, listening to music/podcasts, learning foreign languages and simply entertaining myself, my Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone is one of my favorite bikepacking essentials. Don’t forget the charging cable and backup batteries!

Earphones When I crawl into my tent at night, the first thing I usually do is plug my earphones in and start listening to a podcast. I will cycle with the earphones in my ears in some instances, but that rarely happens.

Toiletries When I’m bikepacking, I go extremely light on the toiletries. I’m usually only carrying a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a tiny roll of dental floss. Soap, shampoo and other toiletries are only essential on longer bikepacking expeditions.

Wallet

Finally, I carry my drivers license, cash and credit cards inside a lightweight zippered travel wallet. I prefer a zippered wallet because it helps to prevent my important from falling out as I cycle over rough terrain.

So, there you have it! That’s everything on my current bikepacking gear list. As you can see, I’m packing only the bare essentials and leaving many of the extras I might carry on a longer road-based bike tour at home.

Because most of my bikepacking adventures are pretty short in comparison to my long-distance road tours, I can pack in a manner that is both minimal and extremely lightweight. Even though I’m carrying a substantial amount of gear on my bicycle, the weight of that gear is spread out over the frame of my bicycle and carried in a variety of different bikepacking bags. This helps to eliminate the weight of the gear from my body and allows me to ride my bike in relative comfort.

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