Which items on a bikepacking kit list have no guide here, and why?
Twelve of the twenty-six things the planner asks for have no page
The ruleset behind the planner defines 26 requirement lines. Fourteen have a page on this site. The other twelve are named where the list is printed and explained nowhere, which is a gap worth stating plainly rather than leaving for a reader to notice.
12requirement lines the planner asks for that this site never explains
The twelve, and the reason each one gives
| Requirement | Why there is no page |
|---|---|
| Groundsheet or footprint | no options and no figure |
| Food for the days out | nothing here is for sale |
| Pot, lighter and something to eat with | no options and no figure |
| Gloves, hat and warm socks | no options and no figure |
| A dry set to sleep in | no options and no figure |
| Dry bags or waterproof liners | no options and no figure |
| Multitool with chain breaker | no options and no figure |
| Quick link, bolts, zip ties, tape | no options and no figure |
| Head torch | no options and no figure |
| Satellite messenger or beacon | no options and no figure |
| Someone who knows your route | nothing here is for sale |
| ID, a card, and some cash | nothing here is for sale |
Two distinct reasons account for all twelve. The first is that nothing here is for sale against them: the food you eat, the person who knows where you went and the documents in your pocket are requirements no page could do anything with. The second is that a requirement with no options to weigh and no figure to hit is one sentence long, and a page built on one sentence is the neighbouring page with the noun swapped. In both cases the interview is the only place that can add to them, which is where they stay.
Twenty of the twenty-six, on one ordinary ride
| The question | The answer |
|---|---|
| What kind of ride is this? | Bikepacking |
| How many nights are you out? | A weekend |
| Where are you sleeping? | Wild camping |
| How cold does it get at night? | Cold but not freezing |
| Is it going to rain? | Probably |
| What are you riding on? | Gravel and tracks |
| How often do you pass a shop? | Every day |
| What is the longest stretch without water? | Around 40 km |
| Do you want to cook? | Yes |
| Have you done this before? | A few trips |
Those answers produce 20 of the 26 requirement lines. The remaining 6 never appear, because a requirement line exists only when the answers produce it — so their absence is a fact about this ride rather than about the ruleset.
- Food for the days out
- Waterproof overtrousers
- Gloves, hat and warm socks
- Quick link, bolts, zip ties, tape
- Satellite messenger or beacon
- Someone who knows your route
Waterproof overtrousers is the only entry on that list with a page of its own. Every other one sits on both lists at once: asked for by the ruleset, unexplained by the site, and not even produced by the ride this site is measured against. That overlap is the part worth knowing, because it is where a rider is least likely to be told anything at all.
What this cannot tell you
Which of the twelve matters to you. This is a count of what the ruleset defines against what has been written about it, not a judgement of importance — a satellite messenger has no page here and could still be the thing that gets you home. Nor can it tell you what your own ride asks for. The twenty above belong to one set of answers; change any of them and the list moves, and the only way to see which way is to answer the questions yourself.
Every claim above, and how it is known
- DERIVEDThe ruleset behind the planner defines 26 requirement lines in total.
- DERIVED14 of the 26 requirement lines have a page of their own.
- DERIVED12 of the 26 requirement lines have no page, and each carries the reason it has none.
- DERIVEDThe default ride the planner is measured against produces 20 of the 26 requirement lines.
- DERIVED6 of the 26 requirement lines are not produced by that default ride at all.
Other notes worked the same way
- The verdict blames one thing. If I fix it, does the bag fit?
Ten refusals rest on one objection; two have a second underneath
- Do I need bolts on my fork to carry a bag there?
Only for the bolt-on fork bag; the strap-on one comes out Tight
- I have bags for a weekend. Do I need more for two weeks?
Two weeks asks for the same list a weekend does
Every figure here came out of the same rules that answer the interview, so it moves when they do. Yours differ wherever your answers differ.