just wondering what pack weights people are unicycling with for overnight tours and multi-day bush trips; including sleeping bags, stove etc. any clever packing tricks to distribute the weight for balance?
t
Not taken a pack unicycling (yet), but I used to compete in races involving an overnight camp, and my (dry) pack weights for that were getting below 5kg. That was using a 700g pack an 800g tent, a 750g down sleeping bag (no fill on bottom), bubble wrap for a sleeping mat, a solid fuel stove made from tin cans. At some point I plan to try taking that lot on a uni trip, taking my son on his bike with me (I can probably fit all his kit in my pack as well). The only secret is paying attention to every little thing you can save weight on.
There has been a fair bit of discussion on this forum about this - try searching something like self-supported touring. There are some threads here, here, and here to get you started.
I have done it a bit in NZ and while I was trying to minimise weight wherever possible it was my first trip like that and I didn’t have some of the kit which could have improved things. We went without tents and made our own shelters with bivvy bag, tarp and stood-up unicycle wheels. It was fun but I’d not bother with that again - it ended up weighing almost as a micro tent but without any of the ease or bug-proof sheltering qualities.
I had a pack weighing about 10-15kg, which is workable if not super comfy. You have to take more saddle-breaks, and it is much harder to free-mount. You will always be balancing light-weight, comfort and low-cost - you can’t have all three! You can’t afford to carry anything much in the way of spare clothes, so you may get a bit anti-social in the personal hygiene department. It’s a price worth paying I think, and there are often streams and lakes around to help out. Standard bar soap is good for anything washing-wise, and I haven’t bought shampoo since I did this tour and realised how well it works on hair too.
You want to put as much weight on the uni itself to save your back and, most importantly, your rear. You can keep several kgs of water bottles and other denser items like tools attached to the handlebar/seatpost. Some people strap tent/sleeping bag under their seat too.
Self-supported uni-touring is perfectly doable though, and great fun. Enjoy!
Sam
thanks for the info all. and thanks for the links; i hadn’t noticed a couple of these when i used the search function.
t