Handlebar bag tips

Everybody

Handlebar bags are a great tool to help you carry your stuff. There are a thousand different ways to mount and carry your stuff on the handlebars. In the tour I used a simple Bungee cord and a waterproof stuff sack. It worked OK, but the frame was rubbing on the bag, and i am sure it would have cut through by the end. The best setup that I saw on the tour was the Burrito style bag made by CDW. I saw Dave T. on the side of the road with his foot jammed in one side packing as much as he could into his. It looks heavy, but once rolling you don't notice the weight even on tight ST. It almost seems to help handling a bit, IMO. Just be sure to add equal weight to the butt bag or be prepared to go over you bars on a rock drop. In my homemade version 2.0 burrito bag I put my Big Angus Air core Mummy, REI Halo Long down 25 bag, heavy duty Cabelas Bivy sack, Mont Bell down jacket, Rain Jacket, Tarp, Rope, bug head net, and my spot tracker. Basically my entire night time kit. I like to put the jackets on the ends so I can get to them fast if i need to. On the tour I found that having my jackets in the Butt bag were not only hard to get at, but took up 50% of the space in that bag. Now that bag is free for other clothes, tubes, parts and food. The entire Kit including the bag itself and the spot with batteries weighs in at 8.2 lbs. It would be easy to take another 2+ lbs out of that if you went with a lighter bivy, sleep pad, and ditched one or more jackets. Depending on where i am going and the weather forecast always dictates bivy, and jacket choice. This may be for another topic, but i am leaning towards always taking my "good" Cabelas bivy over the emergency bivy. I am sure i would not want to sleep out a rainy night in the E- bivy. For more examples of bags check out the CDW link above.

Pictures... My homemade V2.0 bag. and everything i stuff inside it. Total weight for everything you see is 8.2 lbs. Pretty average, but this is a very comfy no compromise kit. If you are willing to sacrifice some comfort and risk some on weather you can get WAY lighter. I would say that this kit would keep you comfy and dry on something like the Tour Divide. ENJOY

Good luck