~ Gear reviews ~
Montane Icarus lightweight down jacket
The Montane Icarus jacket boasts versatility and comfort, making it a good choice for a range of outdoor adventures in various conditions.
MSR Groundhog Tent Stakes review
The MSR Groundhog Tent Stakes are a type of tent peg designed for use in a variety of ground conditions, including rocky or hard-packed soil due to their strength. These stakes are lightweight, durable, and provide excellent holding power, making them a popular choice among backpackers, campers, and other outdoor enthusiasts.
SKS (Germany) Explorer - top tube bag with removable phone case
The SKS (Germany) Explorer top tube bag is a great addition to bikepacking expedition when you’re need of somewhere roomy to store items you may need in a hurry, such as snacks or tools.
Hilly ‘Marathon Fresh’ running anklet socks review
In our humble opinion, the Hilly 'Marathon Fresh' anklet socks are a pretty great choice for ultramarathons, multi-day bikepacking races, and trekking adventures at an okay price.
Grangers 2-in-1 cleaner and waterproofer
This 2-in-1 cleaner and waterproofer by Grangers offers a convenient solution for cleaning and reproofing your outdoor gear, addressing the challenge we all face in preserving waterproofness and maintaining fabric performance.
Insta 360 X3 action camera and invisible selfie stick
The Insta360 X3 is a fantastic camera for adventurers venturing into the natural world, whether conquering the vast Atlantic Ocean during a rowing expedition, tackling rugged trails and deserts in multi-day endeavours, or pushing boundaries in gruelling bikepacking races.
Garmin Fenix 5x multisport watch
The Garmin Fenix 5X is a high-end, multi-sport GPS watch with advanced features for outdoor and fitness activities that you’ll probably see on just about every athlete in adventure these days!
Petzl Actik headtorch review
My track record with headtorches hasn’t been a great so far, with 2 Black Diamond headtorches stopped working annoyingly, however I’ve always had good experiences with Petzl for the last decade since starting out with their entry-level Tikka.
The Actik headtorch features a maximum brightness of 350 lumens (compared to the Tikka’s 300 lumens), which is more than enough for most expeditions. It also has a wide beam mode for when you need the extra light, and a red-light mode, which helps preserve night vision and is useful for reading maps or navigating in low-light conditions.
‘Ride and Get Lost’ custom-made frame bag review
Taking up Bikepacking properly in 2022 with the aspiration of attempting the Silk Road Mountain race, I knew the next part of the puzzle for my load carriage challenge, would be making use of the centre triangle with a frame bag.
Boardman hybrid dual-sided flat / clipless pedals
Probably one of the best things we’ve bought for mountain biking, gravel riding and bikepacking, is a pair of dual-sided pedals.
It’s optimal to ride clipped in for speed and efficiency, however there are times (particularly in urban areas) where you’ll want not to be, to react quicker to unforeseen obstacles and get your foot out to stabilise yourself. We use a bought a pair of these Boardman dual-sided clipless flat pedals that have worked well in all situations.
Bell Super 2 MIPS helmet
The Bell Super 2 MIPS is an aggressive enduro mountain biking helmet that is built to take a detachable chin guard for riders seeking extra safety.
Along with a removeable GoPro mount on the top, the Super 2 offers good head coverage along with an impressive visor that can be adjusted in relation to keeping the sun out of your eyes, complemented by the ability to buy the chin protector separately for extra safety,
Montane Ice Melt Thermal Gloves
The Montane Ice Melt Thermal Gloves proving to be great companions in extreme cold weather, such as winter fatbiking in the Baltics!
Their design, tailored for demanding mountaineering terrains, but have a useful second utility when it comes to gripping handlebars when the temperature is -10. The durable softshell outer fabric, coupled with a waterproof feature, shielded hands against biting winds and icy conditions, offering really good protection without compromising on breathability.
Gerber recon multicoloured mini torch review
The Gerber Recon Torch is a compact and powerful flashlight designed for outdoor enthusiasts and tactical professionals. It is built with high-quality materials and features an innovative design that provides excellent performance and durability.
The Recon Torch is made with aircraft-grade aluminium that is lightweight and durable, and it is equipped with a powerful LED bulb that provides a maximum output of 22 lumens. The light has three different modes – high, low, and strobe – which can be easily adjusted with a simple click of the tail cap switch.
Sealskinz waterproof socks review
When I rowed across the Atlantic in 2017, I wore these with the Vivobarefoot Ultra III aqua shoes listed below and had nice, dry feet even when it’s cold (and it does get cold at night when you first start in Europe).
Nowadays, I still use the same pair for mountain biking, riding my motorbike (to keep my feet dry), but not for hiking as they cause my feet to sweat excessively when walking in them (they’re really good at retaining warmth but not very breathable given they’re designed to keep your feet dry).
Topeak Versacage (bottle cage for carrying expedition gear)
The Versacage set come with 3 of Topeak’s excellent versamounts to attach to the frame or forks to hold the cage in place, and as you can see – it holds a 1.5-litre water bottle without any problems. I’ve cycled over 500 miles across Estonia in 2022 without any problems from either one of them
Fix Plus straps
I’ve been using Fixplus straps since I started bikepacking in 2022 and now swear by them!
They come in many sizes and can be used to secure all kinds of items to the bike, or for holding heavy things together.
They work by having a small amount of stretch in the belt (but nowhere near enough to make it snap), which then pulls back against what you’re holding once you’ve found the correct hole for the belt.
Anker PowerCore 10,000mAh Power bank
This power bank is relatively lightweight (for its size to storage ratio), is robust and packs a good few phone and bike light charges in on one single charge! It’s compatible with current models of iPhone, carries 10,000 Milliamp Hours of charge and is quite light at around 180 grams.
Aeropress Portable Travel Coffee Press
It’s not easy making coffee when you’re out on an adventure, but the other team members will be your best friends if you do so, or it’ll enhance your enjoyment of a solo endeavour.
JBL tune 115BT wireless headphones
They’re not waterproof and don’t claim to be, however they handle my sweaty heads for many months without complaint.
They’re highly affordable, coming in at under £40 (especially when compared to big brand name wireless in-ear headphones) and the sound quality is superb. I particularly like listening to podcasts and audio books when I head out on the gravel bike after a long day on the computer.
Whether you're a seasoned climber seeking new mountains to conquer, an endurance runner craving the rush of Marathon des Sables, or a bikepacker in search of the perfect mult-day route, we've got you covered.
Check out our curated collection of articles, categorised to ensure you find the gear that speaks to the adventure you’re seeking to complete: