All The Gear

As promised - a blog about the gear we took camping this past weekend.  I figured that I had so much to rave about, this deserved a post of it's own.  So here it goes.

First, I need to give a shout out to both Kriega AND SW Motech for awesome luggage solutions.  Yes, I had to use a hybrid set-up because SW Motech makes really clean racks for my Triumph which are easy to install (check out the Insta story - coming soon!)  But they don’t have the adaptable, waterproof dry bag options that Kreiga offers.  And because I always get stuck in the rain when I travel (it’s true - there was zero precipitation foretasted this Memorial Day, yet the rain found me), these dry bags kept everything dry and packed tight.  I love that I am able to cinch everything down on the bag, and if I decided to throw more in during my adventures - like some cans of wine - the bag will adjust - and only ever be as large as the gear I’m carrying.  No bulky gear if I don’t have much with me.  The SW Motech racks and accompanying plate (sold as left side or right side but here's a hint - the plates are interchangeable - I used two right sides) were sturdy enough to hold whatever I stepped to it - Kriega bags and multiples sleeping bags - without losing anything!  My first motocamping adventure I lost both my sleeping bag and tent on the Interstate - so this successful solution felt like a HUGE win for me!  One more bonus to these Kreiga dry bags - they're modular which allows us to have bags of different sizes, and attach them together for a truly customized luggage set-up.  Absolutely LOVING the versatility of these bags!

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Now for a look inside in case you're wondering just how much these bags were able to hold.

As pictured to the right, two 10 liter Kriega dry bags along with Kriega's R15 backpack held all of these goodies - with room to spare!  Oh, with the exception of the sleeping bags which perfectly strapped to the SW Motech racks in between the Kriega bags and the bike.  Again, see pictures below or my Insta Story for more details about how they all fit together on my Triumph Thruxton R, and Clayton's Ducati Panigale 959.  

So you'll see Clay and I both had enough layers and clothes for two days which for me always includes some Under Armor, sweatshirts, leggings, jeans, socks, undies, and I even brought along a jacket that packs into that green neck pillow - perfect multi purpose item - as it's enough of a sleeping pillow for me.  Clay brought an inflatable pillow, along with an REI Stratus inflatable air pad, and we both had REI Trailbreak 30 sleeping bags.  These items inside our Big Agnes tent made for the coziest accommodations, and neither of us had any trouble sleeping in the 40 degree, damp weather.

Further necessities included our toiletries bags (grey and striped), a Welly mini first aid kit, REI mini towels, Sun Bum 50 sunscreen (for my fair-skinned babe), flashlight, head lamp, power cords, batteries, a Goal Zero portable charger, sunglasses, Dry Bar Dry shampoo (by far my fav - and I've tried 100s) and lastly, and most heavy, the Stockton metric tool kit.

We had so much extra room, at the last minute I threw in a bamboo blanket, a large shawl for around the campfire, and a S'more kit to satisfy our nightly sweet tooth.

This turned out to be the most ideal set-up imaginable.  Everything was easy to pack, strap onto the bike, it all stayed secure, and we used almost everything we brought, and nothing extra.  Thank goodness we didn't need the first aid kit, the tool roll, or the zip ties we brought.  Moving forward, this will be our checklist for any brief motocamping trips.  If you have any further questions on gear, performance, etc, please let me know.  It's taken me years to figure this out, so I'm happy to share more details with anyone looking for a real motorcycle adventure!