Video: Bikepacking on a $60 Budget with Tom & Christina

 Comment GOLD

 @christinachappetta: Wait, Christina doesn't even have a MOD or PLUS tag? She's like the best thing about this place! Sheesh Pinkbike.

 Covid shortage.

 @Thisisscott: Might be AI bot

 Nothing like a slow-mo of landing a jump and getting whacked in the face by a loaf of bread. It's a good thing Tom tied something soft up there.

 @rory My thoughts exactly. Well said and no downvote from me!

 @rickybobby18: Nice of you to jump to conclusions about me, but I assure you, I do not. I recycle FAR more than I throw out (by about a factor of 5x, I would say). It's done my making a conscious effort to clean, and properly sort a lot of my waste (and occasionally, physically taking it to the appropriate location). In general, I put out one grocery bag (since I re-use them instead of buying new, black bags) of random unrecyclable plastics every 2 weeks.

But that really is beside the point. In general, your argument is that since we all make SOME waste, we just shouldn't care about making as much as we want?

Respectfully, I disagree strongly with that kind of mindset.

 @rickybobby18: I don't know about you, but my waste bin is 120L, gets picked up once a month, and usually half full at that point. And I don't try to live "frugal" or zero waste... Like at all.
The main thing I try to avoid is cheap trash - stuff you use once or twice before it breaks. That, and in Austria, we do a lot of recycling. The only recycling I am kind of sceptical about is plastic, as it's kind of questionable how much of it is actually recycled, but that is also about a 50L bag per month for our 2-person household. The rest is paper, cardboard, glass, and metal, all of which are almost totally recycleable.
It is all doable if we avoid the cheapest of the cheap stuff.

 @rory: sorry about jumping to conclusions about you. My point is that we all generate a lot of waste, and that bikepacking is an incredibly low-impact activity. If we all died, that's the lowest impact way to be human, but if we're gonna not die, and we're still gonna recreate, bikepacking is a super low-impact way to do so compared to things like air travel, car vacations, car camping, etc.

If buying a few disposable items is the way to get someone into bikepacking (which often is followed up by buying nicer non-disposable bikepacking items), then that person has gotten themselves into a great hobby that has far lower impact than anything involving burning fossil fuels. I love videos like this because it shows that you don't have to spend $1000 on bags to get outdoors (which a lot of people believe, and it's a barrier, so they don't bikepack).

My first bikepacking trip involved a frame bag made from duct tape. Did it get thrown out? Sure did. Did it inspire me to buy a full Revelate bag setup because bikepacking is awesome, and now I pedal from my front door for most of my camping? Sure did.

So...point is that an inflatable mattress and a couple other throw-away items is a pretty small eco-sacrifice to get someone into a hobby that is super eco-friendly in the long run compared to its alternatives.

 @Kainerm: most of our waste is food waste (scraps, but mostly food packaging). Family of four that eats a ton.

 @foggnm: Grow up, man. If you don't want to discuss any ideas bigger than your own narrow world view, feel free NOT to chime in. There are lots of people here who enjoy the outdoors, and believe in the importance of not filling them up with garbage. Let the grownups talk.

And to reply to @rickybobby18 , yes, I absolutely get what you're saying. We are ALL forced to buy disposable items, and we ALL produce more waste than is necessary. Nobody is innocent on this one...myself included. The goal is simply to try bring our consumption more into a realm of conscious decision, and not simply purchasing without any consideration. For example, I personally would have preferred a "bikepacking on a zero dollar budget" type of video (not including food, obviously) where the items were accesories that they made/built themselves, facebook swap groups, or thrift shop items. Something that could be reused, and had a future purpose, instead of the cheapest, lowest quality, junk items that are destined for a landfill in a few months time.

This isn't about any sort of virtue signalling and trying to be some sort of "keyboard warrior". These are views which I will (and do) discuss just as comfortably with people face to face, as I firmly believe this is a major crisis of our time. And yes, there are many issues we must all face (ie. racism, economy, etc. - and I understand that no single person can fight ALL the battles) but it doesn't hurt to take a second and think about what we leave behind us on our path through life.

And thanks for sharing your thoughts. I do appreciate hearing what you have to say, as I think the issue (and how other people see it) is incredibly important!

 They could have burned everything before they left...Problem solved!!

 $4,060 budget

 Maybe next time we do it old, single-speed road bikes? Open to ideas!

 @jasonlucas: not sure you will enjoy single speed road bike on trail. But if you can get nice bikes as shown in the video, you can rise the budget a little for the bikepacking stuff. Not saying you have to make with a Walmart or Decathlon for us from Europe, but with something less flashy. Anyway, that's a good effort to show you can bikepack with not too much investment.

 @jasonlucas: IFHT trip to Costa Rica style. Unknown route, craigslist bike, barely speak the language, and end up at some cult retreat. I'm sure you could check all those boxes if you send Tom to Alabama!

 Haha next time it includes the bike, I might have to forego the hotdogs....

 @jasonlucas: We're just being nitpicky sarcastic internet a*sholes

 @jasonlucas: If you're referring to bike packing the prairies on those singlespeed bikes, then maybe... no hills hahaha

 @Tombrad: bike?--it doesn't even include a valve stem. Trash and a campfire--welcome to the North American West. How about a $60 light and an endurance ride

 Hello, I'd like to purchase a trek slash for 60$

 @Peally: Been a while since you've shopped for a new bike hasn't it? Her trek is closer to 10k

 I bought a 1995 Marin Bobcat Trail for 30eur. Some people transform those vintage VTT into bikepaking with some bags.

 I don't know how to feel about that 60$ shopping.. I live in Switzerland

 @pakleni: I'll never forget when I visited Switzerland in early 2000's as a backpacker....spent $11 for a hamburger at Burger King...was blown away, still recovering from that financially...

 @parkisatool: Was more lookin at the Commencal HT when I made that comment

 @pakleni: Do Ovomaltine jars fit in bottle cages?

 @jasonlucas: pennyfathing, and only clothing made from animal skins.

 Bikepacking is the desire to ride your bike but not really enjoy it.

 thanks @rickybobby18 exactly! I hope it makes people stoked to give it a go, even if it is just a small ride to test it out!

 @brodoyouevenbike: inspirational story

 @brodoyouevenbike: oh yeah well I went bikepacking once and it was uphill both ways. Slept on loose shale lived off the land. Oh and did I mention I broke my back the day before

 yes! Food, bikes and a swimming mattress or whatever and you're good to go. I really enjoy moments like this. Tom and Christina seem super nice as well!

 @mitchward7: Nice. The point wasn't to "brag" about it. Just to further the point that it can be done on the cheap and you can probably handle more than you think. I had a hammock but it wasn't useful above the tree line, made it work anyway.

 Thats exactly what I came here to say!

 Half star accommodation, with D for Delicious food rating included?

 A bunk at the Adventure Inn?

 I am assuming that's for a camp spot? haha

 @femto505: there are no camp spots available here.

 Just camp in your van...err, no, can't do that anymore.

 @mi-bike yea unsurprisingly the hotdogs and buns didn't provide the best nutritional or budget value haha

 @Tombrad: Hot dogs are a classic Canadian camping food, however you needed to cook them at the end of a sharp stick....warmed up in foil just doesn't cut it. Also where were the marshmallows?

Absolute content gold, next should be the new kids vs the old guard trip....Obviously will need to wait for the border to open.

Campfire podcast anyone?

 Or better yet, how about a vid where you guys go full Les Stroud Survivorman, and try and spend a night in the wild with just what you have in a fanny pack and downtube storage? And spend a second night if you fail to signal for help the next morning?

 I think when you have to come up with a story every hour, there will be a lot of non-stories.

 looks like a Mobius X8

 @Tjomball: thanks

 @Tjomball: anybody have experience with these? I'm looking into 1, OR one from wristbraceguy on Instagram. Cheers

 @nert:

I have been wearing one for a year after fracturing my scaffoid. Worth every penny. It’s fantastic and probably will wear it for the foreseeable future.

 @stokedrightnow: thanks!!!

 Don't take a ton of shit,attach the things you do take to your bike very securely. Have fun.

 You're not going to be hitting jumps on a fully laden bike. you get to camp, unload everything, set up, then you can do day trips out from your base camp, which is in a spot you wouldn't normally be able to start from But not every trip has to be about shredding. Bikepacking gets you to places that backpacking would take twice as long to get to.