So didja know that a dozen differen

So didja know that a dozen different new and old-style military bags make great bike bags?

Here's a big report on what I've discovered along these lines... (If you know a bike magazine that would like to publish it, lemme know! I've tried a bunch. No bites. Seems like a cool, original topic to me, though. You know, nothing else like it. Here's an irony: "Backwoodsman" -- not a bike mag -- published my article on this stuff happily! They're more interested in bikepacking innovation than the bike mags!)

First, as you may know, based on all the related goodies I sell here, vintage leather'n'canvas military bags are a great urban bike style -- with full-on function.

The new type of military surplus bags offer a special twist: they let you access the brave new world of Bikepacking -- bike touring on trails and rough roads, or just lightweight, simpler bike touring -- Rackless Touring, in short. This style lightens your load, gives better handling, is cheaper, and lets mtbikes get into the outback singletrack like never before. It also combines with the new ultralight movement, shedding a LOT of weight and complexity. 15 lbs is totally sufficient for a few days. 20 lbs is the new 3-season week+ load.

...AND IT'S ALL AVAILABLE AT THE OYB STORE! I list all the items needed for thrifty bikepacking at my OYB eBay Store. I'll put them up here at the website soon, too.

Racklessness, as you may know from other reports here at OYB, has also opened up a new scene of self-supported ultra-bike-marathoning, with events like the Tour Divide. These racers were the original developers of this rackless touring mode and spurred two sweet luggage makers: Carousel and Revelate, who supply most of the racers. Military surplus can be used to imitate their wares for $50-100 for a whole rig. (I'm now carrying these bags for sale here at OYB, too!)

So, check it out: there are seven angles to this concept: *vintage appeal; *racklessness; *ultralight; *self-supported racing; *a social aspect here in terms of military culture; *a fashion angle due to the unique range of fabric colors and patterns; *and there's a massive "reduce reuse recycle" angle.

Here we go! : ) (Lotsa pics at the end!)

Beating Swords into Plowshares... Military Surplus as Bike Luggage -- for Touring, Everyday, and Everything Between


On the second day of my last weeklong bike tour I mailed home ten pounds of stuff from the 30 pounds I hauled. I'd brought that much because it was chilly at night and I thought I'd want to dress up and step out on the town after my daily riding. I guessed wrong. Road-living proved to be simpler, and my load seemed heavy. So I did some pruning. I had a dandy tour. Then, within an hour of finishing, I attacked my gear pile and identified another 5 pounds to weed out. Fifteen pounds is my new sweet spot. My ideal luggage set-up evolved into just rear panniers and a handlebar bag -- trim'n'tidy. With nothing on top of my rear rack, I had a nice flat place for lashing a bag of groceries at the end of each day's ride. ...Bliss.

More than weight, what peeves me is the idea of hauling stuff I don't use. Now, many approaches work for touring, including the Kitchen Sink. I'm not forever swearing off extras, it's just that for me these days I have no interest in them and don't miss them. I dig wearing arm- and leg-warmers as streetwear off the bike in cooler weather or sleeping in all my clothes when a night is cool. My knees also agree that less is more. It's a bit like a fixie approach to touring: simplicity rules. Even so, I chuckled at myself after that last tour as I swore off stuffsacks and opted for twine over bungies: but it made perfect sense to me!

Little did I know that my touring world would soon be rocked three times...

Firstly, I looked up touring loads on the Internet and discovered Ultralight Backpacking and its kissin' cousin called "bikepacking." What fun!

Secondly, I saw that folks were achieving near-weightlessness by skipping the racks and lashing packs to the bike. Rackless -- brilliant! Saves a few more pounds. Saves on having to buy racks in the first place. And saves the risk of having racks break or loosen and lose hardware along the trail. The concept works for any bike, since so many sporting models today, both road and mountain, are made without eyelets. Moreover, the load can be positioned centrally, and more firmly attached, for better handling. It was neat to read how racklessness was first developed by enthusiasts of long-distance singletrack mt-biking: racks and pans broke, were heavy, and don't work with suspension.

Now, racklessness and ultralight aren't synonymous, but they cross paths. Mostly, when you ditch the racks there's not much room for carrying stuff, so bikepacking and UL tend to go together. According to the web-chat, rackless UL touring starts getting serious at 12 pounds. Backpackers launch at an even wimpier 10 pounds, but a bike has extra needs. I suggest that a dabbler can readily hit a 15-pound mark without much expense, using stuff they mostly already have. (UL load weights don't include food or water, but do include racks'n'packs.)

Critics of "weight-weenyism" say riders often neglect shedding their excess from around the waist. They also mention the junk that riders tend to haul around even after fetishizing their bikes. Bikepacking seems more consistent than garden variety weenyism since it truly considers all the stuff.

There are several ways to approach racklessness: You can flex your credit card hard all the way down to a 10-lb rig. You can save weight by doing without (like the famous whisky-drinking mtbike tourer who reports online about how he sleeps in a trash bag full of leaves). Or you can use common or older items that approximate their specialty peers at a fraction of the price. A lot of DIY also enters into this scene. "MYOG": make your own gear, baby! Plenty of fun for everyone.

Hard on the heels of those breakthroughs, I was sent reeling a third time when I discovered the Tour Divide mt-bike race. As is better known today, riders push 2700 miles down the Continental Divide, self-supported on mt-bikes. Nearly all the survivors, who tend to finish in a mere 15-25 days, go rackless. And most use packs made by Jeff Boatman at Carousel Design Works. More recently, Eric Parsons of Revelate / Epic joined the action.

The custom-tailored luggage these guys make is impressive. Talk about dialed-in. Whatever your need or frame shape, if you get onto the waiting-list far enough in advance of your trip, it's yours.

At this point my DIY/budget reflex kicked in. Those custom packs looked a lot like the new MOLLE "strap on" military packs that I'd already been experimenting with for use on bikes, but with racks or just for commuting use. Pronounced "Molly," it means Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment.

My OYB dayjob has me on the look-out for this kind of thing. So my antennas are on alert.

Lo and behold, several surplus items seem to work well with racklessness. The whole range -- for daily-use, for touring, for racks or not -- is often available down at the PX -- but the vintage items can be scarce.

My list of repurposables isn't meant to be any final word on how dozens of bags from various countries over the past decades can be used on bikes. Let this list get your own adaptive juices flowing! I look for bags of the right sizes with straps and lash-points in the right places. I try to avoid modifying them (much).

(There are several reports online about folks modifying mil-sup rucksacks as panniers. I just haven't found a sweet one yet. Kludge has its own cool, though. I also consider function: the main upshot is that these mods end up heavy and kinda permanently attached to a rack. The attachments are always darn awkward or pricey. To me, if you have to use a clunky $50 Arkel clip you might as well buy a real pan. And only a very few rucks will even start to work -- you need it small/narrow, and then you have to remove the forward pocket to avoid heelstrike. But I'm always hopeful for a neat solution...)

Going the mil-sup route, you can get a 6-bag rig for rackless touring for $50-$100. Sure, it's not as dialed-in as a much pricier custom kit, but you don't have to wait, and it has other perks. Surplus gives us its own special flavor of options to choose from in terms of style, sociology and function.

I sell these goodies at my OYB website, new and used. Of course, if you dig you can find them elsewhere -- and some options do require a fair bit of modifying.

If you were enlisted in the Armed Forces you might still have some of this gear, as issued. I had an enlightening chat with a veteran friend when we both were wearing the same military parka. I told him where I got mine. He said "Well, this one is mine." I then realized it was his duty-issue parka. Such items have never been on the market. It's theirs, in a very personal way.

The context of military surplus seems worth reflecting on. The impulse to use this gear in civilian life seems to appeal to both peaceniks and militarati. Those vectors aren't always mutually exclusive. (It's my impression that those who serve want peace as much as anyone.) But I haven't seen much surplus on display these days. During Vietnam, there was a lot of it on the hippie streets -- it was used by enlisted folks after they got home, and it was bought by civilians of varied persuasions: some used it as an anti-war statement, others dug the fashion, some appreciated the thrifty ruggedness.

Because we have no draft there's more of a social disconnect which, I suspect, translates into a "surplus deficit." Yet today's wars are still a huge social force (duh!). Fewer serve, but every neighborhood has folks involved. Using surplus in life beyond the sandbags just seems like a good thing: It used to be used for blowing things up, then it was wasting away in stockpiles, now it's back in undreamed-of service on bikes! What's not to li

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

Jadi didja tahu bahwa selusin berbeda gaya lama dan baru militer tas membuat tas besar?Berikut adalah laporan besar pada apa yang saya telah menemukan sepanjang jalur tersebut... (Jika Anda tahu sebuah majalah sepeda yang ingin menerbitkannya, lemme tahu! Saya sudah mencoba banyak. Tidak ada gigitan. Tampaknya seperti topik yang sejuk, asli bagi saya, meskipun. Kau tahu, tidak ada yang lain seperti itu. Berikut adalah sebuah ironi: "Backwoodsman"--tidak mag Sepeda--menerbitkan artikel saya pada hal ini dengan senang hati! They're lebih tertarik dalam inovasi bikepacking daripada mags sepeda!)Pertama, seperti yang Anda tahu, didasarkan pada semua barang terkait di sini, saya menjual vintage leather'n' tas kanvas militer adalah gaya perkotaan Sepeda besar--dengan penuh pada fungsi.Jenis baru militer surplus tas menawarkan sentuhan khusus: mereka membiarkan Anda mengakses dunia baru yang berani dari Bikepacking--Sepeda tur di jalan dan jalan kasar, atau tur sepeda hanya ringan, sederhana--Rackless Touring, singkatnya. Gaya ini mencerahkan beban Anda, memberikan penanganan lebih baik, lebih murah, dan memungkinkan mtbikes masuk ke pedalaman singletrack seperti belum pernah terjadi sebelumnya. Ini juga menggabungkan dengan gerakan ultralight baru, mencurahkan banyak berat dan kompleksitas. 15 lbs ini benar-benar cukup untuk beberapa hari. 20 lbs adalah musim baru 3 minggu + beban....DAN ITU SEMUA TERSEDIA DI TOKO OYB! Saya daftar semua item yang diperlukan untuk hemat bikepacking di toko eBay OYB saya. Aku akan menaruh mereka di sini di situs web segera, terlalu.Racklessness, seperti yang Anda ketahui dari laporan lain di sini di OYB, telah juga membuka adegan baru sendiri didukung ultra-Sepeda-marathoning, dengan kegiatan seperti Wisata membagi. Pembalap ini adalah pengembang asli dari modus rackless tur ini dan memacu dua pembuat manis Bagasi: Carousel dan Revelate, yang memasok sebagian besar pembalap. Kelebihan militer dapat digunakan untuk meniru barang dagangan mereka untuk $50-100 seluruh rig. (Aku sekarang membawa tas ini untuk dijual di sini di OYB, terlalu!)Jadi, check it out: ada tujuh sudut untuk konsep ini: * vintage banding; * racklessness; * ultralight; * mandiri didukung balap; * aspek sosial dalam hal budaya militer; * sudut fashion karena berbagai unik kain warna dan pola; * dan ada sudut "mengurangi penggunaan kembali daur ulang" yang besar.Di sini kita pergi! :) (Lotsa pics di akhir!)Pemukulan pedang ke Plowshares... Militer Surplus sebagai bagasi sepeda--Touring, sehari-hari dan segala sesuatu antaraPada hari kedua tur sepeda selama seminggu terakhir saya, saya mengirimkan rumah sepuluh pound barang dari 30 Pound saya mengangkut. Saya telah membawa banyak karena itu dingin di malam hari dan saya pikir saya ingin berdandan dan melangkah keluar di kota setelah saya naik setiap hari. Saya menduga salah. Jalan hidup terbukti sederhana, dan beban saya terasa berat. Jadi aku melakukan beberapa pemangkasan. Aku punya tur pesolek. Kemudian, dalam jarak satu jam menyelesaikan, saya menyerang saya tumpukan gigi dan diidentifikasi lain 5 kilogram untuk menyingkirkan. Lima belas pound adalah tempat manis yang baru saya. Bagasi ideal set-up berkembang menjadi hanya belakang panniers dan kantong stang--trim'n' rapi. Dengan apa-apa di atas rak belakang saya, saya punya tempat datar yang bagus untuk memukul sebuah tas belanjaan pada akhir perjalanan setiap hari. ...Bliss.Lebih dari berat badan, apa peeves saya adalah gagasan untuk mengangkut barang-barang yang saya tidak menggunakan. Sekarang, banyak pendekatan bekerja untuk tur, termasuk Kitchen Sink. Saya tidak selamanya bersumpah off ekstra, itu adalah hanya bahwa untuk saya hari ini saya tidak tertarik pada mereka dan tidak kehilangan mereka. Aku menggali mengenakan lengan - dan -penghangat kaki sebagai streetwear sepeda dalam cuaca dingin atau tidur di semua pakaian saya ketika malam yang dingin. Lutut saya juga setuju bahwa kurang lebih. Ini agak seperti pendekatan fixie tur: kesederhanaan aturan. Meskipun demikian, saya tertawa pada diriku sendiri setelah konser terakhir aku bersumpah off stuffsacks dan memilih untuk benang atas bungies: tapi masuk akal bagi saya!Sedikit yang saya tahu bahwa saya tur dunia akan segera mengguncang tiga kali...Firstly, I looked up touring loads on the Internet and discovered Ultralight Backpacking and its kissin' cousin called "bikepacking." What fun!Secondly, I saw that folks were achieving near-weightlessness by skipping the racks and lashing packs to the bike. Rackless -- brilliant! Saves a few more pounds. Saves on having to buy racks in the first place. And saves the risk of having racks break or loosen and lose hardware along the trail. The concept works for any bike, since so many sporting models today, both road and mountain, are made without eyelets. Moreover, the load can be positioned centrally, and more firmly attached, for better handling. It was neat to read how racklessness was first developed by enthusiasts of long-distance singletrack mt-biking: racks and pans broke, were heavy, and don't work with suspension.Now, racklessness and ultralight aren't synonymous, but they cross paths. Mostly, when you ditch the racks there's not much room for carrying stuff, so bikepacking and UL tend to go together. According to the web-chat, rackless UL touring starts getting serious at 12 pounds. Backpackers launch at an even wimpier 10 pounds, but a bike has extra needs. I suggest that a dabbler can readily hit a 15-pound mark without much expense, using stuff they mostly already have. (UL load weights don't include food or water, but do include racks'n'packs.)Kritik "berat-weenyism" mengatakan pengendara sering mengabaikan menumpahkan kelebihan mereka dari pinggang. Mereka juga menyebutkan sampah bahwa pembalap cenderung untuk mengangkut sekitar bahkan setelah fetishizing sepeda motor mereka. Bikepacking tampaknya lebih konsisten dari berbagai taman weenyism karena itu benar-benar mempertimbangkan semua hal.Ada beberapa cara untuk pendekatan racklessness: Anda dapat flex kartu kredit keras semua jalan ke 10-lb rig. Anda dapat menyimpan berat badan dengan melakukan tanpa (seperti terkenal wiski-minum mtbike tourer yang laporan online tentang bagaimana dia tidur dalam kantong sampah penuh dengan daun). Atau Anda dapat menggunakan item umum atau remaja yang perkiraan rekan khusus di sebagian kecil dari harga. Banyak DIY juga masuk ke dalam adegan ini. "MYOG": membuat gigi Anda sendiri, bayi! Banyak menyenangkan bagi semua orang.Keras pada tumit dari terobosan mereka, saya dikirim terguncang ketiga kalinya ketika saya menemukan Layanan Wisata membagi mt-Sepeda balap. Seperti lebih dikenal hari ini, pengendara mendorong 2700 mil menyusuri membagi Continental, sendiri didukung pada mt-sepeda. Hampir semua Selamat, yang cenderung selesai dalam hitungan 15-25 hari, pergi rackless. Dan sebagian menggunakan paket dibuat oleh Jeff Boatman pada Carousel desain bekerja. Baru-baru ini, Eric Parsons Revelate / epik bergabung dengan tindakan.Bagasi disesuaikan yang membuat orang-orang ini mengesankan. Berbicara tentang dipanggil-in. apa pun kebutuhan Anda atau bingkai bentuk, jika Anda mendapatkan ke daftar-tunggu cukup jauh sebelum perjalanan Anda, itu adalah milik Anda.At this point my DIY/budget reflex kicked in. Those custom packs looked a lot like the new MOLLE "strap on" military packs that I'd already been experimenting with for use on bikes, but with racks or just for commuting use. Pronounced "Molly," it means Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment.My OYB dayjob has me on the look-out for this kind of thing. So my antennas are on alert.Lo and behold, several surplus items seem to work well with racklessness. The whole range -- for daily-use, for touring, for racks or not -- is often available down at the PX -- but the vintage items can be scarce.My list of repurposables isn't meant to be any final word on how dozens of bags from various countries over the past decades can be used on bikes. Let this list get your own adaptive juices flowing! I look for bags of the right sizes with straps and lash-points in the right places. I try to avoid modifying them (much).(There are several reports online about folks modifying mil-sup rucksacks as panniers. I just haven't found a sweet one yet. Kludge has its own cool, though. I also consider function: the main upshot is that these mods end up heavy and kinda permanently attached to a rack. The attachments are always darn awkward or pricey. To me, if you have to use a clunky $50 Arkel clip you might as well buy a real pan. And only a very few rucks will even start to work -- you need it small/narrow, and then you have to remove the forward pocket to avoid heelstrike. But I'm always hopeful for a neat solution...)Pergi rute mil-sup, Anda bisa mendapatkan 6-tas rig untuk rackless tur untuk $50-$100. Tentu saja, hal ini tidak seperti dipanggil dalam sebagai sebuah kit kustom pricier banyak, tetapi Anda tidak perlu menunggu, dan memiliki tunjangan lainnya. Surplus memberi kita sendiri rasa istimewa pilihan untuk memilih dari dalam hal gaya, sosiologi dan fungsi.Saya menjual barang ini di situs web OYB, baru dan bekas. Tentu saja, jika Anda menggali Anda dapat menemukan mereka di tempat lain - dan beberapa opsi memerlukan sedikit yang adil memodifikasi.Jika Anda telah mendaftarkan diri di Angkatan bersenjata Anda mungkin masih memiliki beberapa gigi ini, seperti yang dikeluarkan. Aku punya obrolan mencerahkan dengan teman veteran ketika kami berdua mengenakan jaket militer sama. Saya mengatakan kepadanya di mana aku punya tambang. Dia mengatakan "Nah, ini adalah tambang." Saya kemudian menyadari itu jaket tugas-masalah nya. Barang-barang tersebut tidak pernah di pasar. Ini adalah milik mereka, dengan cara yang sangat pribadi.Konteks militer surplus ini tampaknya menarik untuk merenungkan. Dorongan untuk menggunakan peralatan ini dalam kehidupan sipil tampaknya menarik bagi peaceniks dan militarati. Vektor tersebut tidak selalu saling eksklusif. (Ini adalah kesan bahwa mereka yang melayani menginginkan perdamaian sebanyak ada.) Tapi saya belum melihat banyak kelebihan pada layar hari ini. Selama Vietnam, ada banyak di jalan-jalan hippie--itu digunakan oleh orang-orang yang diperoleh setelah mereka tiba di rumah, dan dibeli oleh warga sipil dari keyakinan bervariasi: beberapa digunakan sebagai pernyataan anti-perang, orang lain menggali fashion, beberapa dihargai kekasaran hemat.Because we have no draft there's more of a social disconnect which, I suspect, translates into a "surplus deficit." Yet today's wars are still a huge social force (duh!). Fewer serve, but every neighborhood has folks involved. Using surplus in life beyond the sandbags just seems like a good thing: It used to be used for blowing things up, then it was wasting away in stockpiles, now it's back in undreamed-of service on bikes! What's not to li