Top 5 kit items in our bike backpacks

The top 5 kit items that any self respecting mountain biker needs to have in their backpacks

Packing the right gear into your back pack is an essential, if not life-saving, part of mountain biking, so we thought we’d share the top 5 kit items in our bike packs.

Our clients often stand wide-eyed watching our guides pulling kit out of their bike packs, but it’s crucial that they’re prepared for every eventuality when they’re out with you, riding trails in some very remote parts of the world. Over the years our guides have honed their skills in packing only the most useful, and multi-functional kit into their rucksacks, since attaching a horse box to the back of their bikes isn’t an option! First-aid, maps, inner tubes, etc., come as standard, but what else do our mountain bike guides carry in their bulging bike packs?

Here are our guides’ top 5 kit items, including some interesting, do-it-all items that you may not have thought of!

Euan, H&I Adventures owner

• Duct tape – fixes just about anything!
• Cable/ zip ties – these little gems will fix burst riding bags, tie broken spokes out of the way, tame errant cables…
• Mini track pump – forget those tiny hand pumps that take 25 minutes to inflate a tyre; a mini track pump is much more effective and will have you on your way again in no time
• Camera – you’re riding through some of the world’s most beautiful areas, and perhaps just the once, so collect those memories!
• Spare food – going hungry is not an option

Mandil, mountain bike guide Nepal

• Spare contact lenses
• iPhone – for taking pictures and emergency phone calls
• Head lamp – just in case we’re out for longer than anticipated
• Money clip and ID – always handy to carry these with you in Nepal
• Trail mix – essential energy food to keep you going all day in the saddle

Kevin, mountain bike guide Scotland

• A small glass marble – which fell from a window of an Armenian convent in Jerusalem (call it fate, luck, providence…can’t leave it behind now)
• A die – in case we ever need to roll for something
• A ‘Help for Heroes’ wrist band – great if your brake lever pops out
• A midgie net – for the odd occasion when they want to feast on my face
• Something homemade – like a scone, or some oatcakes

Alex, mountain bike guide Scotland

• Re-usable bag with peanuts and raisins – a bag is better than a tub because it takes up less precious space in my already-full pack
• CO2 inflation cartridges – a racer’s trick for super-fast puncture repair if you’re desperate!
• TORQ single-measure canisters – normally I just drink water, which can be replenished from the Highland streams, but these little canisters carry enough powder for one energy drink and can come in handy if someone needs a quick boost
• Plastic bag for carrying rubbish out from the trails, particularly banana skins, which you don’t want lying around in your bag next to other kit!
• Rab Generator vest – it packs down to nothing, weighs next to nothing and provides superb core body insulation

This is, by no means, an exhaustive list of the gear we take on a bike ride, and if you come on one of our worldwide mountain bike adventures, you’ll see for yourself the Pandora’s Box of surprises hidden inside our rucksacks! But you should, hopefully, glean some small sparks of inspiration to help you pack your bike kit in super-efficient style!