Motorcycle solo camping gear review New Zealand

I've just come back from my solo motorbike camping trip around New Zealand, well mainly the South Island. Last year I did a lap around Australia but I had the luxury of being able to take whatever I could strap to the bike. This time I had one checked bag and the limit was 23 kilos and that actually includes the bags that I was going to strap onto the bike in New Zealand. So I survived and that was for three to four weeks, I think it's just under four weeks. So it is possible. So I'm going to go through all the stuff I took, what worked and what didn't. The first thing I had to do was when you get on a plane that's limited to the one bag, so it's not 23 kilos, it's up to 23 kilos per bag. So what I did, I got what's called a air porter. It's basically a bag that straps over those big backpacks you go really long hiking with, like 70 litre ones. It just stops all the straps from falling out. So that was really good because I could get my tank bag along with my helmet then also the back or top bag and both panniers in there and a few other bits and pieces and zip them all up so it became one bag. It actually was 22.3 kilos. This didn't include my backpack which was carry-on and that had all the camera gear in it. The other thing to also save on weight was I went over on the plane in my riding pants as well as had my riding jacket on and another top underneath and the boots I was riding in as well because they were the heaviest. First are the riding pants, they're the John Doe Defenders and they're Kevlar lined and they also have the armour on the hips and on the knees and they're quite soft and comfortable. So they're really good for all day riding and just after because you're not always on the bike. They're not waterproof but a bit breathable because of the wind but in New Zealand having something warm was really good. But yeah, just plain comfort. Jacket wise I took the Atkin Moto. I've had this one for a while. It's the old version though. It's the Alpha but it's an older version. I think they've got a lot better versions, probably a couple more versions. It's got armour, it's abrasion resistant for if you happen to unfortunately go down the road on your back. And if you're not into adventure, that adventure gear look with the jackets, this is a good option. More like a snowboard jacket. Really warm. It's got a lining to keep you warm as well so you can zip that out. It's mainly cold in New Zealand or cooler and this is perfect. I never had any overheating issues, never had any being cold issues. Just when I went to Northern Territory before, it got really hot there so this just doesn't have that sort of vents that I used with my other jacket. But no, this thing is really good and they're, I think they're South East Queensland based in Australia. It is waterproof and the bottom is quite far down so when it rains, I've had shorter jackets and when it rains you get wet around your hips. This one doesn't because it is a good six or so inches longer than a normal jacket which is really handy. I rate it really good and especially for places like New Zealand. Boots. These are the TCX Blend 2. They are really comfortable especially off the bike and they are actually waterproof. Just in New Zealand, I was going through a lot of river crossings and the water would go up my leg and then fall in the side. So it wasn't the boot not being waterproof, it was just either I should go through lower rivers or not at all. But next place I go, if there's a lot of river crossings, I might get a higher boot. And also you having waterproof pants over the top rather than going in the boots would probably help with that issue as well. But yeah, really comfortable, like really comfortable off the bike. You just, it's like a normal boot and it's got the armour. Yeah and the grip's really good too on the pegs when you're standing. Never had issues slipping even in the wet and mud. Rate them. Next is puffer jacket. This is the North Face Alpine 1 and it is a lot warmer than my normal jacket, the one I used here in Australia. Being in New Zealand, the more chance of getting really cold. This is what I use when in the mountains in the snow. It is really warm. It is really good actually. It's just if it's too hot, you have that balance of it's cold enough to get a jacket on but it's too hot sometimes. So no, this was really good and it was one of the three things with the boots, the pants and the jacket and this that I walked on the plane with. I had in my arm really, the jackets. Just to save on space because I was again limited to that 23 kilos. Gloves. These are Berlin, they're waterproof gloves. Great for warmth. The only thing is you can't do a lot with them. Any gloves really that are this thick to keep your hands warm. Trying to turn on the camera in these things is a little bit of tricky. But yeah, really good, really warm. The other ones I took, again these are summer gloves. The Akinmoto ones again. These ones are nearly just starting to wear a bit thin but I think I worked out before I've done over 70,000 kilometers of riding in them. So I think that's pretty good for a pair of gloves. Helmet. Bell MX-9 Adventure. Great helmet. I did have some issues with everything fogging up because I blocked off the vents out the front because I was having issues with the camera mount. Other than that, all good. But that was more that I was using it wrong I guess. The visor probably needs to be replaced. It's getting a little hard to see through. But no, good, really comfortable. And I've had, what's this done? Over 70,000 kilometers too. Quite scratched up but it hasn't, haven't had to use it for its intended purpose. So that's good. Before I forget, what I did do was use it as sort of protection for other gear in my checked-in bags. So things like my personal beacon, electronic beacon finder, shoved that in there and just I think I just used gaffer tape or electrical tape to stop it from falling out. There's a few other things. Another thing I took was my quad lock mount for my phone for navigation. It's the one with the vibration dampener thing. I'll quickly go through a couple of tool things I took. Basically put them in these plastic containers. Just all those little odds and ends and it stopped it from, you know, just having to find things in the bottom of the side panniers. Rope, life straw, in case you need fresh water and you're in a spot where you can't get it. Punch repair kits, a chain link. In here there's spanners, patches for air mattress, just a little tool thing, a helmet lock. I didn't use that one. Ties, another strap, allen keys or wrenches, chain brake to go with the chain link. A few more patches for getting flat tires and actually a second set of patches for the tent if I ever put a hole in the tent. Leatherman. There's another box. Small little camping knife. I also had another allen key set but it disintegrated from the vibrations and just a little piece of wire. So these things came in really handy which is good. Just like your normal plastic Tupperware things. Again, just trying to keep everything in one place. Another thing I did take was spare tubes. Well, I took my back one, the Scram and the Himalayan have different front tubes. So I bought a 19 inch front tube from the when I was over there and just took my back one. I also, I was worried about the limit. I have tire levers. I ended up buying tire levers there because I've got the really big heavy ones and I think that would have pushed me over the weight limit. So I got there and I think it was $19 for a small set of tire levers which I did use and they were fine. Another thing I grabbed was like a net thing to throw over the top in case I needed to take the jacket off and didn't have anywhere to put it. It was just over the top of the other bags. Never used it so I'm not sure if I'd take that again. Another thing I took was wheelie bin garbage bags. That's just that emergency thing if your tent breaks and blows down or just to put stuff in and even myself has input holes in it and use it as a rain jacket. They're light. They sit at the bottom. Didn't end up using them. I had a bag of ten. I probably should have just taken one or two. Clothes wise, I use these little satchel things. I don't know why they don't normally sell them in colors. Obviously some brands do but I haven't found them yet. But yeah just putting your shorts in one, shirts in the other, underwear in the other and this is a waterproof sealed bag that you roll up. I use that for dirty stuff because it holds in the smell as well which is good. I took clothes wise I think four shirts, a pair of board shorts in case I went swimming which I didn't, a long pair of pants, underwear and socks. I think I took about eight pairs of socks and I used them all the time because I kept getting my feet wet. Other gear because of the cold. I did take a beanie unless you're in Canada it's a toque. Thermal top. Before I left I couldn't find my thermal bottoms so I had to buy some over there. But definitely needed them so it was good. I found them now so next trip if I need thermals I've got two pairs. Towel for obvious reasons. I also use that and I folded it over the helmet in the checked in luggage. Trying to give it a little bit of protection. I didn't see any damage from someone dropping it. Although they probably could have. I took one other set of shoes. A set of trail shoes. So runners with very grippy bottoms. As you're around a camp spot and you might go for a hike they're really good to have. These are on their last legs. The sole's coming off. But yeah just another set of shoes that aren't the boots because I did have to dry them out a few times. Also I put them in a bag because they're normally going to get mud and stuff on the bottom of them. I also took a few straps just in case the ones I had broke. It can happen. So there was some shorter ones and one quite long one. Spork. Spoon fork. Obvious reasons. Pump to pump up tires which I did use. One flat. A lock. I made this just out of cable from Bunnings or in America Home Depot. Just to lock the gear to the bike. It's someone can still steal it. They can open it up. It's more of a deterrent. Head torch. Obvious reasons. This is a black diamond. Had it for ages. Does the job. I did take hand warmers that you use in the snow that you put in your gloves. Just again double back up back up just trying to get you through if you do get into a sticky situation where you get stuck out in very cold weather. Rain pants. These are quite cheap ones and they were large and I'm normally a medium so I thought oversized but still they're too tight and obviously I blew a hole through them. So I'm going to be researching to get a better pair of rain pants for next time and try them on with all my gear on too. So if I do have to go to extra or triple large that will be what I have to do. Also another little pouch. It's got just cables and just plugs for the USB stuff into walls and it carries my air pump for my air mattress. Still has some charge. They're awesome. USB powered. Small light. I think you probably get five or six pumps before of your mattress before you have to charge it. Now the main camping gear which start with the tent. Big Agnes Tiger Oil Ultralight 2. I've had this for nine years. It's brilliant but I busted the zip on it finally. There's some holes. The seams are coming away. I mean I've done years where I've done over 100 nights in it so it's served me well. I'm going to replace it with basically the same thing but the new version has side entry zips. This one has the just one end entry. The bonus having side entries is when you get in the tent after really long down the bike and you've got your gear beside you just to try and spin your legs around the position's quite tight. So having side entries just means you can throw your legs out, turn around, get back in. But rate it, rate it, rate it. Sleeping mat. Sea to Summit Comfort Light SI. I think that stands for self-inflating. I don't self-inflate. I sort of, they just don't. Have a pump with you. Really comfortable. For me I'm quite used to sleeping on the ground so this is luxury. Again I did puncture it but I was sleeping on rocks and dragged it across rocks with stuff on. My fault. The one piece of camping gear I did get just for this trip was a new sleeping bag. Well a quilt which is this here. So basically the difference between this and a sleeping bag is with a sleeping bag if you're laying on the material it actually crushes it and they work by having that air in between that material and that's how it keeps warm. So this one you just lay over the top of you. As long as you've got a good sleeping mat they work really well. It can zip around your feet so a little pouch for your feet and the benefit of this is when you want to turn around and I do it a lot before I fall asleep. This normally stays still when I sleep. I always get tangled up. So this was just quite a revelation in sleeping while camping. So I love this thing. It comes with its own little pull down. It's NEVE gear. Really good. These are actually made in Australia. I think this thing's called the Wattle. Waratah. Now the bags I took to hold all the gear. Krieger. I think this is a 40 litre one. The reason I got this was because of the tent I have. The poles are well normal length. The new tent I'll get will have the shorter bike packing poles for gravel bikes. So I don't know if I need the length but no it's still really good. No issues with it. Waterproof. Yeah really good if you've got long stuff. The other ones I have are the Rhino Walk side panniers and they're the 48 litres. They look like this and they are the cheapest version you can get out there of soft panniers and they work. No issues with them. I did drop the bike into a mud pile but I hadn't strapped the top up properly. They're the normal fold down things. My fault and it sat there for about two or three minutes and got water in it. Again my fault. Not the bags. I should really tighten them up properly next time. But yeah for the price I mean you can't beat them. I mean the other brands are probably really good. I haven't tried them but these things no issues. Well besides use error no issues. And seeing the Rhino Walk panniers worked I got one of their tank bags. I think it's actually a tailback but I mainly got this because of one of the tripods I use. This tiny little thing and if I'm trying to get a shot off the bike and ride past trying to get in and out of a backpack where this thing here is easy to get in and out. I had another version of this but it had all buckles which I rode around Australia in. This one zip way quicker. So yeah no issues. It's not actually waterproof but it does have a little water rain jacket. It never got any water in it. I also stored food. What else did I put in there? Oh rain pants. Just everything you need to grab quickly which is what you normally put in a tank bag. But no did the job. I do get a lot of questions about what camera gear I use so I'll quickly go over that as well. For photos a Sony a7R III and it's from 2017 and still gets a decent shot. I do also have when I'm filming closer stuff it's the Sony a7S III which is a filming and it looks literally the same as that. I use two lenses just space wise. One is a Sony G Master 24mm f1.4. It's just the type of lens it is and that's for the closer stuff. It's pointing at me and then I'm using the other lens looking through. So I put a picture up that is a Sony G Master 70-200mm. That's for the longest stuff to get photos from and sometimes film from. I also have a drone. This one is Mavic 3 Pro. If you see me in a place that looks epic and you think why didn't he get a drone shot? It's probably a national park. You're not allowed to fly them in most national parks around the world. Also there's just limits everywhere so I try to remember the rules or check the rules first and stick by them. Just the hassle would be too hard to deal with. But no, it works well for epic spots like New Zealand. One other small thing is is a light. I also use it more for camping and putting it in the top of the tent. I think it's dead and but if I need to film at night I can use that as well. This is just a cover that sort of directs light but it also can help charge a battery of the phone or something. You can just reverse the power into that. For audio I just have a little mic that sits on the top of the camera. That thing there is to stop the wind noise but even in New Zealand it's too windy for that. You probably need a bigger one or I don't know. But light, small, gets decent audio unless it's blowing in Gale. I do actually have two tripods. That's the that's for up front so I can easily just fold over. Legs extend for about that much. So I had a smaller one before but it ended up on the side of the road the grass was always too long and you can never get over the top. The larger one is for obviously my height if I'm going to stand and talk to camera or I'm trying to get a photo and I need to be really stable. That's what that one's for. It's old but it's super light and rugged and it's busted feet and things but does the job and I don't really worry about it if I do break it because it's old. The camera I use for when on the bike is a DJI Osmo Action. This one's a number four. All action cameras aren't going to give you the best image but this one I find I can get the best image out of this one. The other major brand I struggle with just keeping them working so yeah not the best image but it's just because of the size of it that you can't beat them. So that is everything I took and somehow got everything under 22.3 kilos so there is a little bit of wriggle room for next time and well I think there's some things I probably won't take next time and it all depends where you're going or how much gear you really need to take but you can survive with under 23 kilos and I didn't really think there was anything I was like oh I really need something so that was good. So if you've got any questions about any gear write it down below and I'll see if I can answer it if I know the answer. So until next time.