Thanks all for such great feedback and advice. By air matress I meant the Big Agnes Air Core Sleeping Pad that goes inside the sleeve in the BA sleeping bags. I read many great reviews about this combo, and it felt to be a very light versatile setup. By separate e-mail I've also received feedback that some people don't like this setup, but I've never used it so I guess I'm going to try it and see how it feels. I think I'm going to get the RBW Vapor Barrier Liner to extend the temperature range of the bag, as well as make sure I bring dry wool socks, a beanie and some wool underwear just in case. I wanted a versatile solution that wouldn't be too warm in the summer; my son and I are pretty warm sleepers and I hate waking up all sweaty. If the combo doesn't work out, I will return it and exchange it for another typer/brand.
I think the warm chocolate in the morning makes a lot of sense, so I'll be looking into a small stove/unit based on all the multiple suggestions and recommendations that have been going around. I think, just like some have said, it's going to be great and we're going to be learning along the way. May end up exchanging the tent to a 3 person tent; my college daughter in Berkeley, upon hearing the news, said she'd also love to come camping. My wife isn't really the camping sort, and she said she would wait until I had it all figured out. With her, I believe it's going to eventually be car camping, as she doesn't ride a bike at all and probably won't want to go really backpacking either. I'll have to figure out how to get a bike that can be loaded for my daughter to use, and eventually my son to inherit as he grows up... :-) Grant provided me with a great minimum set up list that I'm going to use as my starting point. I may stop by RBW if I get a chance, to see if they help me configure the load on my Bombadil. But, to someone else's point, I won't worry too much about how to load the bike and/or whether I end up walking it up the hills or not. I'm actually looking forward to this new adventure very much. Thanks for all the feedback! René On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 3:08 PM, Dave Craig <dcr...@prescott.edu> wrote: > Thanks for this, Jim! Great article. > > On Apr 8, 9:46 am, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery <thill....@gmail.com> > wrote: > > While the gear recommendations above are worth your consideration, and > > could make a few recommendations of products and strategies that have > > worked ok for me, I believe you will learn best by doing. The beauty > > of a S24O is that you only have to live with your mistakes for 24 > > hours or less. I recently linked this old Dirt Rag article about, > > shall we say, bare-bones touring on the HC blog, and I think it's > > worth a few minutes of reading for the perspective. > http://www.dirtragmag.com/print/article-print.php?ID=859 > > > > On Apr 8, 4:17 am, Rene Sterental <orthie...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > > > > > I'm going to do my very first S24O in China Camp (Marin county, CA) on > the > > > weekend of May 8 - 9 with my 11 year old son. I have absolutely no > > > experience and the only camping I did years ago (too many...) was in > the > > > beach in Venezuela where we would bring everything by car/boat. > > > > > I chose China Camp because I already know the place, know the trails, > and > > > feel that if it doesn't work out, we're quite close to the car. I have > > > purchased a 2 person REI Quarter Dome tent, but I'm wondering if a 3 > person > > > tent would be a better choice if we want to invite someone along. I > also got > > > a pair of Big Agnes Lost Dog (rated 50 deg) sleeping bags with their > > > respective air matresses. I'm planning to use my Bombadil to bike from > the > > > main parking lot (at one end of the Shoreline Trail) by the Fishing > Village > > > to the campgrounds (at the other end). It's about 5 miles or so, so it > won't > > > be a disaster if I make mistakes. It's also a good manageable distance > for > > > my son. > > > > > Here is my list of questions... :-) > > > > > 1.- What else do I need to bring? At this time, I'm not planning to > cook; > > > we'll just bring sandwiches and water in bottles and our Camelbaks. I'm > > > leaving the logistics of cooking/warm food for another time. > > > > > 2.- How should I pack? I'll have to carry all the stuff for both of us > as my > > > son's Specialized 29er cannot carry anything. He'll have his small > Camelbak, > > > but that's about it. I do have the medium and huge front baskets with > their > > > respective medium and large sackville bags. I also have a medium > sackville > > > saddlebag. I can mount the Nitto rear pannier rack, but all I currently > have > > > is a pair of the small Ortlieb panniers I used to commute with a few > years > > > ago. Budget-wise, at most I might be able to get the large sackville > > > saddlebag, or a set of rear panniers. > > > > > I don't think I'll be doing anything beyond the S24Os this year; but I > do > > > want to do them on a regular basis. I have no idea what will happen or > what > > > we'll do once we've set up camp, but I'm looking forward to discovering > this > > > new dimension. > > > > > Please feel free to give me all the advice you think I'll need, and > even > > > advice you think I may not... you never know. If you want to e-mail me > > > off-list, feel free to do so. As was incredibly excited when I > discovered > > > what an S24O was, shortly after I discovered RBW and got my bikes there > late > > > last year. If I don't get started now, the whole inertia of work and > > > travelling for work will drag me down and by the time I realize it, > another > > > year will have passed. It's been a recurring theme for me. My son is > also > > > growing up relentlessly, so if I don't do it now, it might soon be too > late. > > > > > Thanks again for all your support and guidance; I've certainly learned > a lot > > > from all of you, and continue to do so... > > > > > René- Hide quoted text - > > > > - Show quoted text - > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<rbw-owners-bunch%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. 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