In my opinion your tools are the most important gear on a bikepacking adventure. Your bike breaking down is the most likely to put an end to any journey by bike.
What tools to take on your bikepacking trip is often a difficult decision.
On the one side of the coin you might only take what you usually carry with you on any bike ride:
Tire Lever
Spare Tube
CO2 Charger and Head
Multi Tool
These items might be good enough for your local bike route where you are close to family and friends is you suffer a major breakdown and help is only a phone call away.
Bikepacking by definition means self supported bike travel. This will change your thoughts on what tools to take with you on your journey.
I remember on my first bikepacking adventure thinking about all the things that might go wrong and ended up taking the whole kitchen sink with me. I had spare chain rings, rotors, complete chain.... as you can probably imagine I had quite the load on my bike!!
Over time as I gained confidence the tools became less important and replaced by other more life sustaining items.
There is no correct answer and what tools you take is up to you. I always try and imagine the journey ending failure:
Snapped chain = chain links, chain breaker.
Derailleur failure = convert to single speed, spare hanger. You might need the above to shorten the chain.
Tire damage = spare tube, tire gator, mushroom plug, needle and thread...
Spare tube failure = patch kit
...some creativity can solve most breakdowns.
If a major breakdown occurs stay calm, head to the next town and you will find a solution even if you need to end the trip by calling in support by ways of family or friends.
BIKE HACKS from Seth's:
WATER & FOOD
Sustaining a long distance bikepacking ride requires food and drink.
We normally plan our meals in advance at overnight stops and prepare for between destination snacks. Make a mistake and you might be a little hungrier when you arrive at your destination, no real worries.
BUT if you miss calculate your water supply you will be in serious trouble. Supply means the water you carry on you as well as the availability of water sources along your planned route.
I discovered this on a bikepacking trip where we ran out of water just over half way through our journey.
There was no water on route to filter, we made it through by rationing what we had. It was interesting to experience the mental effect of knowing you could not just drink when you were thirsty.
A good measure is to use a known measurement of what you normally drink over a distance, then double that amount of fluid for when you go bikepacking.
Or make sure that you will have water sources along the way and plan for if those sources are not there. This is especially true in countries with dry seasons or with extremely hot conditions.
PLAN FOR THE UNEXPECTED bike breakdowns and water, the rest is part of the adventure :)
Pack & Ride 😍