Helmet & Communications

Many thanks to Dale from Dale Britton Motorcycles in Perth for his sponsorship of a Shark Helmet. With inbuilt dark visor, flip screen, and speaker slots for the Scala Rider comms - this is the perfect touring helmet.

Inbound Flight Details

San Salvador (SAL) to Panama (PTY)

Departure Date	22 OCT 11	Airline	Copa Airlines 871
Departure Time	7:00AM	Flight #	DNQ2UE
Arrival Date	22 OCT 11
Arrival Time	9:52AM
Flight Duration	1HR 52MIN

Panama (PTY) to Los Angeles (LAX)

Departure Date	22 OCT 11	Airline	Copa Airlines 302
Departure Time	7:00AM	Flight #	DNQ2UE
Arrival Date	22 OCT 11
Arrival Time	11:38PM
Flight Duration	5HR 10MIN

Los Angeles (LAX) to Nadi (NAN)

Departure Date	23 OCT 11	Airline	Air Pacific Limited (FJ)-811
Departure Time	23:30	Flight #	811
Arrival Date	25 OCT 11
Arrival Time	05:10
Flight Duration	25HR 40MN

Nadi (NAN) to Sydney (SYD)

Departure Date	25 OCT 11	Airline	Air Pacific Limited (FJ)-911
Departure Time	09:00	Flight #	911
Arrival Date	25 OCT 11
Arrival Time	12:40
Flight Duration	3HR 40MIN

Sydney (SYD) to Perth (PER)

Departure Date	25 OCT 11	Airline	Virgin Blue
Departure Time	05:30PM	Flight #	DJ565
Arrival Date	25 OCT 11
Arrival Time	07:35PM
Flight Duration	2HR 5MIN

Outbound Flight Details

Perth (PER) to Sydney (SYD)

Departure Date	03 Oct 11	Airline	Virgin Blue
Departure Time	10:55PM	Flight #	DJ572
Arrival Date	04 Oct 11
Arrival Time	06:05AM
Flight Duration	6 HOURS

Sydney (SYD) to Nadi (NAN)

Departure Date	04 OCT 11	Airline	Air Pacific Limited (FJ)-910
Departure Time	14:10	Flight #	910
Arrival Date	04 OCT 11
Arrival Time	18:55PM
Flight Duration

Nadi (NAN) to Los Angeles (LAX)

Departure Date	04 OCT 11	Airline	Air Pacific Limited (FJ)-810
Departure Time	22:00	Flight #	810
Arrival Date	05 OCT 11
Arrival Time	13:20
Flight Duration

Los Angeles (LAX) to Panama (PTY)

Departure Date	05 OCT 11	Airline	Copa Airlines 303
Departure Time	1:58AM	Flight #	DNQ2UE
Arrival Date	05 OCT 11
Arrival Time	10:28AM
Flight Duration	6HR 30MIN

Panama (PTY) to San Salvador (SAL)

Departure Date	05 OCT 11	Airline	Copa Airlines 410
Departure Time	11:20AM	Flight #	DNQ2UE
Arrival Date	05 OCT 11
Arrival Time	12:20PM
Flight Duration	2HR 0MIN

Packing To Go

Packing to travel very light (and safely) is a real challenge.  The whole lot needs to be able to fit into a motorcycle tank bag and weigh less than 7kg.  The magnetic bag itself is more than 1kg, and the tools and spares occupy another 1kg.  This leaves very little room for personal items.

Everything is lightweight and designed for multipurpose.  Clothing is lightweight and quick drying nylon, while pants have zip-off lowers. 

The medical kit can cope with most eventualities, with body armour from the jackets sufficing as a splint or neck brace if required.  Pharmaceuticals include malaria tabs, aquatabs, antibiotics, burn powders, and gastro stop/start. 

Also packed is the Spot2 GPS Messenger, designed to despatch assistance to a rider in trouble anywhere in the world.  This clever little device has one-button operation, and communicates with the international satellite moitoring system to send local assistance to a specific GPS coordinate (accurate to less than a metre).  The same device also allows us to send track-progress updates to a google map.

Rider-to-rider communications is made possible by the Scala headsets. These have a 500m range and allow the lead rider to warn those following of dangers and obstacles ahead.  This allows the team to take turns in the lead, allowing others to drop back to a safe distance and even turn around and head back in the opposite direction quickly if necessary.

Staying in touch should be easier this trip with the iPad.  Blog updates can be written offline, and then uploaded automatically whenever we can find an internet connection.

The bag has been packed and re-packed a few times, as we are very conscious that once we fly out of Australia there's no going back to pick up missing items.