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.