Time for some Micro Camping Gear...

Now that I regularly take the ST out to stretch her legs over 1,000s of kms, it was time to review exactly WHAT GEAR I need to have on board.

Traditionally, I am a 'just in case' person, and usually take about 3 tonnes of equipment more than I need/use.

The times I have needed one of those way out items has been fantastic, but hardly outweighs the numbers of times I merely transport dead weight!

Someone told me to "take an item with you 3 times. If you didn't pull it out and need it - then don't take it a fourth!" - Probably sound advice - to a point!

Without sounding doomsdayish, Australia is such a vast, barren, harsh and unpopulated continent, that in rare and extreme cases - you can actually DIE as a result of being stranded from running out of petrol, or mechanical failure!  OK - fair enough - that is rare (and a long bow to draw to legitimise my pathetic ideology - sorry bout that), but the point remains that, when touring in this country (as stated in an earlier post about fuel stations and road houses being hundreds of kms from each other), you do well to be of the mind and capability to recover yourself when unplanned incidences occur. Such as a flat tyre.

With this ideology in mind, you like to take as much as you can, but take up as little space and weight as you can. You get good at packing, and you like small, reliable equipment.

Below are some of the items I have sourced over time that do a great job, and afford me a few creature comforts when touring. Remember - in Australia - you just pull up at a truck / lorry parking bay and have a kip - so you may want coffee, tent, bed roll, pillow etc ....

Have a look at these gems....


My ST micro camping gear....

This is amazing stuff that fits easily into panniers, top boxes or strapped on somewhere - ideal for stealth camping too....   

These are great bits of kit and are essential for my inspirations for wanting to see a lot of this planet on two wheels.

My billy (kettle)... I used my rum glass strictly for perspective purposes only! (and NO it's NOT a quart! It's standard).

my sleeping bag...



my inflatable pillow...

my kitchen - unpacked...

packed....



my cooker......

my chair....




and finally... all packed in the top box... the fuel can is empty - I was transporting it as a gift. My spare fuel is in the pannier.



all this and I'm 6'3" and 93kg!  

If I don't kip diagonal in my tent, my feet would stick out the end!!