Top 5 Bikepacking Must Haves, as an Experienced Female Bikepacker
Lindsay RyderI’m a big proponent of the “just get out there and make do with what you have” approach to adventuring by bike. But over the years, I’ve come to learn that a few key tools and pieces of gear can make all the difference in your bikepacking adventure being fun, or being the dreaded “type 2” fun.
There’s so much to figure out for people to feel safe and confident getting out on bike overnighters - especially if it’s your first time, and even more so for women.
At Moonspin, we don’t gatekeep. We want to encourage and equip women+ to experience as much joy as possible while adventuring on two wheels. So, read up on what we’ve landed on from our years of experience.
Yes, this post shares brand names and links, but none of this is sponsored nor is there any commission or tracking involved. This is truly just sharing what I've learned over the years and pointing others in a hopefully helpful direction!
Here’s my shortlist of tools & gear I’ve refined over the years:
1. Tech tools: a different kind of digital nomad.
Route-planning is one of the most critical pieces of a successful and truly fun bikepacking adventure. It’s not just about identifying your route from A to B, but also knowing where to restock on food, get fresh water, and set up camp.
There’s a grey area between heading out on your bike and following your heart…and ending up bushwacking through an overgrown goat path full of stinging nettles and then finding out you’re blocked by private property.
Here, I’ve settled on my Wahoo ELEMNT ROAM bike computer and Ride With GPS. From start to finish, these tools help me:
- Get inspired and ideate potential bikepack adventures.
- Design, tweak, and personalize routes for my needs (how far I want to ride any given day, spots I want to camp or take a rest day in, detours I want to explore…).
- Stay on course! Rather than having to take out my phone every five minutes to see if I’ve made a wrong turn, having my Wahoo mounted on my handlebars lets me enjoy the view without missing my turn.
I love to use the “Explore” feature on Ride with GPS to get inspired for bikepacking adventures, and then I can fine-tune routes to add more singletrack, chunk out a multi-day ride into each day, and add in any detours I want to take.
Ride with GPS syncs seamlessly with my Wahoo, and I can make adjustments on the go through the Ride with GPS app on my phone.
I’ll admit that I felt hesitant to introduce this level of expensive tech-based guidance in my bikepacking accoutrement, and while I still manage to end up on the occasional goat path, it’s much less frequent and I’m a full-on digital route follower aficionado now.
2. Shelters: Your home away from home.
If you’ve found a bivvy that you absolutely love for bikepacking, LET ME KNOW! Personally, I have not found success with bivvies. I find they always detract with some form of condensation or downright lack of protection from precipitation. Plus they don’t provide the privacy that I prefer while camping out, particularly if I’m solo bikepacking as a woman.
So, I’ve found two shelters that I love: Kammok’s Kuhli Pro tarp and the Big Agnes Bikepacking tent.
I spent two weeks bikepacking across the Pyrenees with my friend and husband and the three of us shared the Kuhli Pro tarp without issues. We’d rig it up using its stakes and rigging lines, along with a single collapsable tent pole (and our bikes and trees at times!). That thing kept us dry and sheltered through some raging rainstorms, with enough room for our three sleeping bags and pads and to tuck quite a bit of our other gear underneath. It’s nice to have a footprint to protect you from the ground below, and be warned that this tarp will NOT keep mosquitoes or other critters out!
Which is why, when I bikepacked the Cape Loop of the Baja Divide, my friend and I opted to bring the Big Agnes tent. We quickly established a firm rule that we would keep the tent tightly zipped at all times, to ensure no desert creatures snuck in. This tent is so lightweight and compact, and has bikepacking-specific features like: smaller poles, loops and gear canopies for hanging shammies to dry and storing helmets. If mosquitos or privacy a concern, this is the shelter I bring.
3. Wardrobe: The best shorts & bra.
Moonspin’s flagship product, the Drift MTB Short, was dreamt up on the aforementioned Pyrenees bikepacking trip. Oh, how I wish I could have had them then! But now that I’ve brought them into the world, I will never head out on another trip without them.
These shorts are incredibly lightweight and comfortable, quick drying, have great pocket storage, and won’t make you look like you’ve been pedaling your bike all day when you want to head into town for dinner from your campsite. Their streetwear style plus bike performance features have made them my must have bikepacking wardrobe staple.
I’m also a huge fan of Branwyn wool blend bras. They don’t smell, they are super comfortable, they wick sweat and dry nicely. A female bikepacker’s dream.
4. Water purification system: A hydrated bikepacker is a happy bikepacker.
No one wants giardia…especially if you’re living off of your bike and camping in remote areas. And while refilling your water bottles and bladders from plastic bottles purchased at gas stations and bodegas works, I always hate paying for single use plastics. Not to mention, there isn’t always a bodega when you need one.
I go back and forth between two water purification systems: my SteriPen Classic and Katadyn Hiker Filter. I love the SteriPen for how compact and lightweight it is. Plus, I almost always travel with my widemouth Nalgene and the SteriPen works beautifully with it. SteriPen even makes a pre-filter strainer adapter that fits on widemouth Nalgene bottles, which is great if your water source has a lot of sediment. Just remember to bring spare batteries!
The Katadyn is a little bit bulkier and somewhat more time consuming, but I like how it feels a little more “fail proof” for some reason, including the fact that it doesn’t rely on batteries (although it does require a little maintenance to keep it functioning properly). Plus, it removes a lot of taste from the water which is nice.
I’m sure there are all sorts of new and different purification systems available these days, but these have been tried and true for me.
5. Footwear: On the bike, at camp, and beyond...
Honestly, this one is an ongoing conundrum. I typically ride clipless, including bikepacking. I love clipless for the low-profile of the pedals (think about getting on and off buses or trains with your loaded-down bikepacking bike!) and their pedaling efficiency, which makes a difference when you’re putting many miles in day after day.
But then what do you do if you don’t want to wear bike shoes with cleats when you get to camp, or go out for a meal, or sightsee on a rest day? In the past I’ve brought flip flops (so uncomfortable if doing much walking, plus you can’t wear socks with them to keep your feet warm around camp), Birkenstocks (you can wear socks but they’re so bulky!), and even an old pair of running shoes that are floppy and pack down somewhat (but I always feel a little cringey wearing them anywhere other than camp).
Then I discovered BERT shoes. They’re lightweight, packable, quick dry, breathable, and slip on. Plus they’re made of sustainable rubber and designed with bikepackers in mind. AND a portion of proceeds supports spaying and neutering of stray animals in Colombia’s disadvantaged communities (BERT is a woman-founded Colombian brand).
The only reason I will ever get rid of my BERT shoes is to replace them with a pair of the cute new styles they have now :)
