u/verndavan

As the title suggests, I’m in the market for a truck and I’m trying to see what options would work best for my intentions. My current truck was great for what we needed it for and for where we were at but no longer meets our needs (23’ Frontier) as we’re looking to move away from the shell type campers (ie project M) into something with a few more amenities

My criteria is:
- capable of confidently holding a slide-in pop-top truck camper (ie FWC hawk, OEV back country, Alaskan, etc.)
- able to handle light/moderate offroading/overlanding
- easily worked on/reliable
- Able to carry myself, wife, dog, camp/surf/snow gear (depending the season) and have room for kids eventually
- $20-25k used to buy it out right (I’m over having car payments)

As of right now, my initial thoughts are leaning towards early 2000s trucks like the first gen Tundra or f250 with the 7.3 diesel. I’ve had older cars before (1984 VW Westfalia that I regret selling almost every day) and understand these can have quirks but also understand parts/labor tend to be cheaper and easier. Plus, I’m over a car payment and how overly complicated trucks are becoming these days.

Just as the title says, I feel like I’m packing too much. For context, I’m planning on solo riding the GDMBR this summer which will be my first big bikepacking trip (~2 months and ~2900 miles/4667km).

I’ve done a few shakedown trips so far but still feel like I’m packing an insane amount of gear. I seem to always overpack/over-prepare for things, which ultimately helps calm some anxieties so it tends to be worth the extra weight, but see people heading out for the Great Divide with a significantly less amount of bags than what I have on my bike right now.

Would really appreciate advice on whether my pack list contains anything that’s excessive or that might be missing.

Pack List

Camp/Sleep
1 tent
2 foot print
3 Sleeping bag/pad/pillow/liner
4 MSR pocket rocket w/ fuel and lighter
5 Odor food bag
6 Cookset
7 Spork
8 UL coffee filter (folds into cookset)
9 Mug
10 Platypus water filter
11 Water purification tabs
12 Reusable silicon bag (acts as a bowl too)

Hygiene
1 Toothbrush
2 Toothpaste
3 UL towel
4 UL poop trowel
5 Bug spray
6 Sunscreen
7 Soap
8 TP
9 expanding wipes
10 Nail clippers
11 Deodorant

First Aid
1 Tweezers
2 Coban
3 Ibuprofen
4 Benadryl
5 Tylenol
6 Assorted bandaids (x5)
7 Mole skin 3x4” (x3)
8 Steri-strips
9 Gauze
10 Butt butter
11 Tourniquet
12 Emergency blanket

Repair/Maintenance
1 Leatherman wave+
2 Crank bro M19
3 Spare brake cable
4 Spare shifter cable
5 Superglue
6 Emergency fiber spoke (x2)
7 Tire levers (x2)
8 Patch kit
9 Tubeless plug kit
10 Presta/Shrader valve
11 Gorilla tape (1”)
12 Assorted zip ties
13 Hand pump
14 CO2 cartridges (x3)
15 CO2 inflator
16 Junk toothbrush
17 Fast wax/lube
18 Spare disc pads (x2)
19 Spare prewaxed chain
20 Sealant (8oz)
21 Quick link pliers

Clothing
1 Hooded sunshirt
2 Merino wool tshirt
3 Cycling shorts
4 Chamois liner shorts
5 Casual shorts
6 Lightweight hiking pants
7 Lightweight merino wool hiking socks (x2)
8 Thick merino wool socks
9 Lightweight waffle sweatshirt
10 Puffer jacket
11 UL rain jacket
12 Rain pants
13 Fingerless gloves
14 Warm gloves
15 Buff
16 Cycling hat
17 Beanie
18 Shoes
19 Hiking sandals
20 Mosquito net
21 Running shorts

Technology
1 phone
2 Garmin inReach
3 Bike computer
4 Head lamp
5 Front light
6 Tail light
7 Earbuds
8 Battery bank
9 Charging cables
10 Basic USB charging block

Miscellaneous
1 compass
2 Map set
3 Sharpie
4 Kindle
5 Notepad/pen
6 Spare straps
7 A few ziplock bags
8 Cable lock
9 Sunglasses
10 junk rag
11 Wallet
12 Kn95 mask
13 Pocket knife

Food
1 Mountain House breakfast (x3)
2 Mountain House dinner (x3)
3 Electrolytes
4 Scratch super carb powder
5 Instant coffee

Update:

I really appreciate everyone’s feedback and insight! I definitely tend to overpack (think 6pairs of boxers for a weekend trip in case I somehow end up sh!tting myself multiple times every day) and will be going through everything to avoid as much redundancy as possible. I’ll post an updated pack list in the comments with the amount of weight saved as well. Unfortunately, I’m working with what I got here and going to avoid running out to buy new gear but some good Xmas/birthday wishlist items for sure (ie Alpha mid layer)

Cheers!