{"id":4065,"date":"2021-05-24T10:15:10","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T10:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mountainbikeworldwide.com\/guide-stories\/why-do-i-need-a-20-litre-backpack"},"modified":"2023-11-23T15:53:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T15:53:13","slug":"why-do-i-need-a-20-litre-backpack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mountainbikeworldwide.com\/travel-advice\/why-do-i-need-a-20-litre-backpack","title":{"rendered":"Why do I need a 20 Litre Backpack?"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”32″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1494415955971{margin-top: 20px !important;}”]<\/p>\n
[\/vc_column_text][vc_separator color=”black” align=”align_left” border_width=”8″ el_width=”10″ css=”.vc_custom_1493823688550{padding-right: 40px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
Ross Bell asks our co-founder Euan to explain “Why do I need a 20 litre Backpack” when mountain biking in a wilderness area.<\/p>\n
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One of the most popular questions that lands in our inbox is just why on earth we ask riders coming on our trips to bring a 20 litre backpack. The response from most riders being \u201cWhy do I need a 20 litre backpack<\/a>? I usually only ride with an inner tube, pump and a bottle of water!\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Well, who better to explain than our co-founder, Euan, who has many years of experience guiding tours in Scotland, such as our coast-to-coast<\/a>, Highland Odyssey<\/a>, and Cairngorms Adventure <\/a>. Euan also creates all of our international adventures, in partnership with our local guide teams, so he knows what he needs to pack for a big day on the bike, in all conditions.<\/span><\/p>\n Seems rather obvious but the majority of our tours take place in mountainous regions, often remote, and where the weather is unpredictable and at times unforgiving. This means both our guides and riders need to be prepared for all eventualities.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n \u201cit was the middle of July and on top of the plateau it started to snow!”<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]As Euan recalls, this really can mean taking on some really unexpected weather conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cOne day last year, the second day of the coast-to-coast, it was the middle of July and on top of the plateau it started to snow! It wasn’t forecast to be that cold or for it to come down like that, so it was certainly a day that I was glad to have packed my down jacket. A few people had decided to pack light that day and got rather cold\u2026\u201d[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”4067″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_empty_space][vc_separator color=”black” align=”align_left” border_width=”8″ el_width=”10″ css=”.vc_custom_1493823688550{padding-right: 40px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1494408993941{margin-top: 15px !important;}”]<\/p>\n The absolute essential bits of kit to have in your pack for any day of big-mountain riding in Scotland<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Clothing:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Food + Water:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Tools + Spares:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_media_grid initial_loading_animation=”none” grid_id=”vc_gid:1700754359418-27b96f9a-7a18-2″ include=”25990,25991,25992″][vc_empty_space][vc_separator color=”black” align=”align_left” border_width=”8″ el_width=”10″ css=”.vc_custom_1493823688550{padding-right: 40px !important;}”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/6″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n Below: Getting ready to roll. An EVOC sports protection pack is the perfect companion for a day on the trails.<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/3″][vc_column_text]The team are never short of anecdotes and examples of where each of these essentials comes in most useful and one of Euan’s<\/a> stories from the previous season shows how all the bits of the perfectly packed bag can fit together;<\/p>\n \u201cI remember last year I used three of the items on the list for one repair. We had a derailleur strike that resulted in a bike needing to be single-speeded, so we shortened the chain with the multi-tool, and cable-tied the tyre lever to the frame to stop the chain running down the cassette. Hey presto, keeping you moving with a very select amount of kit!\u201d[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n \u201cwe shortened the chain with the multi-tool and cable tied the tyre lever to the frame”<\/p>\n [\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]These, of course, are our recommendations stemming from years of running mountain bike tours, experiencing a multitude of varying situations. It\u2019s best to be prepared and, as we say here in Scotland, “There\u2019s no such thing as bad weather, just bad kit choices!”<\/p>\n Found this useful? Why not read up on these posts too! “How to travel with your bike<\/a>“, “Top 10 kit items for a bike tour<\/a>” and “What to pack for a mountain bike adventure<\/a>“.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/6″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_single_image image=”4068″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Our guides explain why you need a 20 litre backpack for big days in the mountains<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6059,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-advice"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat goes in the 20 litre backpack?<\/h2>\n
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