I, like most, am not very good at packing for tours. I’ve tested and bought equipment , thrown it away and refined and tested again.
Here’s my list for a 10000 km, six week camping and hotel tour of South east Europe.
This is how my planning started, based on my previous tests with my SW Motech luggage.
Target: 100 liters and 30 kg.
I then asked a chatbot which told me:
Target: 80 liters and 25 kg.
It’s not wrong. 30 kg is way too much, which is why I’m working hard on this packing list
The basic luggage requirements for motocamping
I’ve split the equipment list into the following sub-lists.
- Camping and cooking. (Includes tent and sleeping bag)
- Toolkit
- Clothes
- Riding Gear, including wet weather and cold-weather extras
- Bathroom kit
- Video kit (I need a basic video kit.)
- Documentation (license, passport. Generally in paper form for multi-country travel).
- Luxury items.
It looks something like this, without the cat.
Importantly we’re a team of four so there are savings to be made in a shared toolkit and shared cooking kit. We’re not going to share tents, but we’ve worked out who’s taking what so that we don’t have four of everything.
And another important element – we’re touring Europe, in warm and hot months. I can’t imagine being too far from food, water and a hotel, either.
The complete motocamping packing list
The categories listed above are shown in detail below.
Riding Gear
- Helmet
- Boots
- Armoured jacket and trousers
- Gloves
- Riding shirt
- Riding socks
- Riding underwear/ long johns
- Earplugs
- Neck tube
- Phone/Navi
Easy access day equipment
- Hi-vis vest
- Team stickers
- Drinking water
- Snacks
- Quick charger small (If no USB adapter on bike)
- Bike lock / Alarm
- Waterproofs
- Spare Gloves
- Sidestand puck
- Spare key (kept separate)
Camping and cooking
With more than one person, some of this equipment can be shared.
- Pillow
- Isomat / sleeping mat / cot
- Sleeping bag + Sleeping inner.
- Tent
- Groundsheet
- Wipes / Dishcloth + Washing liquid
- Collapsible water holder (2 liter)
- String / straps
- Head torch
- Knife fork spoon.
- Metal Bowl X 2
- Cooking Knife
- cooking pan, boiling pot, frying pan
- Titanium cup 650 ml (cooking and drinking.)
- Mini gas stove
- Work gloves
- Gas cannister and adaptor
- Lighter/matches
- Mini saw / wood knife
- Paracord
Food
- Salt, pepper, spices, sugar, oil
- Rice
- Instant coffee + Teabags
- Nuts + dried fruit
Toolkit
With more than one person, this can be shared.
- Petrol siphon
- Long lock for group parking
- Tubeless tyre plug kit (worms + insertion tool)
- Electric pump
- Manual tyre pressure gauge
- Battery starter (Lithium under 100wh)
- Small multimeter , electrical cable, tape, crimp connectors
- Straps and cords
- Allen hex keys
- Small ratchet + sockets / spanners
- Screwdrivers (Flat + Phillips + Torx + Hex)
- Adjustable spanner
- Pliers / multi-tool
- Multi knife
- Levers for tubed tyres
First aid and survival items
With more than one person, this can be shared.
- Cable ties (lots, good quality, various sizes)
- Duct tape (wrap some around a tool to save space)
- Electrical tape
- Spare fuses
- Spare bulbs (where required)
- Small length of electrical wire
- Cable connectors
- Loctite (tiny tube)
- Spare nuts/bolts (a couple of common sizes)
- Nitrile gloves (for roadside work)
- First aid kit
- Pain killers
- Sewing Kit
Clothes
- Headscarf / Snood (evening, anti mosquito)
- Underpants
- Evening fleece/jacket/hoodie
- Shirts and t shirts
- Light shoes
- Socks
- Trousers (evening 1 pair)
- Various bags, ziplock for wet and waste
- Reading glasses
- Sunglasses
- Shorts + Swimming shorts
- Cap
- Washing powder papers
Bathroom kit
- Toilet paper
- Personal Medicine
- Handwashing paste (oil etc)
- Labello (lip balm)
- Shampoo/Shower gel
- Deoderant
- Tissues
- Toothbrush and toothpaste
- Bathroom bag
- Cleaning wipes
- Microfibre towel
- Hayfever tabs
- Mosquito cream/spray
- Sun cream (F25 +F8)
Documentation
- Passport. Check expiry for EU + Turkey rules
- Bike ownership paper / V5
- Insurance papers and EU + Turkey, Bosnia etc.
- Driving licence
- ADAC / RAC / AA euro cover (turkey, Bosnia etc.)
- Money, cards (X2)
- GHIC card
- Spare key (kept separate) / key number
Luxury items
- Collapsible stool
- Camp bed
- Bluetooth speaker
- Kindle
- Playing cards
A/V and Tech Kit
- Main Powerbank and charging cables
- EU plug adapter
- GoPro and related kit
- Laptop
- Spare phone
- USB LED Lamps
- Mic and audio recorder
- 12v adaptor for usb etc
- 4G stick
- Navigation equipment
- Headphones + charging cable if BT
- Phone with offline maps (Calimoto)
- Headphones (cabled – JBL Tune 110 is a good option)
- Charging cables (spare recommended)
- Laptop (Lenovo Duet Gen 9 Chromebook)
- Digital storage
- MFT Camera and Lenses
Target weights for the luggage:
- Tools & Parts 2.5 kg
- Camping Gear 8.0 kg
- Clothing & Bathroom 10.0 kg
- Cooking & Water 3.5 kg
- Tech / Electrical 5 kg
Have I missed anything ? Let me know..