(Part 2) Best products from r/roadtrip

Last year a buddy and I took a 1300 mile trip around Colorado /r/dualsport ride on a Husqvarna 701 and a Yamaha WR250R. Here's a photo of the gear from last year.

This year we are adding one person (riding a monster, brand new, KTM 1090 Adventure R) to the crew and moving a little farther west to see some of the amazing sites in Utah. I put together a 1500 mile route, and will tack on White Rim Trail (if we can get passes) and wander around in Beef Basin for a bit.

A few of my friends have started using Polar Steps, so I've setup a trip and will try to keep it updated. I also maintain a simple website and will post photos on my flickr account.

Now, on to the fun, because sorting out gear and packing is half the fun of a /r/motocamping trip.

I'm involved in volunteer search and rescue (/r/searchandrescue) so a lot of this gear comes from my callout pack and extended incident command packs. The more experienced riders will notice that I'm lacking any tools, spares, tube slime, etc. I'm fortunate enough to be riding with 2 other riders that are packing all that jazz.

Two mottos:

1. buy once, cry once
   
2. high speed, low drag
   
   motorcycle
   
   

• Yamaha WR250R 2018
  
• Dunlop D606 tires
  
• heavy-duty tubes
  
• Tusk rack
  
• Tusk handguards
  
• Rox Speed 2" risers
  
• Seal Savers
  
• Moose Racing skid
  
• HaloCam front+rear dashcam
  
• IMS 3 gallon tank
  
• Double Take enduro mirros
  
• Edge2 fender eliminator
  
• USB charging port
  
  navigation
  
  
• Garmin 64s - Most Garmin's allow OSM maps. Free, crowd-sourced maps are a huge win in my opinion.
  
• Garmin inReach Mini - in the event I "full send"
  
• OSMAnd+ - Open Street Maps offline maps
  
• GaiaGPS - offline satellite images, private/public property maps, USFS road maps and topo maps
  
  photgraphy
  
  
• Sony a7iii
  
• Sigma 14mm f1.8
  
• F-stop Navin - mounted on my chest, holds my Sony a7iii
  
• Lowepro Toploader chest harness
  
• Lance Camera strap
  
• 3x Sony batteries
  
• Osprey ultralight dry sack 6L
  
• GoPro Hero 6 Black
  
• 6x GoPro batteries
  
• GoPro battery charger - charges 3 batteries at a time
  
• GoPro ND filters
  
• various GoPro mounts
  
  medical and hygiene
  
  
• SAM splint
  
• NAR Hyfin vent chest seal
  
• NAR rolled gauze
  
• QuikClot clotting gauze
  
• thermal blanket
  
• 3x hand warmers
  
• triangular bandage
  
• medical tape
  
• wound seal
  
• NAR tourniquet
  
• Leatherman Raptor medical shears
  
• basic meds
  
• basic bathroom supplies
  
  wearing
  
  
• Forma Adventure boots
  
• Fox v2 VLAR helmet
  
• REV'IT! Wind Jacket
  
• 100% Accuri Sand - the "sand" model helps with wind blowing on my eyes and drying contacts out
  
• grey smoke lens
  
• Mammut Neon Light 12L backpack
  
• Nonoise ear plugs - I know they are a bit pricey, but I've worn them 5 days in a row over 1500 miles and didn't even know they were there
  
• Road iD - blood type, date of birth, allergies and wife's contact info
  
• gloves
  
  sleeping
  
  
• Kammok Roo Single hammock
  
• Twisted Root Cloudburst rainfly
  
• Big Agnes Hitchens UL 20 sleeping bag - ultra-light, ultra-compact, I carry this for winter SAR activities
  
• ALPS Mountaineering compression sack - medium size, I use this in place of the Mosko Moto tail bag because it fits my sleeping bag, rainfly and hammock
  
• REI Flash sleeping pad - insulated is important
  
• Osprey ultralight dry sack 12L - used for my sleeping back, inside the ALPS compression sack, to ensure my sleeping bag stays dry
  
  inclement weather
  
  
• winter riding gloves
  
• Olympia Horizon rain pants
  
• rain jacket - cheap, no-name, fits over riding jacket
  
• face mask - ski/snowboarding style
  
• windbreaker - for over riding jacket, cheap no-name brand
  
• smart-wool base layer
  
• fleece jacket
  
  food
  
  
• 2.5L Osprey Hydraluics LT - inside the Mammut backpack
  
• GSI Pinnacle Soloist pot
  
• Light My Fire spork
  
• UST Delta Stormproof lighter - this actually failed to work on my trip last year to Colorado, but I think it was because we were at altitude
  
• [Primus Micron trail stove](primus pocket rocket) - mine is an older model
  
• Primus fuel cannister
  
• 4x backpacking dinners
  
• 4x backpacking breakfasts
  
  motorcycle
  
  
• 2x Primus 1.5L fuel bottles - unleaded fuel is important
  
• funnel
  
  clothing
  
  
• 1x riding pants
  
• 2x shirts
  
• 3x pairs of socks
  
• 3x underwear
  
  luggage
  
  
• Mosko Moto Reckless 40L saddlebags - I did 1500 miles through CO last year with these and absolutely loved them. A key feature for me is that I can snag the "sleeves" and run under a rainfly and setup my entire camp. Other brands, all your gear is in a bag, on the bike, so you have to stand next to the bike while you setup camp. Also important for when staying in hostels.
  
• Mosko Moto Pico tank bag
  
• Rok Straps
  
  misc
  
  
• Moo cards - I carry these for dropping in geocaches and sharing my photos with people I meet.
  
• Zebra H600Fc - recommended in /r/flashlight by /u/Zak
  
• 2x USB cable - multi port - these are nice and short, and can charge both micro-USB and USB-C devices at the same time
  
• Leatherman Skeletool
  
• flip flops
  
• shorts
  
• t-shirt
  
• 10x rechargable AA's

Just random notes -

• go to the library (or buy your own) and check out guide books like National Geographic's Scenic Hwys or Road Trip USA to get ideas for scenic drives along your route
  
• if within your diet, Memphis BBQ
  
• maybe go no farther than Hot Springs the first day
  
• example of scenic highway you can find in those guide books - Talimena
  
• maybe Amarillo, TX, for the second day - Cadillac Ranch, Palo Duro Canyon SP nearby
  
• Santa Fe for food and museums the 3rd day; maybe overnight here or continue on to some place like Durango - lots in the Santa Fe area like Bandelier NM, Jemez Springs Mt Trail, Valles Caldera that you can check out while in Santa Fe or on your way to next destination
  
• Now you're entering a stretch where you wish you had more time. You could do Mesa Verde NP, Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Dead Horse Pt SP, Goblin Valley SP, Capitol Reef NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP, Cedar Breaks NM, Snow Canyon SP but that would take a week; instead take as many scenic highways as you can - UT24, UT12, UT14, and more if you look. Hate to recommend not actually stopping at any of the national parks but you really don't have time - so take notes for your planning your next vacation; you can search out some cool restaurants on these scenic roads too. like Hells Backbone Grill; maybe overnight in St George for the 4th night (lodging near the National Parks is expensive and likely booked)
  
• maybe head to the Mammoth Lakes area for the 5th night
  
• You don't mention time of year for the trip, but if Tioga Rd is open (generally early June), take that and swallow the Yosemite entrance fee (unless you've already purchased a National Park pass for $80 that's good for a year); if Tioga Rd not open, then go up to Tahoe area before heading to San Francisco

Some things that made our trip (over 3000 miles) go very smoothly:

My wife bought a small cookie sheet for each child from the 99 cent store and spray-glued fabric on the inside of the tray. If the kids ever ate in the car, they used the tray. Also, when they wanted to color or play with legos, they now had a firm surface to use.

Books on tape. I downloaded a few books for the family to listen to as we drove. We mostly listened to the Fablehaven series, the kids really liked it and it wasn't horrible for adults.

My wife put together little goodie bags for each day of the trip. A brown paper bag with a snack and an activity (mechanical pencil and sketch pad with instructions to draw something specific, one day it was a couple of those brain teaser unlink the chains, my favorite was a blow gun made of a section of PVC pipe and cotton balls). Thirty dollars will buy you a lot of sanity at the 99 cent store. I complained about finding room for the box of activity bags, but it was worth it. Each child had a small plastic bin under their feet to keep these goodies and any other treasures in, although truthfully half the stuff was recycled that day.

We picked a few places that we would be stopping and had the kids do some research before we left. Each child was "the expert" at a few stops. We checked out a couple of library books to bring with us and stashed those under the seats, so on the way to the next stop I might ask the animal expert what kind of animals we should be looking for and the plant expert something similar.

Once again, my wife did something awesome (I suspect that she got these ideas from pinterest or facebook): she made an adventure kit for each child. A pocket knife, some paracord, a compass, some folded plastic sheeting, magnifying glass, duct tape, stuff like that. There was never a reason to be bored, even at a rest stop in the middle of no where.

For food, we actually brought most of our food, as we camped much of the time. We ate a lot of grapes, apples and carrots for snacks. Costco has boxes of single-serving pretzels and sun chips, which kept the kids from eating a whole big bag of Doritos, or something like that. Trail mix and granola bars rounded out the snacks. We froze greek yogurts and deli sliced ham ahead of time and put them in the cooler with swiss cheese. The rolled-up ham and cheese with a yogurt and sun chips was a standard lunch. That or bagels and cream cheese. For breakfast, we did cereal a couple of times (a fun roadtrip tradition from my childhood was to buy the single-serving boxes of sugar cereals, the only time I got sugar cereal as a kid). Also, instant oatmeal can be cooked with the coffee pot in a motel room.

I would think that the Prius would be fine, but you may want to look into getting a roof storage rack. I used one very similar to what I linked, although the tie-down system was not strong enough to keep it from bouncing so I used a couple of ratcheting tie-down straps and that kept it in place.

I did the drive in late winter (March) from Connecticut in 2004. The hotels were very inexpensive since it was off-season. Went to portage Glacier and I was the only person there. Got stuck in Anchorage during a snow storm and went to the zoo and I was just about the only person there too. Fun trip.

Buy the current Milepost guide off Amazon and spend some time flipping through it.

The Alaska Highway is all paved except any short sections they are working on. You don't need a second spare tire or anything like that. I'd recommend a tire patch kit and a small 12v compressor. Also bring a spare headlamp bulb if you have halogens, some wiper fluid, and maybe a spare set of wiper blades in the trunk. Towing for breakdowns is super expensive so amp-up your roadside assistance plan and make sure it works in Canada. The distance from the last dealerships in Dawson Creek to the next ones in Whitehorse is ~900 miles.

The road is good with wide margins all the way to Whitehorse. Expect to see a lot of wildlife. If you're traveling alone bring some sort of tripod so you can take an occasional self-portrait with the timer function on your camera.

If you wanted a neat "theme" for your trip out there you could take US 50 almost the entire way to Grand Junction.

There's a really good book for road trip lovers that hits some of the highlights of this route:

https://roadtripusa.com/the-loneliest-road/

https://www.amazon.com/Road-Trip-USA-Cross-Country-Adventures/dp/1612389023

My tips:

Things to bring

• Bring a USB Cigarette car charger - Link
  
• Cell phone dash holder - Link
  
• Headphone cable - Link
  (Listen to your jams while driving)
  
• Some snacks (stop at Trader Joe's or similar store)
  
• Bottle water
  
• Map of the region (Yes we have internet.. but not everywhere)
  
• Plastic bags as you acquire them (at the grocery store, gas station, etc.. work great for garbage)
  
  
  Tips for Rental Cars
  
  
• Don't get the insurance
  
• Don't get the insurance
  
• Get there 20-30 minutes early and be nice to the guy/gal. It's going to be a busy time for them and they will have a lot of angry people. Usually if you're nice they will upgrade you to a large vehicle because they have too many reservations and not enough stock on lot.
  
• Don't rent from the airport, always go to a lot off site.
  
• Be sure to do the walk around, it's as much for you as them.
  
• Do not pre-pay gas. Just fill it up to where it was before dropping it off. I always keep an eye out for the closest gas station before I leave.
  
• Double check you got all your stuff. Even if you have to make a list. I've found all sorts of stuff in cars that even the detailers missed.
  
  
  I travel/road trip quite a bit; If you've got any other questions, please let me know.