Originally Posted by
debade
My wife and I tour a lot. We split up the tent and sleeping bag (use a double sleeping bag) and put it in our panniers. We typically can do the trip, up to 3 months, with our 8 (4 each) panniers. We like Ortliebs.
We have 2 panniers on the tandem plus the rack top stuff. That's from backpacking in the PNW mountains. We don't carry more on the bike than we'd like on our backs. Because we don't bike tour in snow or really cold rain, we actually have less personal gear on the bike which makes room for the weight of the bike spares, pump, etc. We do look a bit weird if we go into town for dinner, etc., but we can put up with that more easily than the extra weight. Wife has a wrinkle-proof dress that packs down to not much larger than a softball and light flats. I just look weird.