Buffalo Buff

What's an unusual item you tour with? Whether its every tour or just one, feel free to share!

My pick would be disc golf discs. I'll often bring a putter, sometimes a putter and a driver, and get a few rounds in during the tour. I use Disc Golf Course Review: View and review over 6000 Disc Golf Courses! to browse for nearby courses if it feels like a good day to do something different. My go to discs are an MVP Ion and an Axiom Wrath, which covers my bases well since I throw backhand and forehand.

What's something unusual you've brought along?

acantor

I carry a portable sewing kit a friend crafted for me in 1983. It's made of soft cotton, stitched with red and turquoise yarns, and it contains an assortment of buttons, threads, and needles.

My friend folded a Canadian dollar bill into one of the compartments, and it's still there in case of an "emergency." But the Canadian one dollar bill was replaced by the "loonie" in 1987, 28 years ago. I'm not sure the bill is still legal tender, but I still carry it anyways.

Machka 

Usually ... at least 3 pillows.

Happy Feet

Apparently, a 1980's era blue foam sleeping pad.

psy

Maybe not unusual, and not for everyone, but for those of us who can't leave the electronic gadgets at home when on tour, I've found a one I really like. On any tour over a three or four days I'm likely to have a smart phone, iPad, cameras, battery power banks, my backup lighting and headlamps, my steripen,, etc.. All my electronics are usb rechargeable, so as a solution to charging all this stuff quickly and efficiently when plugs are usually in short supply, I carry the Anker 6 port 60w multi hub usb charger. This way not only can I charge six things from one outlet, but I can leave all those various chargers at home and just carry this. Win win.

alan s 

Got me thinking. Maybe a 10 port hub would be even better. 2 headlights, 2 tail lights, iPhone, 2 battery packs and a GPS.

elcruxio

A huge bag of medical supplies (insulin pump) and a telescopic baton.

imi

Diving mask and snorkle, guitar, pad of writing paper, Gerber knife sharpener.

tmac100

Diabetic stuff - syringes and 2 different insulins.
Glucose blood tester and test strips
Aeropress and Cuban coffee

Rowan

A beach bat and ball set. The bats are like oversized table-tennis bats, and the ball is about the same size, but of much heavier plastic. We don't take it on all trips, but it's useful for eye-hand co-ordination.

imi

Hah, that reminded me, I sometimes take a frisbee along. 175g ultimate. Can be used for so many things

azza_333

2.2kg (4lbs) of Max's SuperShred (Protien Powder)

indyfabz

I crossed the country with a Mamiya 645 Pro TL set up and three lenses along with a 35mm camera with one lens.

On the the last day of the trip we passed a guy who was riding across the country and picking up every child's toy he found along the road and attaching them to his his racks and panniers. Quite a sight.

I used to carry a 5" Santoku knife, but now I have something lighter for cooking.

BobG

I crossed the country twice with a Park floor pump bungied on top of my BOB trailer (this was before the invention of the Topeak road morph). I intended to carry it for just the first week and then send it home, but it was a such hit amongst the ACA group members I was leading I kept it for the duration of the trip. It was used by all to top over tires in the morning and by me helping others with flats on the road. Yes, a source of snickers from the passing lightweight crowd but I was a fit young pup in my 50's and weight was just not an issue or concern back then. Now in my 60's I've begun to lighten up. Maybe in my 70's I'll be touring on my Litespeed stuffing everything into a Viscacha and frame bags carrying CO2 cartridges!

Trevtassie

A BBQ... and charcoal. Luckily in Japan every convenience store sells charcoal in 3kg boxes. One box would do two days BBQing. BBQ was 500yen (about $5), made of pressed metal and weighed about 1.2kg. Sweet corn and scallops every night.

Machka 

Through France, I usually had a cheese of some sort in one external mesh pouch, and a packet of crackers in the other.

Often, on my first tour in Australia, I had a half-dozen carton of eggs in my handlebar bag after the lunch stop to get groceries.

staehpj1

Not much comes to mind other than a musical instrument, I have taken a small travel dulcimer backpacking. Oh, and I have taken a fly rod on backpacking trips.

hueyhoolihan

imi

^^^ Good grief!

indyfabz

Man! That reminds me of touring in Andalucía. I almost always had some jamon, goat cheese and bread. I would stop along some empty mountain road and make sandwiches ("bocadillos"). Jamon was so cheap over there. After seven weeks I came back to the states and went through withdrawal because, being jobless, I could not afford to buy it.

hueyhoolihan

don't EVER even try Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese either. it's terribly expensive and you won't be able to go back to that dreadful Kraft stuff. it's like having a monkey on your back. i'm telling you this for your own good.

McBTC

The tongue of an old shoe to put in a gashed tire to protect the tube but... everyone does that, right?

Buffalo Buff

I carry a 20000mah battery for similar reasons. It lets me charge as I go, so I don't have to stop for an outlet.

Buffalo Buff

I carry a single 8 inch x 3 inch sheet of 1000 grit sandpaper for knife sharpening. Takes up no space or weight.

mev

In 2001, I carried a beeper part way around Australia.

Mind you it didn't work. Instead it was one of beepers I carried during the Y2K scare. Our software group at work had Y2K duty and I thought it was a bit silly (our SW wasn't mission critical and only beeps we ever got were either test messages or ones for the previous beeper holders). Rather than inflict it too much on my engineers, I carried one of the two beepers most of the time. I really disliked the thing.

I carried it on my Australia trip to see if I could find a fitting finish to that despised beeper. I waited until I was in the Outback, in Northern Queensland, well past Mt Isa. I camped beside road one night and nearby was a road culvert. Before I left for the next day, I tossed that beeper deep into the culvert underneath middle of the road. Mission accomplished.

Well, at least for now. Our group had two beepers and I still have the second one, but thinking of taking it on my next long trip and finding a good final resting place...