In love with this!
“A Boreas-built update of our Ultrahigh Duffle, made to be compatible with their Modular Super-Tramp Suspension backpanel. Comes with a blacked-out Modular Super-Tramp Suspension, an Ultrahigh Rolltop Duffle, a Double Action Strap and an all black version of Boreas’s Hopper daypack. Limited edition.” – Outlier
Go to Outlier and check out more of this sweet collaboration of bag creating goodness. High quality mixed with high style always wins.
HIPCAMP… lets take a look.
I’ve camped all over the land from sea to shining sea. In some instances I prefer to have a little more than the average ground camping experience but for the most part I love to hike/ride in, find IT, and set up for the evening. HIPCAMP is not your average ground camping experience. It is a group of folks that have you covered from the time you get there to the time you leave.
What does that mean? It means that you show up, check in, nab a tent (if you didn’t bring one), go pick a spot, grab your HIPCAMP cup and enjoy the abundance of adult refreshments that never quit flowing (don’t worry all you who do not drink, there are alternative beverages if you choose to flow that way). Dinner, breakfast, and coffee are provided (read about the awesome coffee in the post below) along with yoga taught in the morning after a night of great live music and maybe a little moon light swimming.
To sum in up, HIPCAMP is relaxing, energetic, fun with like minded folks that may turn into longtime friends you can enjoy the outdoors with for many moons to come. Go to HIPCAMP and find out what drives them to get more people outside.
Here is a photo recap from my experience. I hope you enjoy. Cheers!
The next morning
It’s coffee. It’s cold. It’s got nitro bubbles. It’s delicious on all levels.
I’ve had a lot of coffee from sea to shining sea and I gotta tell ya… this takes the cake. The BEST summer treat. If you’re in the Birmingham, AL area definitely keep your eyes peeled to Domestique Coffee’s IG page for pop up brew stations like this. When it’s available, you should be available.
Also stay tuned to DC’s site for long distance purchasing. I will be. 
“Wait a minute!!! This is on your handlebars!!”
Yes… yes it is. As you’ll read from my post below, I participated in the #SwiftCampout and couldn’t have done so without the Zeitgeist Touring “Saddle” Bag.
Let me be honest, this is the first long ride x camp trip I’ve taken on primarily gravel roads. I needed to utilize every ounce of usable area that I could for my camping gear and food. Originally I had the Zeitgeist set up on Bagman QR Expedition support via my saddle but had no room for my tent and other goods. So… I got creative and decided to give the Zeitgeist a go on my handle bars. I knew I needed extra support and Swift Industries had enough insight to throw a couple clip-able rings right where the hoods of my Gevenalle shifters are. I found some nylon webbing and BAM… a solid sturdy four point handlebar bag was born.
Although I’m relatively new to the touring game, I know that weight in the front is the way to go. I did ride with the Zeitgeist on the back and found that fully loaded the bag overtook my balance when I stood to peddle. This is more so because I didn’t have anything balancing my bicycle up front; AND when touring I’m sure slow and steady wins the preverbal race. Regardless, I moved the saddle bag to the handlebars and immediately fell deeper in love with the Zeitgeist.
The Zeitgeist rode amazingly. The nylon webbing didn’t get in the way of my grip at all; it actually provided me with a wider grip that was quite comfortable. With all that said, I did use the Bagman QR Expedition support to hold my tent, sleeping mat, Kammok, and coffee mug. It served its purpose very well!
The only downside (if you can call it that) is that the side pockets on the Zeitgeist are hard to access (hard, not impossible), but I used those for items I’m not going to need until I’m either at my destination or need to fix a flat.
Swift Industries… always one step ahead of the game!
RIDE x CREATE
WOOHOO!!! Slangin’ Bruh!! Dude… I can’t tell you how needed this was in my life. Although I shoot with some pretty small shooters that are not DSLR’s (Fujifilm X-E2 for digi shots; an assortment of cameras for film shots)… this is the perfect handlebar bag to house my soul capturing devices.
Being that I shoot with smaller cameras there is plenty of room to throw other odd and end items in the DSLR Slinger. For me, that typically looks like another piece of clothing that I’ve taken off or needed if I’m ride/camping when it gets colder at night. The clothing also assists in padding my beloved camera.
With all that said, Porcelain Rocket has now created a Mini Slinger that looks pretty freaking rad!!
As you’ll see below the DSLR Slinger fits perfectly with other handlebar bags you may have set as a riding staple.
To sum it up… the Slinger kills! Go to Porcelain Rocket and ckeck out more details. Jah blessed!
RIDE x CREATE 
I’m really amped on these! In my humble opinion… these are the best DZR kicks created to date. Simple functional design that delivers.
The DZR Mechanic’s are a little bit narrow but not without room for play. ‘How is that’? The material used is super compliant but not lacking stiffness in the areas you’re going to pull/push on with each peddle stroke. I have a fatter foot but love the narrower feel of these shoes. As you know, when you wear and tear into new shoes there is that fun (Editors Note: There is an F U in fun) break in period. These simply don’t have that issue. Riding is amazing. Walking is amazing. These are amazing.
The only riding I’ve had with the DZR Mechanic’s to date are for morning coffee outside rides. I expected to be annoyed by new clip in sneakers but honestly forgot I was wearing them as I captured photos for other rad things happening. Extremely solid and comfortable shoes.
Head to DZR and check out the Mechanic. If you are in the market for some of the best clippable sneakers created to date then these should be your pick.
Oh man… CHARI & CO NYC coming through with some Spring/Summer goodies for your wearing pleasure. Loving those packable pants!
Keep your eyes peeled for when these items drop. I will be. In the mean time… go check out all the other rad stuff CHARI & CO has to offer. 
This is an amazing, simple, solid, American made knife! I am in love with this cutter! The Orange Delrin handle is perfect! The carbon steel blade looks and feels really solid. I imagine this knife being something I pass down to my son and telling a story of all the rad times I had using it. It’s funny how little things like knives can bring out sentiment like that. The more this is used the more of a story it will tell.
Details:
I picked this Farmer Lock Farm & Field Tool up at Ocean Air Cycles. Really glad I nabbed one.
This set is killer… that is all you need to know, but… I will elaborate.
My entire goal in searching for the best portable camp stove was to find one that would allow me to ride to local destinations and make some bad ass coffee all while enjoying sun rises/sets out in nature. Life gets crazy and little outings like this are refreshing. I didn’t want a outdoor coffee setup that required much thinking. Just grab and go.
Snow Peak’s “Starter Kit” is hands down the best option for anyone looking for a very compact, lightweight, functional, and well-designed camp stove combo. Being Titanium, the set heats and cools in minutes. Everything fits right inside the Trek 700 titanium cookset: Fuel, the GigaPower Auto backpacking stove (no matches or lighters required), and a titanium spork.
After picking this up I thought I needed a camp mug to go along with it. At the time I didn’t realized just how fast titanium heats and cools. Using an Aero Press with reverse Aero Press coffee brewing style; I heated the water, poured into the press, stirred the ground coffee beans to infuse with the piping hot water, capped with the Aero Press filter, and by the time I did all that the Trek 700 was cool enough to handle and use as my camp mug… BINGO!! Coffee outside success!! With that said, if you prefer a single cup pour over then you will obviously need a camp mug BUT, you won’t have to carry an Aero Press around.
I’ve only had this set for about a week and couldn’t be more pleased. Looking forward to spending this summer exploring with the Snow Peak Starter Kit in tow.
Go to Snow Peak and check out all of their goods. Their apparel and gear are amazing. Very impressed.
I did a lot of searching for a new watch. My last trip to PDX demolished my previous watch. Not from all the shenanigans that went down… but by TSA. I put my watch into the small dish that holds rings, change, watches, etc. and it came out cracked! I had no time to fight The Man so I accepted my fate and pushed on to my gate.
With that said I contemplated picking up a more expensive watch but couldn’t justify the cost nor did I really want a high dollar watch. What I wanted was a tried and true, classic, functional, and industrious watch that fit my lifestyle. As I’m scratching my head thinking of all the companies we’ve come across the thought hit me… TIMEX!! Looked at the TIMEX site and it took me 5 seconds to decide on picking up the TIMEX Weekender (Editors Note: The name also reminded me of Fairdale’s Weekender and I had an immediate day dream of cruising gravel roads on the FaTRoB, wind in my face, and heading to a campsite).
I love the TIMEX Weekender for several reasons. The low cost. The clean design. The durability. The name. (FOLLY Fun Fact Time: I served 6 years in the Air Force and my TIMEX time piece stayed with me every step of the way).
Go check out TIMEX! Perfect time piece to take on those summer bikepacking trips you have planned out; and if you demolish your TIMEX Weekender you most likely will be able to replace it as soon as you come back from exploring the unridden. 