Fatback Rhino FLT frame - aluminium and it has significant weight savings over steel. I heard it doesnt ride as well but I have not ridden on a steel or carbon bike for long period of time yet. Major drawback would be that repairing it in the field can be difficult but I think that even if that happens, the weight savings are worth it. Otherwise its kind of one of those things that if they work well, you just don’t notice it.

Brooks B17 saddle - the C17 was a pain in the butt and the B17 as well, it took a good dipping in a river to get it to finally get comfortable and many might argue that you don’t break a Brooks in to fit you, you break your butt to fit the Brooks. Now its comfy but keep in mind it may not be for everyone.

Cleaveland Mountaineering Frame Bag - Jeremy makes custom frame bags and has several customization options. Great if your frame doesn’t fit some of the good bags (like relevate, porcelain rocket, which i would also recommend). Although we kind of eye-balled the measurements (me sending them from colombia) the bag is a great fit and with the extra width carries a lot of gear when needed. Only complaint is that it has zippers and they will break eventually. (they are the best zippers i have seen though). He also makes other products.

Top tube bags, seat tube bags, feedbags, etc. - there are many options here with various budgets. I often go for the cheap ones and as you can see in this photo the toptube/seattube bag broke and was removed, top tube front, the wire broke and the one with the M is barely holding. Yet I still have my relevate feed bag that I bought in 2015. I think quality makes a difference here but if you are not willing to make some DIY re-enforcements & fixes on cheaper gear, the high end Relevate or Porcelain Rocket bags will last you a long time.

Fatback LCG rack - the problem with every other rack I have had is that they are just too bulky, overengineered and too strong. Why design a rack that can carry 40kg when the bolt supporting it will break long before that? The LCG fits well on the bike, has big platform (great for backpack!) and is light. It has a weight limit of 10kg but I’ve had at least 25-30 on it at times. (though you should not ride like crazy with so much weight)

BarYak Mule - mounting solution for forks w/o holes. works on carbon as well with zipties. Also ok to protect your fork but unless you need extra carrying capacity, front fork bags are a problem on narrow trails.

Blackburn Cargo Cage - great for mounting various things but best for oversized bottles, it feels a little too heavy but when worn on the bottom tube, its an excellent bashguard. Use 1 voile strap instead of the original 2

Voile Straps - they will change the way you bikepack! if you can lift it, you can strap it to your bike. Period.

Lauf Carbonara - carbon fiber & fiber glass suspension. It’s very light and most importantly maintenance free. Progressive spring rate means that even with some weight on (bikepacking gear) you still get a very good range or suspension. It’s surprisingly durable but yet it is carbon. It’s more likely to break if you crash badly and in certain aspects it is delicate (my brake hose rubbed a hole into it!, repaired with epoxy and now I use Voile strap to keep the hose since tape or zipties always break). It has 60mm travel and it wont ride like a proper suspension on technical trails but for the purpose of bikepacking it is perfect.

Magura MT7 next 2017 - 4piston, hydraulic brakes. Highly recommended to get a 4piston brake for bikepacking since you are more heavily loaded than normal and road and trail engineering in some places goes beyond reason! :) . They say that you wont need to bleed them for years at a time. The problem is if you don’t bleed it yourself, there arent as many shops around the world who can. I tried to bleed one and failed and then just packed it for when i pass by USA and bought the cheapest shimano brake (currently at rear).

Wheels - Turnagain hubs with DT swiss spokes and Surly Clownshoe rims. I normally have my wheels built with Chris but this one was more complicated so he walked me through the process instead. I wont trust myself in building a wheel but his selection of spokes must have been very good because i havent broken any 6 months later.

Maxxis FBF 4.8” -(tubeless ready) after wearing our my first set of tires in bare 6 months, the maxxis were a welcome surprise. Not much wear after 2 years on the FBF but the FBR had sidewall problems due to weight/dryness of the puna. They dont roll too well on pavement but if you have a fatbike you didn’t get it to ride on pavement, right? Great tire, would recommend (plus its always on promotion or discount)

Maxxis Colossus 4.8” 60tpi - non-tubeless tire but can be setup as tubeless. Only had it for 3 months but no issues. Sidewalls feel lighter than the FBF/FBR and as it is designed for snow, i expect I will wear it out faster. I got it since it was the only 4.8” tire i could find in Chile. *note: you should get the TR and run tubeless!

45NRTH Van Helga - the tires my bike came with (thank you chris/team coreco), they are 4” and lighter but frankly just designed for snow and not for continuous touring. It showed big signs of wear after 2500km and it failed at the sidewall. I patched it up and did another 1000km before replacing it with the Maxxis set. I am sure 45NRTH make great stuff, just not for non-snow stuff.

SRAM GX11 - honestly i am still shocked why the derailleur isnt broken. You can get a lot of life out of this drivetrain with 2 chains (rotating 1000km each) and especially since many of the uphills on trails were simply not rideable! Unless you wash your bike often or something, forget about the snappy, fast performance when new. It will be sluggish, skipping and noisy eventually. With that being said, I am very happy with the GX11 as I am running it for a second year now and will likely make it to Patagonia.

Wolftooth stainless steel - great performance and wears well.

Mountain Hardwear Scrambler RT40L (discontinued) - i actually bought this model by mistake but it has grown on me. The biggest problem is that it has only one compartment so its harder to organize and there are a lot of straps (the mesh pockets will get holes eventually). The good things are that is has a lot of straps to strap all sorts of things, waterproof rolltop and roll bottom, solid back so it stays nicely on the rack. Now the best advantage and why i am not running panniers is that when trail gets hard or if i need to carry extra weight, I can use the backpack, making the bike lighter. (or in this photo, having 20+ days of food plus 19L of water)

MEC Brooks 30L - the bag is strong, its always a tradeoff. I think its a little too thick, making stuffing your sleeping bag, mat and tent body a little odd. at 30L it provides ample space for extra food and all.

Baryak - One of my supporters, they make great stuff to organize your handlebar space, also useful for people that have gadgets mounted but for me, the extra stability for my oversized handlebar bag (30L) and on top I keep fruits/veggies plus clothes, extra water, etc. It feels a little too strong weight-wise (you will rather break your handlebar, your fork or your hand before the baryak!), they have aluminium version too.

Bike Bag Dude Harness - it’s more of a prototype but i love the setup. Never had I ever had any movement or projectile bags with this harness. Feels like the straps are over-strong but probably better than than less strong. I’d be testing a plastic version over the next few months.

Ergon Grips - unless you have some fancy butterfly bar, you should be touring with this. Most comfortable and last a decent amount of time (better if you wear gloves!!!). DO NOT TAKE SHORT BAR ENDS. if you cant find the long barend version, buy one w/o bar ends and buy bar ends seperately.

30L dry bag - MEC Brooks 30. It’s a little heavier to other options on the market but very sturdy and still holds waterproof after 10 months. The downside that it is not as stretchy as other lighter bags and that makes it a little harder to pack your sleeping bag (really not a problem though) and i prefer larger size as well to allow for extra food thrown in there with camping gear.

Alpacka Raft, Fjord Explorer (discontinued) - Alpacka makes good rafts and i haven’t sunken yet. This model is one of the larger ones and weights about, well not too much, its big enough to fit the bike and you comfortably for longer paddles if needed. (like two weeks on the mackenzie river) It is okay to carry but if logistics allows I ship it between sections where it is needed. Rubber Duckie is a tough little vessel and has been in 3 oceans.

Bottom brackets have been a fun and sometimes worrysome tale. I tend to run them down in 2-5 months and just replace as needed. Perhaps a Chris King or Hope may be a good idea but I am not sure if they can outlast their $ worth of cheap shimano BB’s (so like 10 or so?)

REI Quaterdome 1 - I absolutely love this tent and it is the best 1person tent I ever had or seen. There is extra space but that also makes it less good vs wind. There are various ways to roll up your fly when its not raining and still easy to put it down if it does rain. Without bears in south america, cooking under the fly is fine when cold. Then there are little things that you wont notice until you switch to another tent.

Sierra Designs, Backcountry Bed 20 (Current)- i just dont think the zipperless style and slide sleeping mat under model works for me. Its good when you are at the right temperature or warmer but you cant really zip up like in a normal mummy bag.

Western Mountaineering Highlite 35F/2C - I ran this on GDMBR and down to panama and well into Colombia. Its a great summer bag and you can survive even in couple degrees below.

Sea to Summit Comfort Light Insulated Sleeping Mat (rectangular) - a friend had a similar model but when it was time to buy I could only find the rectangle. It seems a little heavier but other than that it has been great (no punctures or delamination)

the one that shouldnt be named (Optimus - Nova) was perhaps the biggest disappointment in gear so far. In can gas mode it is nearly impossible to light, requiring me to build pyres of starter fires on top to try and get it going. In both modes (butane gas or gasoline) it simply can’t simmer, meaning if you actually got it going you will watch your pasta violently boil for 7-8 minutes and there will be nothing you can do about it except take it out of the stove so that it doesnt boil over and then the stove turns off, and you just give up and eat al-dente pasta soup. They advertise these stoves for mountain expeditions but they can’t boil pasta at 4900m :)
-ironically i am now using another butane optimus stove now which seems to work okay.

Sea to Summit X-pot - kind of like the Xmen with the following superpowers: collapses and pack nicely, silicone sides mean its retaining more heat and not burning you when touching, drainer included in the lid (handy if you like pasta).Weakness is that cooking on fire is not possible in case of emergency (alcohol stove is okay with care though!!!)

mini thermos cooking - you can get a 300-400ml thermos for food (wide mouth) and just add boiling water to rice or something that you want to eat for lunch of cook during the day (lentils?)

Nalgene Bottles - they last a long time and are not too expensive. Good enough to keep in your sleeping bag and can heat you up if you put boiling water in.

Sawyer in-line filter - great filter, backwashable. You need to be very careful and keep it on your body if below 0 temperatures because it can get damaged.

Plastic Water Bags (to use with filter) - Sawyer’s bags always break and I found the Platypus to last the longest but they all break. I am switching to gravity filter system for the future.

The only thing that is really worth noting is rain gear.

DeNolin rain jackets from Quebec gave me a set of goretex rain jacket and pants. The most water proof thing I have ever worn. A little heavier if you are close to the equator but if further away the extra warmth is great. The bottoms have a part that goes over your shoes which is awesome. Lately I switched them for a lighter set of rain gear but looking forward to using it again when it gets colder.

I have gone through many pairs of shoes, few salomons, several merrels’s, some brands I didnt remember and nothing really notable from those.

I had long given up on cycling (clip-in) shoes as the cleat below is a weak point and rocks can wedge in and take your whole shoe apart.

Best way would be to go with a heavier mountaineering boot but you have a certain limit or cycling becomes kind of funny.

currently runnig Lippi boots as they were available at quite reasonable price and are a great mid-weight boot with tough enough sole for the rocky terrain.

Food mainly varies on country or region but there are few things that are pretty standard. Normally if I don’t expect trails I can go for a bulkier and heavier setup. If only carrying for few days at a time, that means a lot more fruit and veggies.

this one here was ~15days worth. I like tomatoes

Gopro7 - the two good things about it are the image stabilization and wifi actually works. Few extra modes like timewarp and timer but the new interface is stylish and slow (e.x. changing FPS takes 3clicks +side button (or 5 clicks) whereas you tap twice on the GoPro6. Goes through batteries too fast.
with that being said, there is no camera on the marked that can beat the gopro7 (in its class) in features, ease of use and they are actually quite tough, normally.

Sony RX10 MarkIV - compared to my previous olympus and the Panasonic G9 which i got to play around with, the Sony fails in ease of use and shooting modes. The video stabilization is fairly poor for a camera that is 25x (600mm) zoom. worth noting the HFR setting is amazing for animals but there are better options for filmmaking on the market (i rarely use its photography features)
edit early 2020: gimbal/stabilization motor must have died in the patagonian winds. camera could not be repaired.

TLDR: there are no other drone options. But DJI stuff is normally good.
let me start by saying that I must have gotten a defective unit and there was always something wrong with it. Now it alternates between the following:

-lost or missing propeller (99% of time)
-extra payload detected (25%)
-backward vision sensor callibration error (100%)
-altitude too high (at any altitude, 10%)
-gymbal lock up and unvoluntary movement (50%)
-electromagnetic interference, calibrate (30%)

weighing in the gains of possibly getting it repaired (by sending to USA) and not having a drone for that amount of time, I’d rather fly it as is even if the warranty expires this september. In the meanwhile I am running around spinning in circles trying to get the compass calibrated…

but with all this being said… oh… those drone shots… it’s all worth it.

This is pretty much the heaviest part of my kit (aside form bike)

that laptop broke so now i just have my phone.

I saw it in an article somewhere but cant find where but here is basically how you can recharge the Mavic Air on the go:

Goal Zero 20W solar panel
XTpower 20000QC2
Anabee Mavic Air car charger

with this basic kit you have all parts necessary to pass high watt charging to the XT power bank (if the 20W panel works good, well up to 20W) and XTpower to the mavic air battery via 12v car output.
the noted adapter in photo failed for me after 3 months so I had a TV technician do some soldering, resulting in shorter cables and likely more power in the long run.

Rundown of the components:

Goal Zero Nomad 20 - panel connections are weak points but it is one of the few reliable panels that will output 12-20v to make use of its power. Warranty is good.

XTpower 20000QC2 - mine kind of failed at one of the USB ports (the QC2) but aside from that the %display and inputWattage is absolutely amazing and will help you troubleshoot problems in your entire charging system. The broken adapter in photo, bad usb cables, you name it!

Anabee Mavic Air car charger - no issues with that but as with anything from china, dont leave it unattended while on. (sorry china!)

A 7 inch tablet is a decent size for after ride movies, podcasts or ted talks. If you dont have a smartphone at 7” it is usable for navigation as well. Also helps making friends with donkeys.

headlamps double up as bike lights, usb rechargeable ones are best.