Gravel Culture: What’s in your tool pouch?
Posted By Gravel Union
On 4 February 2021
Deciding what to take with you on a long gravel ride is really important, particularly at the minute when solo rides are more common than group rides. We asked long-distance bikepacking expert Emma Osenton for her advice.
With a lot more solo riding going on at the moment, I thought it might be a good idea to go through what I carry with me. This is by no means a definitive list - what works for me might not work for you, however it should be a good starting point.
Most important in my view is a really good waterproof tool pouch - there’s nothing worse than getting stuck, only to discover the contents have turned to a mushy, rusty mess. My favourite is the Roswheel Tool Pouch. It is totally waterproof and features a clever grip seal opening and roll top closure. It’s made from a hard-wearing PU-coated fabric with welded seams. What makes it really clever is you can attach it almost anywhere with the gear straps. Inside is a small water resistant zipper pocket, perfect for stashing some emergency contact details and a little bit of spare money.
Most of the things I keep in here I hope I’ll never need to use.
Let’s start with a basic First Aid kit. I carry the following -
- Plasters
- A couple of dressings and bandages
- Alcohol wipes
- Sticky stitches
- Rubber Gloves
- Water sterilizing tabs, painkillers, Dioralyte, Antihistamines.
Much beyond that and you’d be better off calling Mountain Rescue!
Then, there’s a bag of spares and repairs. I carry the following -
- A Lezyne Multitool with a knife. I’ve used the knife more than any of the tool bits on it!
- Quicklinks of the correct size/type for your chain
- A bit of chain
- Tyre patches, glue, tiny sand paper.
- Knitsglue - a flexible putty, useful for mending pretty much everything
- Lezyne tubeless tyre repair kit - these are really good, the pointy bit is inside and it makes a comfy shape in your hand by the lid screwing into the body. If you’ve ever tried with smaller ones you’ll know it’s harder than you think. The ‘anchovies’ fit inside it.
- Valve extractor
- A curved leather needle threaded with some dental floss - If you’re not stitching a tyre you might be stitching yourself or your kit!
- Spare brake pads
- Tyre levers - you can also splint a broken finger with them.
- Tick pullers - although on one ride they moved to my top tube bag as I needed them so frequently!
- Spare mech hanger (of the correct size/type for your bike).
- Paper clips - Sounds funny but tiny bits of wire often come in handy and don’t weigh anything.
- A couple of spare bolts - M5 and M4 size
Then, attached to the frame, I have an emergency bivvy bag and a Lezyne pump, which also has a valve extractor tool in the hose. I wrap Gorilla tape and Electrical tape around it too.
It’s also worth making sure you give your bike a good check over regularly and get as familiar with it as you can.
Here’s hoping you need none of it, except maybe the knife for slicing up your lunch!