It's always a privilege to see the new uses customers find for our gear, things we never considered when we designed and built it. Michael Fried's ambitious motorcycle and hiking trip through South America certainly qualifies. Read, look, and then start planning. -S.O.
It's hard to pick a pack to live out of for a year, especially considering the way I like to travel. I decided that on my trip to South America I was going to go as light as I could. I wanted to be able to dump a few of my things at a hostel, fill up with food and take off for week long hiking trips. I
figured that the Unaweep 3900 would keep me from over packing and be
able to carry any excess stuff strapped on with the Talon if I ever
needed it. It's principally designed for hunting, but surprisingly
practical for all around travel.
It was also light enough to unpack and use for day hikes,carrying only a bivy and sleeping bag for emergencies.
About
a month into the trip, after hiking in the Cochamó valley and eight
days in Parque Nacional Torres del Paine in Chilean Patagonia, I decided
that I was sick of buses and a motorcycle would be the best way to explore the more remote parts of the country.
This is where the decision to pack light really saved me. It's one thing to get tired carrying your heavy pack, but something else
to have a bike that you're afraid to take off the pavement because it
weighs more than a Citroen 2cv. I bought a used Honda 400cc that came
with some pretty useless plastic panniers so I just left my stuff in the
pack and strapped it to the bike the way it was. I used the panniers
mostly for tools, spare parts and food until I smashed them.
With
this setup I was ready to go. I headed south for Tierra del Fuego, then
turned around and headed back north to Fitzroy in Argentina. Back to Chile
for the famous Carretera Austral. Then north for the length of Chile to
the Atacama Desert. Next through the high altitudes of Bolivia and the
Peruvian Andes. Finally passing through the edges of the amazon rain
forest in Ecuador and ending the trip with several months looping around
Colombia. All in all I put 20,000 miles on the bike, with as much of it
gravel and dirt riding as I could.
The pack worked out
surprisingly well on the bike. I had sealed the seams before I left and
packed my stuff in dry bags so there was no need for a rain cover that
would
just flap around in the wind. Without any extra frills and external
pockets the pack didn't turn into a soggy mess in the rain either. The
external frame also made the bag rigid and easy to attach to the
bike. I had my girlfriend join me for part of the trip, and had to tie
the bag onto the side of the bike on top of the pannier in order to make
room for her and another bag. It was a heavy awkward bike at that
point, but we made it work out.
I met a lot of bikers on
the trip, and overall they seemed to get stuck to their motorcycles. As
fun as riding is, I prefer see a motorcycle as a tool rather than an
end, and taking hiking gear along lets you see a whole more of the
places you visit. With a few changes I think a setup like mine was
pretty ideal. If I spent more time
preparing I would lighten up on my tools and take motorcycle specific
soft panniers instead of aluminum or plastic, but any way you do it, a
motorcycle and full
hiking gear is by far the most liberating way I've found to travel.
I'd
like to return a favor and thank Motomaletas Arica, for helping me fix
up the bike with a new set of panniers, and giving me a couch to sleep
on for a few days:
http://www.motomaletas.cl