I went touring with my Black Mountain Cycles La Cabra on Swift Campout 2022.

I thought I’d write about my set up for that trip.

On camping trip before, I tried out the bikepacking style, but I ended up failing because I didn’t have enough storage space, so this time I decided to go with bike bags that lets me pack as much as possible.

“Operation Big Bag” is a go.

The bags I used are…

Swift Industries Panniers,

and Fab’s Chest.

The bike I rode was the La Cabra, as mentioned.

The pannier bags can carry up to 15l, which exceeded the max load of the trip I failed on.

My plan was to keep the Fab’s chest empty for putting groceries for camp, so I made sure I packed only the essentials in the other bags.

Let’s take a look inside the pannier bags.

Left pannier

I put cooking materials, a sleeping bag and other stuff I’d use at night. I recommend small Jim Beam bottles for bikepacking since they’re less bulky than beer cans.

Right pannier

I put clothing and other stuff I won’t be needing most of the time in there.

Camping in the summer let’s

When you go camping in the summer, you often end up running out of clothes sooner than you expect, so I regret not bringing an extra set of clothes since I had the space to carry them.

I also regret bringing jeans, but jeans are cool so whatever. The sandals are light, but bulky, so I should’ve hung them on thee bag with carabiners or something.

Kaisei’s set up was exactly what I needed.

Fab’s Chest

Basically, it contained items I expected to use frequently, as well as longer items that didn’t fit elsewhere. (I planned to store the groceries I bought that day here, too.)

I had a hard time finding a place for my front light after putting the bag on the front but, thankfully the free eyelet on the 8-Pack Rack saved the day.

Operation Big Bag was a success but I do think I could’ve packed lighter for a two day camp trip.

I could’ve ran a basket if I’m using a pannier or I could’ve went with the Anything Cage if I went with the Fab’s Chest…I could never find the answer, but that’s the fun part and the reason why I keep buying new gear.

This is the set up I ran before the Campout↓

And this is the Campout set up↓

The trip before was the first bikepacking trip for me and the first time taking the La Cabra on a proper ride, so I didn’t know any better.

Look how less I packed!

What I really liked about the pannier bags was how easy they were to attach and detach, allowing me to travel light in no time. Since it takes very little effort, there’s hardly any hassle involved. Since we ended up riding on off-road that day, I was also impressed that I could set out with just the bare essentials.

This is me having some fun with lighter gear.

The La Cabra was easy to ride, even with heavy bags. It would be nice to put a drop bar and go on a longer tour.

I’m excited to test out all sorts of set up on the La Cabra.