What’s In Your Pack (or On The Bike)?

[summit]

In addition to the bike multitool, I carry a CRKT Zilla Tool Jr



3.8oz gives me good pliers/cutters and a locking 5.7cm knife (it also has interchangable microdriver bits and comes with a phillips and flathead)

I seem to recall using the pliers to fix chain issues (grabbing stuck chains, breaking a masterlink) but it is more multipurpose than a dedicated set of link tires.

[Groomer Gambler]

I periodically think about buying and carrying one of those quick link pliers. Or the pricier, less slick one that OneUp just released. But then I think about how I’m already carrying a chain breaker and extra quick links. I keep concluding that $25 bucks and extra clutter doesn’t buy me enough added utility.
Definitely open to a persuasive argument though ......


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

I recently bought the Wolflink tool. On longer rides I still carry my chain breaker so there's overlap. But this tool is really light and sits flat in my toolkit. Works really well on a masterlink (way better than pliers, chain breaker fumbling), holds 2 spares, plus it has a valve core remover!

[funkendrenchman]

I pack a 26" light tube instead of a 27.5" standard tube to save 100g and some space.

[bagtagley]

I carry road tubes for the same reason/purpose.

[teledad]

Why would you need to break a master link in the field? The only time I've done this at home was to replace the rear derailleur. Even there I could have removed the pulley wheels instead.

[summit]

Why would you need to break a master link in the field? The only time I've done this at home was to replace the rear derailleur. Even there I could have removed the pulley wheels instead.

I've had a chain get horribly bent and removing it was the only option.

I've had a chain get horribly stuck and breaking the master made it far easier to yard on from the right direction to get it unstuck.

The point of having a master link is to make it EASY to remove a chain so you don't have to pop a pin or do things like remove derailleur pulleys... or carry a special tool!

The idea of a masterlink tool is great for a shop. A masterlink tool for the trail is just silly! Pliers have many uses.

[Dee Hubbs]

The idea of a masterlink tool is great for a shop. A masterlink tool for the trail is just silly! Pliers have many uses.

Do you think you can open your master link with those pliers?

Why would you need to break a master link in the field? The only time I've done this at home was to replace the rear derailleur. Even there I could have removed the pulley wheels instead.

I have had to break a chain to pull it out of a buddies frame/chain guide.
I carry a spare link, but if I'm going to be cutting a bad section of chain off, I want to remove the quicklink and use it again.

[jono]

Only time I've had to remove a master in the field I had bent (maybe twisted) the installed master. Multi-tool has a chain breaker for the other links, but pliers and wire work fine for the 1% of links.

[bagtagley]

Guy I typically ride with showed up yesterday with a Garmin inReach mini in his pack. The initial outlay of $350 isn't insignificant, but he's only paying $12/month for the cheapest service package, which isn't bad. This covers a lot of my concerns about riding in the backcountry. It'll probably end up being a Christmas present, but I've decided that this is something I want to start carrying.

[summit]

Guy I typically ride with showed up yesterday with a Garmin inReach mini in his pack. The initial outlay of $350 isn't insignificant, but he's only paying $12/month for the cheapest service package, which isn't bad. This covers a lot of my concerns about riding in the backcountry. It'll probably end up being a Christmas present, but I've decided that this is something I want to start carrying.

More extensive discussion here: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...99#post5381599

[bagtagley]

More extensive discussion here: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...99#post5381599

I figured these things were being discussed elsewhere, thanks. I've been considering one for the past couple years, but hearing about some recent calamities from riding buddies, and the insanely small size of the mini, have me ready to buy.

I'd be getting it for the SOS feature, mainly. I don't see it getting much use, beyond sending the occasional preset message. Of course, that could change once I'm carrying it.

[XXX-er]

Why would you need to break a master link in the field? The only time I've done this at home was to replace the rear derailleur. Even there I could have removed the pulley wheels instead.

besides all the already mentioned reasons if you break a derhanger and you don't pack a spare I have had to shorten a chain to make a bike into an SS to limp out

Sram quick links come apart without pliers IME and I carry a spare but shimano use or used the pin you drive in and break off the excess which is gona need a chain breaker

https://www.mec.ca/en/product/5034-5...BoCsMUQAvD_BwE

for 20$ you can get an ok chain breaker on the super grande mini tool

[jm2e]

https://sahmurai.com/
I sprung for the Sahmurai Sword plug kit for a few reasons:
1. I like buying things. Especially things new and different.
2. Half the price of the shiny Dynaplug that I thought long and hard about.
3. Read a review somewhere suggesting that Sahmurai's fat plugs were superior.
4. I can never keep push in bar end caps in my handlebars, so literally had a good spot for them.
5. In theory, nothing is faster than ganking it out of the bar end and jamming that fucker in place.

First flat came within days of arrival. Unfortunately, the Sahmurai is set up as a one shot deal. And I got a classic two-hole pinch flat. Total and complete fail. Threw in a tube. Realized the Sahmurai bacon is waaay too long and impossible to cut in the field. Hung out like a piece of toilet paper stuck to your shoe. Listened to it tap the bike on every revolution, but fuck it didn't stay the fuck in!

Got home, cut bacon in half, rethreaded and rubber banded the second half bacon to the reamer thing in the other plug. See if these things work next time. Have better appreciation for the Dynaplug bacon with the metal tips. Also realize that the Racer has similar limited utility of the Sahmurai.

[summit]

https://sahmurai.com/
I sprung for the Sahmurai Sword plug kit for a few reasons:
1. I like buying things. Especially things new and different.
2. Half the price of the shiny Dynaplug that I thought long and hard about.
3. Read a review somewhere suggesting that Sahmurai's fat plugs were superior.
4. I can never keep push in bar end caps in my handlebars, so literally had a good spot for them.
5. In theory, nothing is faster than ganking it out of the bar end and jamming that fucker in place.

First flat came within days of arrival. Unfortunately, the Sahmurai is set up as a one shot deal. And I got a classic two-hole pinch flat. Total and complete fail. Threw in a tube. Realized the Sahmurai bacon is waaay too long and impossible to cut in the field. Hung out like a piece of toilet paper stuck to your shoe. Listened to it tap the bike on every revolution, but fuck it didn't stay the fuck in!

Got home, cut bacon in half, rethreaded and rubber banded the second half bacon to the reamer thing in the other plug. See if these things work next time. Have better appreciation for the Dynaplug bacon with the metal tips. Also realize that the Racer has similar limited utility of the Sahmurai.

That was very helpful in my decision making as I was planning to upgrade from the genuine Innovations to the dynaplug or Samurai. Thank you. Dynaplug it is.

[summit]

I'm going to focus on emergency stuff because I'm not going to have any cool repair ideas that bike gurus haven't already mentioned.

COMMUNICATIONS: Whistle, Cellphone, PLB

REPAIR: Includes tape and a multitool that has a good knife

1st AID KIT:
3x gloves
Pain reliever
Alcohol wipes
Bandaids (tough)
4" coban roll
Triangular bandage + safety pin
Hemostatic Gauze
SWAT-T Tourniquet
10mL NS flush syringe
Numask
28fr adjustable flange NPA + Lube

With that kit you and some improvisation you can treat:
Road Rash
Extremity Fracture
Laceration/severe bleeding

It's not going to be pretty, but it is cheap, light, and should get you out or help your friend until professional rescue arrives.

Whistle is important because if you are off the side of the trail, nobody riding by with their eyes on the trail will see you and they may not hear you, especially with earbuds in. One time I endoed off trail down an embankment and fractured my knee cap. Luckily I dragged myself and my bike onto the trail and rode out.

PLB (or InReach) a simple little ride just two miles on a trail between neighborhoods, my wife wrecked in a small area where her phone didn't work. Her knee was sliced to the bone the full width of her leg on the front. She couldn't stand up. She bandaged herself with the above medkit and activated the PLB. Help came.

I refined my bike trauma kit and made it much lighter. It does rely on the innertube from my repair kit to serve as a sling or tourniquet (it's a 27.5" 2.2-2.4" tube, but it weights the same as a tourniquet+triangular) and a hand pump to serve as splinting support.

1st AID KIT:
2x gloves
Pain reliever
Povidone Iodine packet + Castille Soap wipe packet (tiny handwipe like you get from a BBQ place)
Bandaids (tough)
3x8" non-stick gauze pad
1" Tape
4" Trauma Dressing (this serves as an ACE wrap or pressure dressing)
Celox Rapid Z-fold Hemostatic Gauze
10mL NS flush syringe
CPR barrier (serves as a chest seal or abdominal tent)
3.5" mini trauma shears (0.5 oz)
28fr adjustable flange NPA + Lube (First Responders and above)
10ga 3.25" angiocath + 3way (Advanced providers at your own hazard)

With that kit you and some improvisation you can treat:
Road Rash
Extremity Fracture
Laceration/severe bleeding

This 1st aid kit weighs in at a mere 8oz, less than a pump + multitool!

[jm2e]

That was very helpful in my decision making as I was planning to upgrade from the genuine Innovations to the dynaplug or Samurai. Thank you. Dynaplug it is.

Which Dynaplug kit did you get? Seems like having some of the larger plugs would be mandatory.

[summit]

Which Dynaplug kit did you get? Seems like having some of the larger plugs would be mandatory.

I agree that having both plug sizes would be a big help. I'm split between:

Racer with a mega and regular loaded and mounted then keeping reloads in my repair kit.

Megaplug with a mega and regular loaded but only one mounted with reloads in the plastic container.

Both are the same price. Probably six one way half dozen the other. Order from Dynaplug they ship free.

[John_B]

28fr adjustable flange NPA + Lube
10ga 3.25" angiocath + 3way

What is the purpose of these? It's outside the scope of anything I know so I wouldn't put them in my first aid kit, but you obviously have a higher knowledge of this stuff.

[zion zig zag]

What is the purpose of these? It's outside the scope of anything I know so I wouldn't put them in my first aid kit, but you obviously have a higher knowledge of this stuff.

The first one is a big old tube to stick in someones nose to secure an airway and the second one is a big old needle to stick in someones chest to treat a tension pneumo.

[John_B]

The first one is a big old tube to stick in someones nose to secure an airway and the second one is a big old needle to stick in someones chest to treat a tension pneumo.

Thanks. Dynaplug will probably make an attachment for those in the next few years

[Name Redacted]

The first one is a big old tube to stick in someones nose to secure an airway and the second one is a big old needle to stick in someones chest to treat a tension pneumo.

Yep, and I believe, if I'm not mistaken, they require additional certification and skills in order to use. Therefore, your average Joe Schmoe ain't gonna be carrying them in their pack. In fact, the chances of someone needing them on your average trail are pretty slim but if you have the skill to use them and they don't weigh much, why not.

[summit]

What is the purpose of these? It's outside the scope of anything I know so I wouldn't put them in my first aid kit, but you obviously have a higher knowledge of this stuff.

28fr adjustable flange NPA + Lube



NPA = NasoPharengeal Airway

It is a rubber tube that goes up the nose (with some lube so you don't tear things up) all up and around the corner and ends up behind the tongue. Its purpose is to hold the tongue off the back of the throat to keep a person's airway open. If you take a EMT or First Responder class (WFR or EMR) you'll learn how to use NPAs (they are incredibly simple to use). When you would use this biking is on a buddy who is doing very badly in terms of reduced consciousness to the point where they cannot automatically keep muscle tone on their tongue so that it doesn't fall back under gravity and block their throat so that they cannot breath. Problems that might cause this: head injury, severe blood loss, severe chest trauma, struck by lightning, heart attack, overdose of certain drugs, blocked airways due to trauma or asthma, etc. In other words, they are going to be critically ill. The NPA holds the airway open and frees up your hands.

For trained folks: Sizing is the nares to the angle of the jaw (NOT nostril size or pinky size as you might have been taught, it just has to be thin enough to fit). Length is what is important (that's what she said). It must be long enough to get behind the tongue but not so long as to trigger a gag reflex. On an adjustable NPA, the rubber ring slides to adjust length so one NPA can fit many patients. An adjustable 28fr will fit most adults. An adjustable 26fr or 24fr will fit most average adults to most adolescents. (NPA size adjustability and usability with an intact gag makes them a better choice over an OPA if you are going to carry just one basic airway).

If you don't have the training to use these and the patient's airway isn't staying open, you have two choices:

1. NO TRAUMA: use the recovery position (from your CPR class) which uses gravity and position to keep the airway open and also gravity drain and secretions or vomit. This position is key if you must leave their side (e.g., to summon help):


2. WITH TRAUMA: you want to avoid manipulating the spine in trauma with altered consciousness. You can use the trauma-jaw-thrust technique but this requires hands on (and some significant force from your hands if they have muscle tone in their jaw).

10ga 3.25" angiocath + 3way

This tool is something that you'll learn to use if you re a paramedic, nurse, or provider (or TCCC if you were military). It is an unusually large gauge and long needle with a plastic IV catheter over it. Broken ribs and pneumothorax (hole in the lung that leaks air into the chest cavity) are a common injury in mtb crashes. A deadly potential complication is tension pneumothorax where so much air builds up that the lungs cannot inflate enough and it impairs the heart's ability to receive blood. Apart from massive external bleeding, a tension pneumo is really the only other deadly complication of trauma that can be mitigated on the trail. Every other type of deadly complication of trauma (e.g., shock from internal bleeding, severe head injury, internal organ damage from blunt trauma) either kills you or you are brought to an operating room before it kills you. To temporarily fix tension, one sticks that giant needle in between the ribs to relieve the pressure. I won't describe the diagnostic/decision process or the invasive procedure here. It's not hard, but doing it when it isn't needed or doing it wrong could lead complications like creating an open pneumothorax, lacerating the heart or great vessels, puncturing the liver or spleen, infection etc. Needless to say, this is something that would be used by a trained professional in desperation on someone they care about who is about to die.

For trained providers, the evidence suggests: A. 10ga is superior to 14ga. B. 1.75" is unreliably short compared to a 3+". C. 4-5th ICS on the AAL (or MAL) is far more reliable than the 2nd ICS on the ICL (and also useful if the ICL is obscured by chest armor yet to be cut away). I'm happy to provide the journal articles on these points.

ETA: I spent 10 minutes typing up what zion zig zag covered in 2 sentences!

[rideit]

This thread is now officially terrifying.

[Norseman]

I'm never leaving the couch again. Too scary.

😎

[summit]

This thread is now officially terrifying.

While it completely blows my mind how many bikers don't even carry a bandaid with them, re-read this post until you aren't terrified:

In fact, the chances of someone needing them on your average trail are pretty slim but if you have the skill to use them and they don't weigh much, why not.

I agree with him. In 15 years of SAR, I haven't seen a bike wreck patient who has needed such things (giant needle). It *could* be needed and I know how to use them, and they are very light/cheap, so I have them.

Now, bike/ski patrol at lift served certainly have seen the need. So have backcountry skiers and snowmobilers (avalanches or smashing trees or botching a cliff huck).