We’re back with another Wish List, where Radavist contributors ask the universe to give us something we actually want, for a change. In today’s edition, Travis dreams of things that might help make multi-day rides a bit more pleasant. Some of which may also actually help him dream. 

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I almost don’t have to write the description for this idea, let alone explain why it’s an absolutely brilliant one. When you’re riding an overnighter, you, of course, bring a headlamp. And if the “riding” part might spill over past sunset, you of course bring a bike light. But bikepacking’s minimalist doctrines might discourage you from adding a helmet light to the mix. Anyway, you’re probably not shredding the type of gnar that would demand bulbs on both head and handlebar. So, a third light is often a luxury not worth its weight.

But what if you need to do a mid-ride repair after dark? Or step off the bike for a closer look at a place to camp? Or when you find a place to camp, how are you gonna find your headlamp once it’s jostled its way to the bottom of your frame bag? Or your handlebar bag… which one did you put it in? Well, if someone could make a headlamp you could clip onto a helmet, you could just do that before dark so you’re ready when it comes.

No wasted weight required. I’ve tried strapping a headlamp around a helmet, but it’s not ideal. The helmet needs a visor up front to secure the lamp and some sort of contoured “notch” out back to secure the strap. And even if it’s got both, it requires resizing the strap, and / or possibly wearing out its elastic. My solution could take a few forms. Maybe a buckle-style interface like GoPro’s chesty mount, where you unclip the light from the headband and clip it into an adhesive mount on your helmet. Or maybe it’d be more like the above illustration, which looks so real it could be the subject of a future bike hack…

Face Hugger

I’ve always had problems with my nose getting cold while camping. I’ve tried sleeping in a balaclava, but it quickly becomes more uncomfortable than the cold I’m trying to fend off. The best I can do is lay on my side so the opening to my sleeping bag can stay just a few inches away from my face. That allows the warm air inside the bag to hang around my nose for just long enough to keep it warm. But I usually sleep on my back, leaving my nose just proud of the rim of my sleeping bag like a groundhog looking for its shadow.

So, what if there were a way to make sure my nose was always a few inches from the edge of my cocoon, even when laying on my back? I thought of this. It’d be a flat inflatable structure, with one edge sewn around the opening of a mummy-type sleeping pad. The zipper would run up the bag and ultimately connect the inflatable structure to make an extended cylinder around the opening. You could lay on your side or your back, allowing some calm, warm air to comfort your nose, but could still escape so condensation doesn’t build up. It’d probably have a drawstring to throttle the opening for especially cold nights, but no matter how I tried illustrating it, the drawstring version looked awful, so just use your imagination.

Knee High

I have a pretty thick sleeping pad, but for some reason, I always feel like my back is arching too much when I lay flat. I don’t know why the extra-firm memory foam mattress I have at home doesn’t cause that same problem. I do know that putting something under my knees while camping seems to fix it. But nothing works that well. The previous day’s riding clothes don’t have enough volume. Plus, they really should be airing out while I sleep. I usually bring a second inflatable pillow, but it’s a bit narrow and not the right shape.

So, what if there were a wide, slightly rounded inflatable pillow specifically for this? Yeah, it’d be bulky, but you can’t put a size limit on a good night’s sleep. And it could potentially be lighter than a normal inflatable pillow. It wouldn’t need that thicker, softer “flocked” material often used on inflatable pillows because it wouldn’t necessarily touch skin. It’d usually be outside the sleeping bag. If I want it inside the bag, I’d just have to wear long johns, and I’d get the bonus option of putting it between my knees when on my side. Not quite as comforting as the anime-girl body pillow I have at home, but Katsuragi-san doesn’t like camping.

Pad-Tri

Rounding out the inflatables on my list is another approach to solving my back-angle issue. It always seemed a little weird to me that the parts of the mattress holding my heavy hips, my wide shoulders, and my light legs are all exactly the same. Sure, some mattresses narrow down at the legs to save on excess material, but it’s still the same thickness and same air pressure from head to toe. But is that really the best way to do it?

I’d love to see a manufacturer offer a multi-chamber sleeping pad where the legs, hips, and head/shoulders each had their own section with their own independently adjustable air pressure, and maybe even thickness. Everyone’s body weight is distributed differently. I’d love to try having it softer around the hips, firmer around the shoulders, and somewhere in-between at the legs. Plus, a pad with this design would make it 66% easier to track down a leak.