Many people ask me what I am taking on the trip. This wasn’t easy to answer in a few sentances so I put together an inventory including some pics of the major categories of equipment I am bringing: clothes, electronics, mechanical parts/tools, and first aid supplies. Of course these are the basics and odds and ends are plugged in everywhere!

In the first image I have the four Axiom waterproof panniers that will be holding nearly all the supplies. Below them are the Hennessey Hammock Hyperlite in a stuff sack, four Eagle Creek packing cubes (filled with supplies I’ll get into), 5 spare inner tubes, a spare foldable tire, portuguese dictionary, passport, Rite in the Rain Field Flex notepad/pen, Steripen Adventurer UV water purifier, Topeak Alien DX 27  tool, GSI Soloist Ultralight cook set, Brunton Vapor Expedition all fuel stove, Rodovio Norte Brazil road map, Keen Commuter cycling Sandals, Topeak Mountain Morph pump, and Ryders multi lens sunglasses.

In the electronics bag there is the Brunton Solaris 26 solar panel, StreamLight Strion Rechargeable LED tactical flashlight and its associated batteries (blue) and chargers,  a Joby GorrillaPod, Qualcomm GSP 1600 satellite phone, Sansdisk Sansa Clip MP3 player, and Garmin 72 marine friendly GPS. For photo storage I have a Transcend 16GB SDHC card.

In the clothing bag I have 2 ExOfficio Halo Insect Shield shirts and one Insect Shield Convertable pant, one pair of Birdwell Beach Britches, one Speedo (when in Brazil…), REI Mesh Fitness Cap, 2 pairs of Squadra bib cycling shorts, cycling gloves, Sierra Designs Microlight rain suit, and Outdoor Research Spring Ring headnet.

Moving on to the spare parts (and some odss and ends) I have candles (for my candle latern not pictured), 2 Shimano chains, Suunto Compass, tire levers, Brooks Saddle wrench, 10 spare Mavic spokes, 4 hose clamps, a length of multi use cable, a set of spare derailleur cables, 6 bottles of Ben’s 100% Deet bug spray, Gorrilla Glue, thread lock, zip ties, assorted nuts and bolts, spare set of platform pedals, and CR2032 batteries for watch and cycling computer.

Now the supplies to repair my body! In the back row there are the prescription meds including Malarone for malaria, a Z-Pak, Cipro, and an EpiPen. The various rolls of gauze and athletic tape, an Ace bandage, rubber gloves, tweezers, Neosporin, assortment of bandaids, a mirror (for looking in those hard to see spots , eye mask, ear plugs, Johnson Ultraheal Multi-day large bandages, zinc oxide, antifungal cream, antiseptic wipes, thermometer, and a litany of pills for all sorts of mild ailments (too many to list even here).

There are a few items not pictured above that I’ll be taking…they have yet to arrive.

The Nikon Coolpix p6000 will hopefully arrive in time to be the camera I use to capture all this adventure.

And, the Dell Inspirion Mini Netbook…also in transit.

To protect these pieces of equipment I am waiting on Aquapac waterproof pouches. I also plan on taking a harmonica to break up the earie unhuman noises of the jungle!

This is my first experience with satellite phones but so far its been pretty easy. I bought a used Qualcomm GSP 1600 (pretty cheap on ol’ ebay) and went through GlobalStar for the service.

The contract (Evolution Plan) is fairly cheap at about 35$ a month with a month to month contract. Currently Globalstar is in the process of changing over some of their satellite technology, adding more satellites, and improving service. However, for the time being their are significant gaps in coverage.

Using their Satellite Availability Tool for northern Brazil and the middle of the Amazon I see that throughout the day most calls will have to be limited to about 8-11 min or so before they are dropped. That means during any given call I may lose the signal fairly frequently. However, I plan to keep conversation to a minimum as roaming fees (between 1.40$ – 1.99$/min) apply in this remote region.
Also, I can’t receive calls. Kind of a bummer there but the peace of mind with having the ability to call someone from nearly anywhere on the planet (with the exception of some areas in the middle of the ocean) outweighs the annoyance of dropped calls.

Globalstar.com

I won’t be brining much in the way of clothes (considering the heat index will be above 100F nearly everyday) but I was able to get my hands on the Sierra Designs Microlight rain jacket and pants. The weight and packability of these two items is key.

I figure rainwear might come in handy in the Amazon Basin even in the “dry” season (which of course is far from dry). The Microlight is polyester taffeta and weighs just a few grams.  Although basic enough for use under nearly any travel excursion I am going to put this sucker to the test for sure! Hopefully it doesn’t come back like cheese cloth from mosquito punctures.

I fell in love with this watch the moment I saw it. My friend came back from a trip to Europe with this thing on his wrist (it is quite large!) and the tech geek in me was enamored. I also love the audacity of the enormous face… you can see this thing a mile away! That aside, the Suunto Core is a gem in terms of altitude, barometric pressure, depth, and direction information.

The watch features three modes: time, altimeter/barometer, and compass. Within each mode there is a litany of “views” on the lower portion of the display.  A quick rundown of some of the main feature:

• Altimeter: Difference Measurement / Start from 0, Logbook, Automatic Mode
• Barometer: Storm Alarm, Weather Trend Indicator, Weather Graph
• Compass: Rotating Bezel (except not in Core Extreme), Digital Bearing, Easy Calibration
• Depth Measurement: Max. Depth 30 ft/10 m
• Watch: Sunrise/Sunset Time, Dual Time, Countdown
• Other: Button Lock, 4 Language Menu

The barometric profile is a fun feature (and useful) that I have been monitoring and playing with. There is a Storm Alarm that sounds when a significant decrease in pressure occurs over a short period of time. This can also be triggered by exiting large building where pressure may be increased due to climate control. While on the expedition I plan to monitor pressure changes in hopes of forecasting weather to some degree.

Recently while skydiving I noticed all the instructors were wearing the Suunto Core due to its altimeter function. Suunto’s altimeter wrist watches are highly regarded by those in the know. I don’t predict using this feature much on my trip as the Amazon Basin is relatively flat.

In the past I have had rubber strapped watches that are sticky, get snagged easily, cause your wrist to sweat, and are generally uncomfortable. However, the Elastomer strap causes no irritation or discomfort. It breathes well, slides in and out of shirt and jacket sleaves, and firmly clips into place.

So far I’ve been pleased with the device and will be sure to put it to the test during the trip!

Check out more at Suunto.

This tactical flashlight made by SureFire should stand up to conditions I’ll face in the jungle. I wanted a rechargeable flashlight that would be bright enough to illuminate all the bumps in the night I’ll hear while laying in my hammock. The LumaMax L7 can purportedly cause temporary blindness if shined directly into the eyes! I haven’t tested this feature on myself yet.

Here’s the run down from Surefire’s website:

Extended-runtime, high-intensity LED flashlight for tactical, duty, and general use. Virtually indestructible power-regulated light emitting diode (LED) provides smooth, brilliant, pre-focused, tactical-level beam five times the light of a big two-D-cell flashlight—bright enough to temporarily blind and disorient a person by impairing his night-adapted vision. Sold as a complete system that includes two B90 batteries, a mountable SmartCharger charging cradle, AC transformer, and DC auto adapter. SmartCharger protects charging batteries from voltage spikes. Long runtime, high light output, rechargeable battery make it perfect for nightly duty use.

• LED light source has no filament to burn out or break, lasts for thousands of hours
• Rugged aerospace-grade aluminum body, Mil-Spec Type III hard anodized in black or olive drab
• O-ring sealed, weatherproof
• Tempered Pyrex® window
• Tailcap switch—press for momentary-on, twist for constant-on

I’ve already used the DC charger that comes with the kit to hook up the Brunton Solaris for recharing the battery. This should suffice for the journey, maybe I can use the Rugged aerospace-grade aluminum body to beat a Bushmaster over the head.

For more check out SureFire.

I have been experimenting with the new Hennessy Hammock Hyperlite in preparating for the trip. I have little experience with hammock tents (other than an old army surlpus 20$ P.O.S. that quickly flipped and ripped) and I’m trying to get the knack of the thing. So far it seems like it should work perfect in the Amazon.

The Hyperlite is 6′ long and can support about 200lbs (I weigh in at 160 lbs currently). The unit itself weighs 1 lb 10 oz which is pretty sweet considering the reports of extremely steep hills the TransAm tends to dart straight up (to prevent the rains from washing the road away).

I will also be using a very fine mosquito netting around the entire hammock. The hammock is fully enclosed, however, vicious biting insects can penetrate the nylon bottom of the hammock and you can wake up covered in welts. To ensure this doesn’t happen I have a fully enclosed 2000 hole per sq inch net that will drape below the hammock leaving a gap between it and my butt.

The great thing about the Hennessy hammock is it takes about 2 min tops to set it up and break it down. Also, I will be off the ground away from muck, ants, Bushmasters, and all other sorts of creepy crawlies. This is also important considering late night downpours and flash floods. I don’t plan on needing a sleeping roll either since padding (or insulation on the equator) will be an issue. That saves a decent amount of space on my rig.

The Snake Skins are a simple and time saving accessory. They are simply nylon tubes that fit over the support lines on either end of the hammock. When you are ready to pack it in you simply pull the Snake Skin from each end of the support lines and stuff the hammock body and canopy into the tubes. Everything is ready to unroll for the next time you need to set up. I think once I am proficient at this it will take mere seconds to prepare camp.

More at Hennessy Hammock.

I plan on using this Brunton portable/foldable solar panel while on the trek to recharge some of the electronic gadgets. The Brunton Solaris delivers 12V (under pretty low light from my testing) and should work great so close to the equator!

It folds to the size of a children’s book and is amazingly light. I’ve used it on a completely overcast day here in Boston and was able to charge my cell phone with ease.

The solar cells are CIGS (Copper Indium Gallium diSelenide) and are reported to be the “most efficient thin film solar technology available.”

• Overall dimensions: 21.5″x37.5″
• Overall dimensions folded: 11″x8.5″x1″
• Weight: 28 oz
• Panel type: CIGS
• Max output: 26 watts

Brunton has a whole line of durable outdoor solar equipment. Check out Brunton and the Solaris.

As the leave date closes in rather rapidly I have been collecting all the necessary gear for the trip. The panniers I have chosen were supplied by Axiom Performance Gear and are appropriately named the Monsoons.

Obviously I wanted a waterproof pannier to minimize the potential for riding with water logged gear. The Monsoon pannier has the dry bag roll down closure and welded tarpaulin and 600D polyester construction. Each bag has a pack volume of about 25L.

So far I have stuffed all the gear I currently have into just one of the Monsoons and surprising it all fit. Of course this didn’t include food, water, my medical supplies, and some extra clothing. However, I’m fairly confident I will have all the room I need to bring all the essential equipment.

I have finally acquired the bike I will be riding this fall. It is a steel frame hardtail 2007 Jamis Dragon. I will be outfitting it with racks and panniers to accommodate all of my gear. I look forward to putting this bike through the paces in the weeks leading up to my departure.

I chose a steel framed bike due to the flex inherent to this material. Steel is a more comfortable material for long rides, especially day after day on the road. I did not want rear suspension due to the added complexity and maintenance required. Also, it is more difficult to rig bike racks to a rear suspension bike, however they do exist.

Disc brakes are also a more complicated, and difficult to repair in the field, piece of componentry that stirs debate in the adventure cycling world. However, they seem to perform much better in mud and wet conditions (which I will see a lot of) and are more or less robust. Let’s hope they are irreparably damaged during the trip.