What to take in your emergency kit

[Fab Foodie]

Just have the butler following you with a spare bike.

 

[Reynard]

I have, distributed about my person and on the bike: bottle cage with bottle of water, mini pump, lights, spare batteries, tissues, multi-tool, puncture repair kit, spare chain link, phone in a plastic bag, small amount of money, haribo, banana, mr kipling cake, and now that the weather's getting warmer, sunscreen.

 

[slowmotion]

Travel light. You don't need

to slip one of these into your jacket pocket.....

 

[Vantage]

Travel light. You don't need View attachment 345967 to slip one of these into your jacket pocket.....

I think that's all that's missing from my saddle bag

 

[Alan O]

Kendal Mint Cake

 

[Vantage]

As some others have said, it depends on how far you're going. I would also say it also depends on how mechanically minded you are too. No point bringing tools if your idea of a screwdriver is the butter knife.

In my Pendle I carry.....
Right Pocket:
2 tyre levers. In my experience that's enough. Using 3 just puts extra tension on the tyres bead making it even more bloody awkward to get off.
A puncture repair kit for when the backup tube for the other backup tube also leaks. There's a spare notsoquicklink and a couple spare bolts in there too.
A good multitool or individual tools. A cheap Chinese ripoff from the pound shop tool destroying the head of the loose allen bolt keeping your stem in place is not a good way to start the 20 mile ride home.
2 spare rechargeable AA batteries for the GPS because I still get lost in my home town.
USB battery pack thingy and lead incase the mp3 player goes flat while out being lost.
Heartburn tablets.
Mini first aid kit incase I get run over by a tipper truck/German car driver.
Reuseable emergency blanket for when waiting for the ambulance/hearse.
10 £1 coins in a kinder surprise plastic container.

Main Compartment:
Mini pump. Air is free and reuseable. Might aswell wipe your a**e with £10 notes if you're gonna buy CO2 cartridges. It's just as wasteful.
2 spare inner tubes. Best to have a backup if the backup fails.
Belgian cycling hat. For when it's cold.
Buff. For when it gets really cold.
Gloves/mitts. Depends on weather. When I'm wearing one, the other is in the bag.
Rain coat. If I'm not already wearing it.
Overshoes. If I'm not sure about the weather that day.
2 Kelloggs Nutrigrain bars and 2 packs of mini cookies.
Flask of tea or coffee if it's a long ride......dead rare these days.

Left Pocket.
Absolutely crammed with mini Mars Bars, Mini Haribo packets and glucose powder to add to my water for when the inevitable hypo strikes. Practically every single damn ride. I hate diabetes soooooooooooooo much.

In my jersey pockets I have the usual smart phone for taking pics, posting jibberish to the forum and phoning mum or the fiancée when I get lost and have a panic attack.
Wallet with ID and some money and antihistamines.
Keys which have the almighty swiss army knife ready to go blunt as soon as it touches anything harder than toilet paper.

I would add that if you're using a carbon fibre bike, bring some airfix glue and life insurance.

 

[mjr]

Related: what do you do with tools that have been demoted from your everyday kit? Do you keep them for workshop duty, pass them on to others or something else? If you keep them, do you just lob them in the tool bucket or something more organised?

 

[Dogtrousers]

Related: what do you do with tools that have been demoted from your everyday kit? Do you keep them for workshop duty, pass them on to others or something else? If you keep them, do you just lob them in the tool bucket or something more organised?

I leave them as offerings to the Thing Pixies. My thinking is that the pixies will gleefully hide it, thinking that it is an Important Thing, and wait for me to stomp around looking for it, and asking my wife if she's seen it. But really its a decoy, and in this way I try to keep the real Important Things safe from the pixies.

It doesn't work, by the way.

 

[nickyboy]

For a decent length ride....

Something to drink (how much is up to you, different people want different quantities)
Maybe some food like flapjack or whatever
Phone
Cash/Cards
Keys to get back into the house
A pump in case I have a flat
One spare innertube (on a really long ride I might take two)
One tyre lever
One multitool (which includes the device for fixing your chain)
One quicklink (that's a nifty thing to have in case your chain breaks)

Really just make sure you have enough to eat and drink (which depends on how far you're going). And the ability to fix a puncture which is by far the most common problem you'll encounter. Phone and cards will deal with most other issues

In the 4 years I've been cycling (in which time I've done about 25,000km) the only problems I've had have been punctures (not sure how many, maybe about 10-15) and one broken chain. So don't worry too much

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

In BBB 750ml equivalent tool tube

Tyre levers
Spare house key
Tube
Co2 pump + 2x 16g threaded co2s
Multitool
Chain tool + spare link
Might even be a pair of surgical gloves

Phone in pocket for any non fixable emergency.

 

[mjr]

In the 4 years I've been cycling (in which time I've done about 25,000km) the only problems I've had have been punctures (not sure how many, maybe about 10-15) and one broken chain. So don't worry too much

Yeah - I think I've been left walking home or being recovered by car four times in the last 20 years. Three were multiple punctures in quick succession where I'm never going to carry enough patches and tubes to deal with that level of trouble (one was some strange tyre defect, another included a failed spare tube and I don't remember the rest) and one was a collapsed wheel bearing (and I don't carry cone spanners on short shakedown rides when I've not touched the bearings). On top of that, I've borrowed a chain tool off another rider and had a hire bike swapped by van when its chain got jammed (I didn't have my tools).

So I guess a good conclusion is that a puncture kit and chain kit will get you home almost every time. I carry wrenches and hex/screwdrivers to try to reduce my chance of wrecking a part that comes loose or goes out of adjustment but I could probably get home without fixing it. The gloves, ties and tape are more for comfort and weigh next to nothing.

 

[Kestevan]

I'd strongly urge anyone who rides alone to have some form of ID, preferably something that can be easily found and read, just using a phone can be a problem if it gets damaged in an accident or the screen lock is on.

I usually wear a set dog tags with ID and next of kin contacts, other use ID bracelet etc.

Recently a chap in the club had a heart attack alone in the middle of nowhere and his ID tag was invaluable in letting his wife know where he was with the minimal amount of delay.

Something like this is cheap and easy to carry on your person
http://www.collarsandtags.co.uk/military-dog-tag.html

 

[mjr]

Something like this is cheap and easy to carry on your person
http://www.collarsandtags.co.uk/military-dog-tag.html

https://www.walkingforhealth.org.uk/sites/default/files/ICE cards mono.pdf or a cut-up 6x4 card is even cheaper and easier.

 

[cubey]

I'd strongly urge anyone who rides alone to have some form of ID, preferably something that can be easily found and read, just using a phone can be a problem if it gets damaged in an accident or the screen lock is on.

I usually wear a set dog tags with ID and next of kin contacts, other use ID bracelet etc.

Recently a chap in the club had a heart attack alone in the middle of nowhere and his ID tag was invaluable in letting his wife know where he was with the minimal amount of delay.

Something like this is cheap and easy to carry on your person
http://www.collarsandtags.co.uk/military-dog-tag.html

I wear a QR coded bracelet, a quick scan with a smart phone and all your medical details are available to any first aider or ambulance personnel

.

 

[Truth]

A can of dry cider