Plastic, can't live without it

Plastic Bags

Whenever I'm getting ready for a trip the first thing I do is raid the bag and wrap drawer in the kitchen. Zip-locks in three sizes are critical for any trip, gallon, quart and sandwich. The freezer bags are preferred because they are stronger and more durable. Push or suck the extra air out of the bags before sealing, especially if you are going to be changing altitude.

I don't know anyone who has a home trash compactor, but the bags are indispensable for travelers. They are tough as nails, and our clothes and books stayed dry in our compactor bag lined panniers through rainstorms that made us feel like we were swimming.

I didn't realize one of the seals in my headset had shredded until my steering locked me into a trajectory that would interfere with the path of an oncoming cattle truck. Luckily I had replaced my brake pads earlier in the week and my biggest worry turned out to be cleaning the headset bearings well enough to limp the last 20 km into our planned stop. There was so much grit, that it was difficult to pull the steering tube out and I managed to loose six or eight bearings in the gravel before Sue pointed out that I should have some sort of drop cloth. Plastic bag to the rescue. We had our maps wrapped in two layers of the ubiquitous white rectangular shopping bags. She split one down the side and opened it out into a 2' by 4' work surface that caught the bearings that I inevitably dropped.

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