KX Riders
General => Riding Tips & Tricks => Topic started by: KXcam22 on February 19, 2006, 04:21:19 PM
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Fanny Pack Tool Pouch
By Cam Carr
Feb 2006
Breaking down on the trail is never fun, especially on a hot day in the dunes or countless trail miles away from your truck. Often, having along a few well chosen tools can make the difference between a great ride, or having one of those days you would like to forget. It is amazing what can be repaired on the trail with a few tools and some ingenuity. Nuts can be borrowed from somewhere else on the bike, and ty-wraps or haywire can go a long way towards keeping something in place to get home.
I began carrying a fanny pack after I received a nice one as a gift (empty of course). I ride some long single-track loops and having some tools along seemed like a good idea. It didn?t take long to become accustomed to riding with it. The small additional weight is barely noticeable, and is more than made up for by the additional peace of mind while you?re out on the trail. The weight may be an issue with some, but I view it more as training aid to strengthen my legs while I ride. Most of the time when I go riding I don?t bother to put my main tool box in the truck. I rely on the selection of tools I bring along in my fanny pack to handle any minor maintenance. It is ironic that, so far, I have never actually used it to fix my own bike, only riding partner?s bikes and other hapless riders I found broken down along the trail.
What (What Not) to Pack
What tools to carry in your fanny pack is the never-ending question. Pack too much and weight can be an issue, but don?t take that one vital tool and you might end up walking home. Your choices come down to a tradeoff between, the probability of a particular failure (i.e. a flat tire) and the weight of the tools needed to repair it. You also must be realistic about your mechanical abilities. If you can barely change a tire in your workshop, packing all the tools and expecting to accomplish an ISDE speed flat-repair on the trail is unrealistic.
Tools
There are lots of high quality fanny pack tools available on the aftermarket. I take the alternate route and enjoy making many of my ?special? tools by modifying other tools. Wrenches can be filed to larger sizes and sockets welded to wrenches. The goal (within reason) is to carry a tool to fit most every size nut and bolt on your bike, even if you end up with a ?frankienwrench? (a wrench with a few sockets welded to one side). For source tools, I frequent 2nd hand stores, tool sales and mostly the bottom of my too large tool box. Cheaper is better since it is easy to lose them in the field. As an example, the KX500 takes a 30mm wrench for the rear axle. The one in my tool box is about 20? long and weighs enough to do arm curls with. For a starting point, I found a thin, lightweight 1-1/8? double open end aircraft wrench, filed the jaw to 30mm and shortened the handle. It may take a few kicks to get the axle nut loose, but it works, it?s extremely light, and it only cost me $1.
The following is a list of what I carry with me on a typical day-ride. It may seem like a lot but it easily fits into my fanny pack with room for a snack, spare gloves and my digital camera. Heck, for some rides you could probably make do with a crescent wrench and a couple of beers.
Tools That I Carry:
1. Sparkplug wrench/spoke wrench (I use the KX one that came with my bike).
2. Sparkplug (a cheap BR8ES in case you must give it away to a stranded rider). I keep mine in a plastic holder to
protect the plug.
3. Leatherman type multitool (heavy but handy).
4. Rear axle wrench (home made).
5. 8mm/10mm/12mm T Handle (home made).
6. 10 assorted ty-wraps (Longer is better).
7. ? roll of Black tape.
8. 4? fuel line (for drinking, siphoning, petcock to petcock gas transfer, tourniquet etc).
9. 10? of hay wire.
10. Needle-nose vise grip pliers.
11. Mini multi-bit screwdriver.
12. Small flat screwdriver for carb tuning (I keep this in an outside pouch for easy access).
13. Assorted combination wrenches: 8mm to 14mm.
14. Allen wrench selection.
15. Mini flashlight (I use a mini-mag light but need a lighter one).
16. Disposable lighter (ever spent a cold night somewhere bad?). Spring for a new one every season.
17. Paper towels.
18. Energy bars.
19. Compass. (Take a reading at your starting point and mark it ON the compass).
20. Cell phone (but don?t count on having coverage).
21. Masterlinks - take an assortment (Make sure it fits ? not all brands are universal).
22. Spare nuts & Bolts.
23. 5 Minute type epoxy steel (for patching case holes).
24. Location and phone number of nearest medivac helicopter (expensive but sometimes necessary).
25. 15' tow rope - 1/8" high strength kevlar climbing accessory cord. (added Sept 7/09 after not having one when I needed it)
Note: Since I frequently ride with my family, I carry wrench sizes to fit 4 different bikes.
Extras (Might only carry on extra long rides)
1. Single use pouch of 2-stroke oil (available at most chainsaw shops). Enables you to borrow gas and make up a
lean mix to get home.
2. Spare tube or patch kit. (Carry a 21? tube since it can be used universally)
3. Tire irons.
4. C02 tire inflator.
5. Signal mirror (an old CD is great for this. Nice and light too)
6. Emergency blanket. (To keep yourself or and injured rider warm)
Additional Tips:
1. Many fanny packs come with the familiar plastic quick release buckle. I thought it was fine until it fell off and I wasted an hour searching the trail for my fanny pack. I replaced it with a $3.00 metal positive latch buckle obtained from a safety supply store tool belt. Always write your name and phone number on your pack as most people will return a lost pack if they can tell who it belongs to.
2. I paint most of my tools fluorescent orange to make them easier to spot on the ground after a field repair.
3. Although I am a pro tire changer, I deliberately don?t carry a tube or tire repair tools in my fanny pack (yet). I historically never get flats and since most of my riding trails stay within 20 miles of my truck, I have chosen to risk having to ride home with a flat. So far so good.
4. When welding tools don?t cool them with water to speed up the job. The inherent hardening will become brittle and the tool will shatter the first time you uses it.
5. Make sure the fanny pack you purchase has a glossy coating on the fabric or cover. They catch a lot of mud spray from the rear tire and need to easily wipe clean.
Authors Note:
The medivac helicopter might seem a bit extreme but the knowledge of where, who, and how to get it is free (yellow pages) and can be a life saver for you or your riding buddies in the right instance. I?ve never required this dirt biking but have used the information while backcountry skiing to extract an avalanche damaged skier from the middle of nowhere. You just never know.
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Alan,
Can you make this a sticky. i couldn't figure it out. Thanks. Cam.
** EDIT: Done ***
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Cam, excellent writeup!!! Massive props on that. I used to have a pack on my KDX years and years ago. I miss that bike alot, I get tempted every time I see one listed for-sale.
Again, thanks for the writeup. :-D
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Nice write up Cam. I have been riding with nothing but always with a bud. He has had to go back to the truck acouple times for tools. After reading your post my next trip I will have some of the items you listed. Thanks
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Cam are you saying that you can stuff a 21 inch tube into a 18/19 inch wheel? (universal)?
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Cam are you saying that you can stuff a 21 inch tube into a 18/19 inch wheel? (universal)?
Not a long term solution but it will get you back to the truck ;)
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Cam are you saying that you can stuff a 21 inch tube into a 18/19 inch wheel? (universal)?
If the back is flat just ride it! I run mine at 6 lbs when the desert is good and dry! If it is your front just ride wheelies back to the truck! No worries! He He! :lol: :lol: :lol: :roll:
Alan :-D :-D
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Tim,
It ain't pretty but yes the 21" will go in there and have done it. I never carry a tube and would just ride back to the truck on a flat to fix it there (where the Fosters is). If I were 50-60 miles away in a rocky area it might be different, but most of my loops stay within 10 miles or so of the truck. My area is fast single track with lots of well anchored sharp rocks. I end up running a fairly high tire pressure (13-15psi) to preserve my rims. I haven't had a flat for years so don't worry about it too much. Cam. :lol:
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OK good thinking. Yep I'm the same boat as you Cam as for riding on flats. Dont usally get to far away from the beers! (Suppin on Grolsch at the mo). But some times down the beach I can get up to 35 mile away from the ute. Sand is not to hard on the rim, but terrible for wheelstands Alan. :-D
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I know that you like making your own stuff but on tool that I have found to be very usefull is one of those Riders wrench things.
It fits the sparkplug, both axles, the fork caps and the headstock nut.
Oh and you lot know that I call a petcock a fuel tap, a wristpin a gudgeon pin, a car hood a bonnet and fenders mudguards....
Lets not go into what Fanny means over here though eh:lol:
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Demo,
That riders wrench thing (17mm/21mm/30mm) would be just the ticket. Light weight too. I haven't seen one of those. Send me a link or a pic if you have one. Cam.
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Demo,
That riders wrench thing (17mm/21mm/30mm) would be just the ticket. Light weight too. I haven't seen one of those. Send me a link or a pic if you have one. Cam.
Here you go..
https://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=2593&department=646&Division=6 (https://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/item.aspx?style=2593&department=646&Division=6)
https://sslrelay.com/s143986091.oneandoneshop.co.uk/sess/utn;jsessionid=154404c86b50b81/shopdata/?main_url=go.shopscript%3Fa%3D102 (https://sslrelay.com/s143986091.oneandoneshop.co.uk/sess/utn;jsessionid=154404c86b50b81/shopdata/?main_url=go.shopscript%3Fa%3D102)
They both look about the same to me and as far as I remember mines a Freddete one like the one sold by MSR..
If you look at the small end theres two different sizes there so it does the spark plug and front axle nut, then the big end does the rear axle nut, the fork tops and the headstock bolt as far as I remember.
Thats on a 90 KX500 but I assume others have the same size nuts?
It's not particularly long so takes a bit of a boot to do the rear axle but it's no real problem.
Regards Scott.
Edit, this link is a lot more informative than the other two...
http://www.frpoffroad.com/catalog/details.aspx?ProdID=4 (http://www.frpoffroad.com/catalog/details.aspx?ProdID=4)
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Scott,
That's a nifty wrench. Althought I do like making things it would save a bit of weight in my fanny pack by taking the place of 2 KX wrenches. Cool. Thanks. Cam. :roll:
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15. Mini flashlight (I use a mini-mag light but need a lighter one).
I have one of these at home, it's a Petzl Tikka Plus
(http://www.fieldandtrek.com/images/products/24191_m.jpg)
Very handy indeed, not exactly cheap but worth it and it folfe up into a very small space.
Also the fact that it's on your head means both hands are free.
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That pretty cool. So far I just use a inner tube rubber band wrapped around my mini-mag lite to use as a head band. Uncomfortable as hell. Cam.
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Cool... Dig-it!
A valid legitimate reason to finally experiment with the ARC Welder I picked-up at the nearby Harbor-Freight store! Franken-Wrench here I come!
Out of curiousity... Don't the sockets become softer from the welding? I know they are case-hardened.
So... for the welding a socket onto another wrench business... is it more like you're just placing several tack-on welds about the perimeter of the socket? Or are you laying a serious, normal bead of weld in there?
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P.S. the tip about painting your tools flourescent orange. I totally felt a "why didn't I think of that!" on that one.
ALSO... something I do when working on bikes in my garage is that whenever I take-off nuts and bolts and have to actually remove them completely off the bike... I immediately put them into zip-lock sandwich bags right there on the spot.
You would not BELIEVE how much this helps to prevent you from accidentally kicking/losing items about the garage floor. And I HAVE to imagine it's even easier to lose a rinky-dink 8mm bolt out in the middle of TimBukThree (even farther away than TimBukTu! haHA)
AND... in the garage setting... get in the habit of putting into one zip-lock bag all the nuts+bolts from a particular removal job... and then rip a piece of duct tape to tape THAT zip-lock bag holding those related nuts/bolts right onto the removed part which they are directly used for. Sooo helpful. Sometimes there are bolts which look very very similar to your eye.... but then like the one you decide to use is slightly longer then the REAL one that should be used in that spot... ya feel me?
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I use a MSR fanny pack with a lot of what you pack. We are doing longer all day rides 60-80 miles of mostly single track high mountain riding. So I attached my fanny pack to a back pack for rain gear food and usually a 12 pack. Sometimes grab a motel ride back the next day. Heavy Duty tubes usually avoid the flats. I joined our local "LifeFlight". Had to use it once. Buddy of mine called it in. It was nice to not have to ride on the ground in pain. I strongly recommend it if available. Also I pack baby wipes in a sandwich bag. Saves you some monkey butt.
What a great website this is. Glad I found it.
ID KX500
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The one thing I carry that I never see anyone else carry is a spare set of levers. I can't recall ever putting them on my bike but I can't tell you how many rides they have saved.
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Since I got bark busters I have never managed to break a lever so I don't carry one. I sold my 14 year old K5 with the original clutch lever on it.
One thing I learned this weekend is that it is important to occaisionally use ONLY your fanny pack tools to fix your bike. This weeked I was doing just that and found a couple of routine things that I didn't quite have the right tool for. It also helps to refamilliarize yourself to what you have in there. I only had to make a couple minor changes to make it all good again. Cam.
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Oh yeah and put new matches in every year. My 5 year old ones didn't work so well today. Took about 80 matches to light a fire. Whew. Cam.
ps better yet get a lighter.
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Great topic,
I think more riders need to consider this list. Over the years I've helped many on the trails with my tool pack (BTW mine's near identical to the original post list).
Once I came upon a group of retards on quads, none with helmets, or tools; I'm surprised they were carrying water. Anyway, one crashed and broke off the thumb throttle and they couldn't get the bike back to camp (10+ miles). My mini vise grip attached and worked perfect, so I sold it to them ($20). My buddy was a bit disappointed that I didn't just give it to them; here's the deal: I go prepared, what would happen if down the trail I or my friend break down and need that very tool? What then? The $20 was cheap compared to them pushing the bike, trying to idle it back to camp, or ruin an entire day by sending someone back to camp for a strap. Besides, I needed the money so I could buy a new tool. Always go prepared. Hip packs (fanny pack) work great, they keep the weight off your back and on your legs. www.rockmountainmc.com has a great assortment of packs and tools, including their own brand (Tusk). I just bought a great axle wrench that works for my front and rear axle AND my spark plug (only $12). I've used it and it works great.
Go prepared, ride all day, be safe, and have fun!
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AZ,
I run into those retards almost every ride. I give lots of plugs aways to stranded guys. The one thing I am adding to my fanny pack tool kit this week is a 15' tow rope. I will probalbly use some 1/8" kevlar high strength stuff. Cam.
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Even when I was a little kid my dad had me riding with tools. Because we always rode with the same people we all tried to carry something different so no one was laden down with to much crap.
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BDI,
Thats a good practise. I was with 3 other guys that I don't normally ride with but I was the only one carrying anything resembling tools. Cam.
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I keep an old smaller sized motrin bottle filled with odd sized nuts, bolts, master links, fuel line clamps and cotter pins, I wrap duct tape around the bottle 12 to 20 times so I always have 4' or more of duct tape with me w/o having to carry a heavy roll around. I also have a spare fuel filter, a pack of Gator gum: it keeps you from getting cotton mouthed and a small pack of peanuts.
Back in the day I had a tool box number plate on my 78 YZ 250 that had foam that could be cut to fit the shape of plugs, tools ect. and nothing rattled or moved a bit, it kept the weight out of the fanny pack and on the bike
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A simmalar idea is to fasten a small tool kit on the bike (like under the seat and behind the number plate) and have the wrench zip tyed to an easaly assessable place. I only have to have my leatherman on me to get to the tools.
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Its time for another..........
(http://www.maperformance.com/rehost/thread_bump_2.png)
Some fanny packs like my MSR pack have provisions to mount anything with military style alice clips.....
You can see the slots on the side of this FOX fanny pack......
(http://www.btosports.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000007/Fox12_Toolpack.jpg)
I bought 2 of these exact 1 quart canteens with pouches online and they mounted up very nicely on each side of my MSR tool pack. I also came up on 2 rubber gaskets from the plumbing section at a hardware store to insert into the canteen cap for extra insurance on a good seal to prevent any leakage......
(http://www.alleghenyoutlet.com/alleghenyoutletpics/canteens/black-canteen-setup-with-cup-4.jpg)
(http://www.alleghenyoutlet.com/alleghenyoutletpics/canteens/black-canteen-setup-with-cup-2.jpg)
I use a sports style camel back for water so what I use these canteens for is additional fuel for insurance on long rides. Having 2 of these 1 quart canteens gives me an additional 1/2 gallon of fuel. With my fanny pack full of tools I hardly notice the additional 3 lbs of fuel on my side and it gives me good peace of mind.
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That FOX pack is the same one that I have. Good pack but I replaced the plastic buckle with a positive closing metal one. Cam.
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One thing I did back in 92 on my 92 KX125 when I used to trail ride allot.
I took a fanny pack and packed tools that wer either stamped steel or lightened via grinding or cutting, some zip ties, tape, a couple plugs, small bottle with my favorite oil in it, tire plugs and a small bottle of flat repair goo and a CO2 tire inflator.
I cut the waist strap, melted the edges and folded back for a double layer all the way back to the pack.
Then stitched it up on the sewing machine using fish line.
Then I installed eyelet rivets to the sewn ends like for a tarp and used the seat bolts to hold it tight to back of seat front of back fender area.
Worked great a few times I had to use it!
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First time I've seen this old post, good tooling ideas. I use a 5 compartment backpack which i'm used to from years of other activities. All the usual stuff + a collapsible plastic bottle for mixing fuel(my wife rides a 4 stroke & great mileage),first aid kit, ace bandage, cell phone, and balloons for markers in case someone gets separated or I loose them(lost my wife for over an hour ONCE). If you get lost back track to the balloon and stay put.
Last June I was riding with 2 of my grown sons and found a cheap fanny pack on the trail. I had a sd card, usb cables, a charger, sunglasses, a lighter, a glass weed pipe, a couple chewed up baggies with green leafy residue, a map for a 5 day ride here in northern Mi. and a motel key room #8. We thought about taking it to the motel 12 miles cross country away but left it hanging on a branch in plain view in case they were looking for it.
I'm more sinner than saint and I'll never be a judge but the more I thought about it, I don't want to meet a buzzed up quad driver on a tight corner at 40 mph either. Later at home we were popping bottles wondering how some folks survive. Maybe it's because of the people with tools in thier tool kit.