Pre-Departure (11 days): War on Weight II


Today’s savings: 689g
Total savings to date: 746g

Right. No holds barred today. All handles in my sight were removed. Shaver handle, toothbrush handle, cone spanner handles, chain whip handle…

Who needs handles 4 / ハンドルなんて要らない!④

Who needs handles 2 / ハンドルなんて要らない!②

Who needs handles / ハンドルなんて要らない!

Who needs handles 3 / ハンドルなんて要らない!③

As for the shaver handle, if you’re using the Gillette Mach III, then the little stub is just big enough to hold between the thumb and forefinger for an exciting shave. I say exciting because for the first few shaves, there is a tendency to push to hard. Expect a few chainsaw massacre episodes…

I also put my fourth form sewing class skills to the test and made a roll-up tool case for all the ‘hope I don’t need to use these too often’ tools.

Tool case / 道具巻き

I call it ‘The Brick’. 2.2kg of metal. Argh.

Tool case open / 道具巻き

From left to right, top to bottom: Suspension/Tyre pump (spare), spokes and cable ties, bike multi-tool, spanner, crank remover, chain whip, bottom bracket socket, cone spanners, plier multi-tool, expoxy resin (for seat repair), freewheel socket, grease, fibreglass cloth, hacksaw blade, length of chain and various bolts.


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7 thoughts on “Pre-Departure (11 days): War on Weight II

  • Rob Thomson Post author

    Thanks Arno. You have some very nice pics on your site. Maybe I should travel through France after all… 🙂

  • Lee

    Excellent! I did the same thing with my toothbrush for a hike in PNG… makes it rather hard to use though, especially for the back teeth, and especially after you've been doing it a while. Toothbrushes are probably one thing you should be able to pick up along the way though, so if you end up regretting it, it's not so bad.

    Cheers for the photo info too – do check your e-mail reasonably close to when you leave, then.

  • rob

    Why don't you throw your bike frame away and just tape the wheels to your feet and hands. That will be one hell of a weight saving.

    With a bit of practice, down hills will be easy, but up hills maybe a problem. You can always turn the uphills into downhills too.

    Just a thought

  • John

    I would have cut that gillette razor handle just under the release button, at least a tiny handle would make it easier to use…

  • Rob Thomson Post author

    Lee, ditto about the toothbrush being hard to use. I used it a couple of times over the last few days, and it's kind of hard to get good leverage into the brush. I guess I'll just have to get used to it…

  • Rob Thomson Post author

    Rob, I like the idea of doing without the frame. Only problem is that I don't think that my travel insurance would pay for the surgery required to insert threaded metal pins into my legs. I'd need the metal pins in order to attach the lugguage carriers. Or I could just do without the lugguage all together