Certain things make life easier, are just smarter, or simply solve little problems you didn’t even realize you had until the right tool came along. In this roundup, I’m sharing a handful of small, functional, and most importantly, affordable pieces of camping gear that might make your bikepacking experience a bit better. These aren’t bikes or bags. Rather, they’re the overlooked items that add comfort, simplicity, and maybe even a little joy to life at camp. I’ve been using most of these recently, and they’ve all earned their place in my kit. Watch the video below and scroll down for prices and details on each item.

Polycro Ground Sheet

$15 at Garage Grown Gear

If not for my friend Willy, who joined me on the Fool’s Loop in January, I probably never would’ve discovered this ingenious piece of kit. It serves as a ground cloth that, at least for me, replaces Tyvek. It packs down to almost nothing, is surprisingly durable (I’ve been using the same sheet all season), and hasn’t ripped once. Since it’s clear, you can actually see if you missed any rocks or sharp objects underneath when you lay it down. It’s proven to keep moisture from reaching my tent floor, and it weighs next to nothing and packs down smaller than any other ground cloth I’ve used. Willy gave me a little slice of his, but I ended up buying a large Six Moon Designs footprint for $14.99 from Garage Grown Gear to fit a few different tent footprints moving forward.

Long Spork

Made in China / $8 at AMZN

By now, we’ve likely all heard that long sporks or spoons are amazing. I regularly use dehydrated meals simply because they’re light, save time both at camp and during prep at home, and offer endless options these days. I used to cut the packaging to make it easier to scoop the meal out, but that always created a mess once I was finished. The beauty of these meal pouches is that they’re essentially their own trash bin after eating, complete with a ziplock-style closure that lets you secure your day’s trash inside. But they are often deep, so using a long spork makes for a much cleaner and more enjoyable experience when scooping all the way to the bottom of the bag. And if you’re cooking with a larger pot, they work great for keeping your hand out of the pot while stirring and away from a hot flame. I’ve been using the TiTo titanium one from Amazon for $7.99, but plenty of other companies make similar sporks.

Trailbrush by Trail Stuff

Made in China / $8 at Garage Grown Gear

Speaking of sporks, if you’re looking to save every ounce, like the ultralight backpackers out there, there’s a pretty neat little use for most sporks with that small loop on the end. The Trailbrush by Trail Stuff is a tiny toothbrush head that fits perfectly into the oval opening on your spork end—or at least on this particular one. It saves you from carrying a full-sized toothbrush while still giving you the leverage and feel of a regular one. The brush head attaches using a small rubber gasket that wedges into the spork to hold it securely in place. It’s a great little piece of kit if you’re looking to save every ounce and every inch of space on your bike.

Toothpaste Tabs

$13 at Garage Grown Gear

I know this might sound a little kooky, but this has been one of the best small pieces of kit I’ve used recently. The tooth tabs by Unpaste are tiny, lightweight, pill-shaped tablets that turn into toothpaste when you chew them and your saliva mixes in. I’ve been using something similar at home to cut down on disposable packaging and have been really impressed. I keep the tabs inside my pill bottle, which also holds a mix of ibuprofen, cold meds, and heartburn tablets. A pack comes with 125 tabs for $13, meaning it should last me a long time. Big fan of these little things.

Thermometer

Made in China / $25 at Garage Grown Gear

Ever wonder what the temperature actually is inside your tent in the morning—to really understand how well, or maybe how poorly, your sleep kit is working, or just how cold it got overnight? When I’m out bikepacking, I might not have service, but even when I do, local temperature readings usually come from the nearest town or weather station, which can be totally different from where you’re camped—even if it’s only a few miles away. So, it’s nice to know the actual air temperature, if nothing else, just for fun. I’m a weather geek, after all. Carrying one around on a trip to Moab last week was surprisingly satisfying, and I plan to keep bringing it on future trips. The one I picked up is the Zipper-Pull Hiking Thermometer by ThermoWorks. It’s $25, digital, water-resistant, allows for replacement batteries, comes with a backlight, and weighs just a few grams.

BRS Outdoor 3000T Stove

Made in China / $20 at Garage Grown Gear

I’ve been using this little isobutane stove for well over a year now, and I still can’t get over how awesome it is. As I mentioned earlier, at least this year specifically, when it’s time to head to the “kitchen,” aka time to eat at camp, it usually just means pouring some water into my pot, firing up the BRS stove with my small BIC lighter, and waiting a few minutes for it to boil in my mug. I don’t need a simmer, and I don’t need a larger platform to support a big pot—I just need it to boil water, and it does exactly that. I think it does so pretty efficiently, too. At 29 grams and only $17, it’s hard to beat the value, and the fact that it’s stood the test of time makes it even better.

Alpenglow Alpenflow

Made in USA / $12 at Garage Grown Gear

Speaking of stoves, I’ve used the FlipFuel canister transfer tool religiously for the past three years. It’s been huge for saving money and keeping my fuel canisters organized. In fact, I don’t think I’ve had to buy more than one or two new canisters in that time. But there’s a new tool on the block that works the same way as the FlipFuel but is so much easier to use. The Alpenflow by Alpenglow Gear uses the same principle of transferring warmer gas into a cooler isobutane canister but without the need to thread the transfer tool onto the canisters. Instead, you simply press them together to initiate the transfer, hold down 5 to 10 seconds, and voila, you’re passing gas. The beauty of the Alpenflow is that it weighs under 3 grams and costs just $12, making it easy to toss into your kit. The only downside is that I like having a scale on hand for tracking fuel levels, but you can get creative there.

Small packing cubes

Made in USA and China / $19 at Garage Grown Gear

When it comes to packing small essentials—whether that’s batteries, electronics, food, or parts of your cook kit—it’s nice to have them all in one spot rather than scattered around. Most of this stuff in the video lives in my Mountain Laurel Designs medium packing cube, which makes a lot of sense for keeping things organized. My buddy Eric recently used the UltraliteSacks regular cube and loved it. It’s made from UltraTX, a hybrid fabric that’s not quite as light as Dyneema but slightly lighter than Ultra 200. He used his for snacks and kept it near the top of his frame bag. It allowed him to fit everything in one place, and when he was hungry, he could just pull it out and grab what he wanted instead of digging through multiple spots on the bike. Both the MLD medium cube and the regular UltraliteSacks version come in under $25, help contain contents inside your frame bag or panniers, and add hardly any extra weight. Plus, they’re handy to carry around camp to keep your belongings nice and organized.

Backpacker Bottles

Made in USA / $19 at Igneous Mazama

I’m not sure if it’s my buddy Eric obsessing over lightweight gear or the fact that so many backpackers swear by Smartwater bottles, but it’s certainly a trend. After my latest trip, I’m getting into it, too. For my most recent ride in Moab, I was looking for some extra bottle capacity. Bikepacking in the desert usually means carrying a lot of water, and I’ll be doing a separate video on that soon. I wanted to test bottles that were not only larger than standard cycling bottles but also sealed tightly when closed—something like a Nalgene, but less bulky, and squeezable.

I stumbled upon the Ignious bottles, which are extremely light yet durable enough that they won’t puncture from rubbing inside a frame bag or micro pannier. I also mounted the Mazama Designs M!GO bottle on my downtube; that one has a bit more heft to it, so it feels like it can handle more abuse. The only downside to both bottles is that they’re slightly larger in diameter than a standard cycling bottle, so you’ll need a cargo cage and straps to use them. But if I could make a plea to companies out there: these bottles are great for bikepacking, and I’d love to see an oversized cage designed specifically for them. Please!

Bidet

$10 at Garage Grown Gear

Watch the bounce rate skyrocket during this segment. I’m not sure why poop scares people—we all do it—and many of you know I’m not shy when it comes to talking about it. So, it was only a matter of time before I hopped on the bidet bandwagon. With some of the bottles I mentioned above, certain bidet attachments fit right onto the bottle top to help clean the underside a bit better than just a wipe of TP. We all know that after a few days on the bike, getting properly clean down there can feel oh-so-refreshing. I personally use the CuloClean Bidet with the Mazama Designs M!GO bottle, but I have the Ignious bidet on order to test that one out too. All in all, you won’t be disappointed here.

SKS Bottles

$1 at Garage Grown Gear

Have you ever tried to find the perfect-sized bottles at the grocery store for things like hand sanitizer or sunscreen? I don’t know about you, but everything I come across is always too big or bulky for my liking. So, I finally decided to get something on my own and fill them myself. When I stumbled upon the SKS bottles, I was sold. These bottles are just 99 cents and hold 0.5 fl oz. They have a twistable cap and a large enough opening to easily fill with hand sanitizer or sunscreen. Best of all, the flip cap stays secure even when pressed or tossed around, and the bottle itself is rigid enough, making it a strong and reliable way to store those precious liquids but still squeezable to get it out. It’s a small cost with high reusability that helps save a bit of space inside your rig.

Aquamira Water Treatment

Made in USA / $15 at Garage Grown Gear

Obviously, one of the most crucial parts of bikepacking is hydration. For the longest time, I’ve used Aquamira—back in my backpacking days, it was the smallest and safest form of water treatment I could find. But for some reason, I got away from it when I started doing long-distance cycling—maybe because I thought it took too long. Now that I’m older, and maybe just a bit wiser, I never leave home without it.

Why, you might ask? Because it kills viruses, bacteria, and protozoa, it tastes good, and you don’t have to worry about clogging a filter. That said, I still typically carry a filter too. I prefer having both, just in case, especially since our backcountry water sources have become increasingly contaminated by human activities, livestock grazing, and other factors.

While it takes about five minutes to mix the two-part treatment and another 15-30 minutes to fully work, that’s a small price to pay for clean, safe drinking water—and for the ability to keep being a dad instead of being bedridden with Giardia a few weeks after a trip. The bottles are small, weighing around 3 ounces, and can treat up to 125 liters of water, coming in at around $12 to $15, depending on the retailer.

Gerber Dime Multi-Tool

$32 at AMZN

A few years ago, I purchased a larger Leatherman, thinking it would be the perfect one-tool-to-do-it-all for trips. In reality, it hasn’t seen much use, maybe tagging along on one or two rides at most. Instead, I bring the Gerber Dime, a small multi-tool that was gifted to me back in 2018. I’ve carried on its legacy and included it in my bikepacking kit for countless trips over the years. It’s a simple 10-tool system that weighs around 65 grams and packs down nice and small. The knife and pliers are the real standouts, and they perfectly complement my cycling repair and tool kit.

Random Bits

What else do I have in this bag of mine? Well, glad you asked! That’s pretty much it. I do keep my headlamp in here, a battery-replaceable Black Diamond Spot, along with two BIC lighters (you never know when one might fail), some chapstick, and a pair of earplugs for those nights when it’s a little too noisy and I still want to get some sleep. It’s the old man in me.

What do you think about these little things? Are they too nice, too niche, or just the right mix of useful? Let me know and share some of your personal favorite small bits in the conversation below!

If you’re interested in purchasing any of these products, please support your local bike shop and buy from them when possible. If you can’t, or they're only obtainable online, we’ve provided links to manufacturers and stores where they are currently available; some of these retailers offer a modest referral fee, which helps support this platform. This has no bearing on the review or selection.