Fuel & Water amounts
 

Just wondering how much water & fuel people carry for a trans African trip down the west coast. I'm on a BMW Dakar which has 17L tank and range of upto 250 miles in the UK on good roads with good fuel etc..

I'm going solo so was thinking of taking 5L of extra fuel and 5L of water. Does this reasonable or too little?

Would be interested to hear thoughts of those who've completed this trip.

Thanks,

Rob.

Hi Rob,

I came through Algeria, Niger, Burkina and then Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and never needed extra fuel except between Tamanrasset and Arlit, 620km, (Algeria to Niger) because the pumps at In Guezzam (Algerian border village) were dry. Much further down, in the Congo, I was lucky to get to pumps while the underground tanks were being filled, so it's prudent to carry extra fuel there as well. Also in Angola where fuel delivery to inland towns and even cities is apparently quite unreliable/irregular.

As for water, it will depend a lot on the time of year you travel. I carried 6 extra litres additional to my 2litre camelback in the Sahara and Sahel but only really needed the extra water in Burkina Faso and Mali. I'd try for 6 or 8 litres in those areas. Of course, if you have a serious breakdown anywhere far from other people your situation changes very quickly.
Further down (coastal countries) the villages are much closer together and there are people almost everywhere. If you need to get water from a village it will mostly come from a well. Ask village mother for water - they know what is used for washing, cooking and drinking respectively. Got that advice from someone who'd walked from Cape Town to Israel and I never got sick once on my trip!

Hope this helps?
Kobus

If you're talking about the West Coast only...preview about 250-300k between fuel stops on main roads. If you go off main roads and are comfortable buying fuel en brousse, similarly.

Be aware that fuel en brousse may need to be filtered, treated for water content, low octane, etc. That means, having them pour into separate container you carry while you filter and treat it, BEFORE you pour it into your tank. The extra effort you make in doing so will ensure you less drama fuel wise en brousse...

En brousse is where things get exciting!

A small Mr Funnel for the bike;

Home

One or two of these for your camelback? You don't need it on if you think the water is ok. Takes any plasticky taste away too.

New all in one water purification filtration system - Inline filter - Surplus and Outdoors

And a 6 or even 10l MSR Dromedary is miles better than a Camelbak anyday :)

MSR Dromedary� Hydration Bag 2L

If you haven't done so already you should really read Sahara Overland Sahara Overland, 2nd Edition: A Route and Planning Guide Trailblazer: Amazon.co.uk: Chris Scott: Books

Other than that I'd offer two pieces of advice: 1) bad things happen. Prepare to be out there longer than expected doing harder work than expected and bring more water than you'd need even on a very bad day. You may get stuck out there for more than one. Especially if you're not going on a main path. 2) Those dromedary packs may be good for extra water, but you absolutely want a hydration bladder with a tube so you can drink constantly.


The quote above was from a guy who spent time exploring fossil beds in Niger. It's pretty safe to say that not only will you be expending more energy (especially if you go off road), but you'll have wind constantly blowing over you sucking even more water out. And that's if nothing goes wrong.

Bring more water.

Thanks for the responses guys. Sounds to me like I'd should be ok with 5L on the petrol front, but will need to up the amount of water I'm carry plus invest in a hydration bladder.

Even without desert situations I think a hydration bladder is one of the best investments a long distance motorcyclist can make. When you don't have to wait until you stop you drink more, and when you drink more you stay hydrated, and when you stay hydrated you ward off headaches, nausea, cramps, and fatigue.

My recommendation is a 3L Camelbak. In most normal situations 3L is roughly what I will drink in a day, so no needing to stop and fill it up until just before i hit camp. Also, the L shaped bite valve is easier to get up under a full-face helmet for drinking. If the bladder you choose doesn't come with an L shaped mouth-piece try to at least buy a brand that lets you replace the end (Camelbak does).

On a related note: camelbaks make good pillows. Just make sure you've locked the bite valve ;)

Camelback are a waste of weight:nono:
Take a 10 Litre Dromadery bag, fix length of hose fitted with bite valve-
fis to bike/behind you whatever and run hose length of bike.
If you take a dive with a camelback, chances are it will burst and you will lose you water-
You can get hose from local B&Q or Tropical Fish suppliers :thumbup1:

I don't know how they're a waste of weight as the bag itself doesn't weigh much, but there's definitely value in your suggestion. For someone not so interested in the do-it-yourself route there's the Camelbak unbottle unbottle-70oz - CamelBak.com . which is just a 2L bladder, tube, and bite valve with an insulating sleeve around it AND four small strap things which you could hook a bungee or other strapping through. Advantages being that it's good to go without figuring getting adapters and hoses and bite valves and it's better at keeping water cool thanks to thermal sleeve. Disadvantage being that it's only 2L.

water /fuel
 

My experience in Africa and pretty much everywhere in the world is very simple , in warm climate you should drink 3 to 5 liter minimum per day , if you break down for any lengh of time (tire repairs...) you can drink this amount very quickly so always carry a minimum of 3 liters but if you ride in area where there are few people carry twice the amount .no all in one blader ( in case it does break) for fuel calculate the distance and make sure that you have 25 % OF WHAT YOU NEED in reserve , the more off road , the more reserve ( in case you get lost or have to go back from where you came from .

My 10p worth, Take extra fuel as just in case & water simple, how you want to carry it is up to you. I still have my Army issued Camel Back Carrier, ok but I pers never drank as much as some of the other guys & im white not much hair, even in Saudi i never really drink a lot of fluids, however you do need to make sure you have enough as a just in case & + extra you should know how much you roughly drink, but as already mentioned do not place it all together.

Water/Fuel
 

I went for a military Camel back (all black/no pinks..) and a couple of platypus 2lt bottles.
I wore the Camel back on my front with the platypus in a backpack, it's a good way to distribute the weight.

I also carried a 5lt Kolpin Fuel Pack, very light and compact.

Just to expand on my Dromedary suggestion, MSR do a hose, bite valve and fitting to screw on any of their bladders (hydration kit if you google it) which is what I have, with the water filter in line which is now 18 months old and still fine, used all last summer every day. It will cost more than a Camelbak, but is a much better thing and designed to last.

When I had a 3l Camelbak I would always finish it, so tended to reduce how much I drank so I didn't run out. Stupid, cos I had more to put in, but thats what I did. Having a 6l dromedary as a bladder means I can drink as much as I want without thinking about it, so IMHO I'm probably more hydrated as a result :)

Agree totally with Grizzly7 and Bugsy- although I prefer my 10 litre Dromedary - option for more water for virtually same weight of bag- long tube + bite valve and carry the wee nozzle so can disconnect the tube part at night and fit to take MSR bag in tent.

Hi,

I've gone down the east coast and am now going up the west coast (in Brazzaville). My tank is good for about 650km, so I haven't carried extra fuel, but I do carry a little fuel filter since I've been forced to buy gas at the side of the road a good few times (just because there is a gas station, doesn't mean it has gas!) and the number/size of particulates in the fuel can be disturbing.

As for water, I don't carry much. I have a 3ltr. camelpak type thing (any more gets too heavy) and sometimes carry another 1 or 2ltr. depending on where I am. That being said, I also carry a particulate filter and chlorine tablets to treat local water. I've rarely had to use it, but once you add some juice crystals to it, it doesn't taste too bad (do NOT use it to make coffee or pasta.. BLECK!!) and it saves on weight.

For me, I don't try to carry tonnes, I just try and fill up a lot. If I pass a place selling bottled water, but still haven't touched my supply, I stop and chug down a bottle. If I pass a nice gas station, but have only gone through 5 ltrs, I stop and fill up. That way I don't get into the habit of using my reserve- if you think of it as part of your available resources, then it stops being a reserve.

Either way, I'm sure you'll figure it out on the way- everyone rides differently and you'll most likely change what you carry as you go.

I listened to Grizzly7 and bugsy even though I was perfectly happy with my Camelbak because there's at least one place on our upcoming trip where having spare water will be important. We went to the local REI and checked out the dromedary in person and I was impressed enough to buy the 10L one (it's about the size of a newborn baby, only flatter), fill it up and take it on our next test ride and I was seriously impressed. I'm not giving up my Camelbak because it's just much easier to have water on your back than somewhere behind you with a tube running around, but damn if it wasn't useful. Its construction is way more heavy-duty than a Camelbak. It's got 3 different openings on the lid: the huge (nalgene bottle sized) opening for getting large volumes in or out, a small opening about the size of a typical bottle of shampoo's neck, and a thin one on that that lets out a small stream.

That combination of openings made getting water for cooking dinner, and then a thin stream of water for cleaning the dishes, SO much easier, and then when we went to bed it made a great pillow! Also, the nalgene sized opening fits our water purifier.

If we didn't have access to fresh water in the morning I would have just used what was left in the Dromedary to fill our Camelbaks. :)

I am absolutely sold. So, thanks for the tips guys.


P.S. I'd been stumped about what to do for a pillow. None of the travel ones felt good and neither did my stuff-sack of clothes. The Dromedary is like a waterbed for your head though. :)