Lightweight Touring Bags

[Sisyphus]

I would love to run my bikepacking setup for Cape Town to Cairo but simply do not have enough space for the required gear and water storage. Thus I was wondering if anybody knew of a company that was making lightweight panniers made out of vx21 or vx41 (materials used by Revelate Designs and Bedrock Bags)?

I was seen a pair of lightweight panniers made by Arkel but have heard very little about their durability or waterproofness.

Thanks!

 

[Christophe Noel]

As much as I love what Eric and Andrew make for Bikepacking gear, I would still advocate using Ortlieb panniers for longer tours. Few panniers are more proven. Plus, they're waterproof, very light, and replacement parts abound.

 

[Sisyphus]

Would you run a Ortlieb bar bag on top or just have a few lightweight drybags on top? I was thinking of carrying all of my water in the frame bag with either a MSR dromedary or platypus, did you have any long distance experience with a similar setup or would you trust a bladder for the long term?

 

[Christophe Noel]

I definitely trust and use MSR and Platy bags, but the only MSR bag you'd want to use are the lighter versions. I tend to prefer using two Platy Big Zip reservoirs and just cycle between the two. I also use Platy soft bottles for electrolytes, drink mixes, etc.

With regard to bar bags, I don't really like the Ortlieb bag for anything that might be bumpy as it rattles a bit. I'm not wild about bar bags in general, but do prefer bags like the Bedrock Bags Entrada or similar.

If you're going with racks and panniers, you'll likely have ample storage space and may not need a bar bag, certainly if you're also going to use a frame bag.