# recommended bags



## Eat Drink LiveMTB (Mar 8, 2013)

Hi all i am looking at doing some bikepacking this summer, but i have absolutely no experience in this field of the sport. I was wandering if you guys had any ideas for high quality but also inexpensive bags that will be suitable for a one to two night trip . I also need to know how mine bags i should run with, i am a noob to bikepacking but i have been camping and backpacking my whole life, so i am used to packing light and tight. btw i am running a 18 inch HT and the riding i will be doing will be mostly be XC.


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## hikernks (Aug 21, 2012)

I'm not the type of person who rags on someone for spelling, grammar, and punctuation in an internet forum, however, comma, your above post is so lacking it's almost unreadable. I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt that English wasn't your primary language, but your profile says you're from California. Wow. Just, wow.


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## Eat Drink LiveMTB (Mar 8, 2013)

hikernks said:


> I'm not the type of person who rags on someone for spelling, grammar, and punctuation in an internet forum, however, comma, your above post is so lacking it's almost unreadable. I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt that English wasn't your primary language, but your profile says you're from California. Wow. Just, wow.


I may not be the best in English but i am top of my class in math. We all have are up and downs, English is mine. We're not all perfect like you.


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## CabezaShok (Oct 15, 2007)

hikernks said:


> I'm not the type of person who rags on someone for spelling, grammar, and punctuation in an internet forum, however, comma, your above post is so lacking it's almost unreadable. I was going to give you the benefit of the doubt that English wasn't your primary language, but your profile says you're from California. Wow. Just, wow.


Wow just wow, I understood his post just fine.


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## Eat Drink LiveMTB (Mar 8, 2013)

CabezaShok said:


> Wow just wow, I understood his post just fine.


Thank you, now back to my question.


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## Aushiker (Sep 27, 2007)

What sort of "bags" are you looking for? A backpack to ride with, frame bags or panniers? Having some idea also of the bike and what your medium term plans are would probably make it a bit easier to make some suggestions.

I went from bushwalking (backpacking) to bicycle touring but I tend to take more a road perspective when I go off-road. That is a I use panniers and in my case an Extrawheel Voyager.

My last off-road "tour" was a revisit of the Waterous Trail. You can get an idea of my setup from the blog post.










Andrew


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## themuttley (Dec 11, 2009)

Hi,
I've made last year in June the Portuguese Way of St. James from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela, 700 Km (435 miles) with a Osprey Escapist 25 Lt backpack. This is great backpack for long distances.

















Take a look:


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## SingleTrackLovr (Apr 25, 2007)

Hi EDLMBT,
Since you said you are an experienced backpacker. I would assemble your gear and try to determine the volume you will be carrying. This will help you determine the size of bags you'll need. 
hth


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## ascarlarkinyar (Apr 24, 2012)

check out jpak, he makes quality stuff, returns emails promt and sends out the gear in good time from the order.


hope that poor grammar wasn't to someone's not liking....lol


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## Turtle01 (Sep 20, 2005)

The question for the OP is.... what actual budget numbers mean inexpensive to you? That makes a real difference ranging from a cheap rack with a dry bag and strapping another dry bag to your bars or specialized bikepacking bags.


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## Eat Drink LiveMTB (Mar 8, 2013)

Aushiker said:


> What sort of "bags" are you looking for? A backpack to ride with, frame bags or panniers? Having some idea also of the bike and what your medium term plans are would probably make it a bit easier to make some suggestions.
> 
> I went from bushwalking (backpacking) to bicycle touring but I tend to take more a road perspective when I go off-road. That is a I use panniers and in my case an Extrawheel Voyager.
> 
> ...


I will probably be doing shorter trips something like one or two nights, trails and fire roads in norther California, nothing near the same scale as the stuff that you are doing. My bike is a 1999 Trek 8000 HT. For bags i really don't know, i have a nice Mountain Smith Bugaboo Backpack but i haven't ever been riding with 20+ lbs of gear on, so my question for you guys is should i stick with that, or should i go for frame bags.


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## stevland (Nov 4, 2011)

I'd go seatbag and a simple set up on the bars. A dry bag with your sleeping equipment should get the job done. The reason I say seatbag over framebag is you can swap them between bikes if you plan to upgrade some day.

Depending on your route, just plan to carry what you would need for a full day ride. I did my first multi-day with an Osprey, seatbag, and dry bag attached to the bars. With a plan for resupplying it worked great. Develop a plan and enjoy!


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## wahday (Mar 23, 2012)

I agree with the other comments encouraging you to see what you can make do with from items you already have at first. That and/or assembling all the stuff you plan to bring for an overnighter and just seeing how much space you need to house it all. I will advise against having too much material on your back, though. I find that pretty unpleasant on my a$$.

Here is a pic of how I fastened small stuff sacks to my seat and post on a fall trip. I attached the handles at the bottom of each stuff sack to the seat post via a velcro strap (its not that clear in the pic I think). I then used two buckle straps - one for each bag - to attach them to the seat rails. Looks a little wonky in the pic, but it was tight up against the seat and super stable. Plus plenty of room to slip behind the saddle on descents.








Worked great and didn't cost me $130 plus for a seatbag. After this trip, I ended up getting a rack just because I got a great deal on it. Otherwise, I probably would have gone with a seatbag (there are some great products out there). But this trip allowed me to get a sense of how much stuff I was likely to be carrying and exactly how I was going to do it. Like you, I already have a lot of camping stuff, so I was able to do some of my first trips without additional expense.

I have been strapping a bag to the top of my rack, but I also have panniers for commuting I have used as well. For the kind of riding I have been doing, I did not notice a big difference in weight distribution, but some might. Putting the bag on top of the rack is an attempt to center weight above the rear wheel. At the same time, panniers keep the weight a little lower. Still figuring out the best approach, but either gets me where I need to go. My biggest challenge is carrying water as there is often none available while riding out this way.


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## Eat Drink LiveMTB (Mar 8, 2013)

I like the idea of dry bags and the stuff sakes. I will just get a couple of stuff sakes and a hydration pack and call it good until I get more experience, and I know I really like it.


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## Henrythewound (Jul 1, 2007)

If you are going to look at J-Pak do yourself a favor and go on over to Revelate designs first. Eric has been making these packs and bikepacking gear for years. It looks to me like J-Pak took more than a few pages from Revelate's book. I own numerous Revelate bags and they are all top notch quality and thoroughly tested in diverse conditions. The mounting mechanism of that J-Pak seatbag looks terrible. For the same $$ I would go Revelate


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## Eat Drink LiveMTB (Mar 8, 2013)

Hi guy's i was thinking about getting a seat rack, it just locks like it would be a lot easier then jerry rigging my gear to my seat and seat post. It would add about 1.2 lbs to my setup, but it would make my gear a lot more secure and stable, and making it a lot less complicating to get on. this is just the first one I fond when i put it in the search bar, its not necessarily the one i will get its just so you get the general idea. Any input or advice?
Amazon.com: Customer Reviews: Avenir Cling-On Seatpost Racks (Black, Cling-On/4 Bolt)


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## Henrythewound (Jul 1, 2007)

That may work if you are not planning on riding anything rough or bumpy. If you weigh that down with any significant weight I'm thinking something would break on MTB trails or even bad washboard roads. I think that is more suited to commuting or easy road rides.


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## Eat Drink LiveMTB (Mar 8, 2013)

All the riding i do will be on the dirt as much as possible, so maybe something more like this? 
Amazon.com: Delta Mega Rack SuperSherpa Rear Bike Rack: Sports & Outdoors


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## Henrythewound (Jul 1, 2007)

That will have more support but you need to make sure whatever you buy will fit your bike. Some racks are not made to mount around disc brakes, others will have clearance issues on a 26 vs 29er, etc. A cheap rack may be fine but you should also compare them to something well regarded such as Old Man Mountain


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## coldbike (Feb 24, 2011)

I managed a lot of bikepacking without any official luggage back in the 90s. I used to use a set of profile aerobars as a light front rack for my sleeping stuff, and I used a strap to tie a stuff sack to my rear rack or to the back of my seat. I do not like riding while carrying a backpack. These days i have a full set of Porcelain Rocket gear and it is great.
For longer trips with the kids, i add a rack and panniers, but it is no where near as nimble.


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## wahday (Mar 23, 2012)

Just a second on making sure a rack will fit your bike before purchasing. Do you have rack mounts at the dropouts and seat stays? If not, it may be tricky. You can get away with p-clamps to mount either top or bottom of racks, but not both. It won’t be stable enough and will slip around under weight. 

And to reiterate what others have said – just find a way to get out there! You’ll have a blast however you manage to haul the stuff.


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## Eat Drink LiveMTB (Mar 8, 2013)

No i do not have rack mounts on my bike but they make racks that attach to the seat tube and at the wheels so I am going to go with that, and some dry or stuff bags and call it good.


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## She&I (Jan 4, 2010)

Hey, EDLMTB, just chiming in here on focusing on getting out above getting dialed in. Be creative and show something cool nobody thought of. Make due. Cool gear is cool, but heading out is cooler 

Cheers...


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