vik 

I read that review and have a few comments:

- my Ortliebs have various mounting systems as I bought them over the years. I don't use those plastic clips any longer. I just use electrical tape on the rack to build up the rack to the diameter of the Ortlieb mount. This saves the rack from getting worn through the powdercoat. It also means I can move panniers from rack to rack without worrying what diameter the rack is and swapping in the adapter clips.

- I haven't had any issues with screws loosening on my panniers even after dirt road/offroad use. My oldest set is well over 10yrs old now and has been gifted to a friend who is using them to commute. She hasn't touched the mounts or screws and everything is fine. If I did have screw issues I'd use shoe goo on the screws which would act like loctite and should resolve the problem once and for all.

- I find how well the lower mounting hook works really depends on the rack and the setup. On my last offroad tour my friend used a set of my Ortliebs and had issues with them coming unhooked on bumpy roads. My Ortliebs were fine the same stretches. The difference was he didn't spend enough time making sure he used the best possible positioning of the hooks. One night at camp we sorted that out as he was fed up of stopping to fix the problem and it didn't happen again. On some of my Ortliebs with QL2 lower mounts [oval track] I've mounted 2 lower hooks [one above and one below] this gives and uber secure mounting option. Ortliebs have a built in buckle for an extra strap to attache the pannier to the rack as well so you can strap them on on really challenging roads and to stop thieves from snatch and grab. Also note Ortliebs sells some optional lower hooks with different shapes if your rack requires a different mounting setup - every rack is different.

- you can permanently repair Ortliebs using PVC patches like they use on river rafts if you've got the PVC type. For an easy field repair I carry shoe goo and nylon cloth to patch all my gear. On our summer GDR tour my buddy crashed his bike on a downhill landing on the Ortliebs I lent him. I expected the worst and assumed I'd be the owner of some damaged panniers when I saw him hit the deck on a rocky descent, but other than a couple scuff marks there was no damage and they are 100% waterproof still.

I met a guy on the Dempster last summer would was running a full Ortlieb setup and his panniers were ancient compared to mine, but going strong. It had been pouring rain for days and both of us commented how nice it was to be able to pull dry gear from our bags.