Mountain Biking - MTBing with courier bag?

I'm gonna go mountain biking soon, and was wondering if any of you have ever been mountain biking with a courier bag? How is it? Any tips?

Any tips?

Yes.

Don't do it. It's a recipe for disaster. Get yourself a camelbak and just carry your stuff in that. Then you'll have water as well. Things that aren't well secured to your body are bad when mountain biking, they'll catch on anything. Trees, brush, sharp rocks, you name it, things like that get to swinging and also can mess up your balance.

Yes.

Don't do it. It's a recipe for disaster. Get yourself a camelbak and just carry your stuff in that. Then you'll have water as well. Things that aren't well secured to your body are bad when mountain biking, they'll catch on anything. Trees, brush, sharp rocks, you name it, things like that get to swinging and also can mess up your balance.

Question: Does my North Face camelback type thing with Nalgene bladder have that bad chemical?

Question: Does my North Face camelback type thing with Nalgene bladder have that bad chemical?

You referring to bisphenol-A (BPA)? AFAIK, it's typically found in the lining of cans and in some hard plastics. The rule of thumb for the plastics is to look for plastics that have a number 7 inside the recycling symbol.

I haven't come across any references to BPA inside rubber-like products but who knows where this has been used?

i can say from experience ... anything that is loose and swings around you while you are mountain biking ... = disaster ...

even with my camelbak .. till i adjusted it correctly ... i ended up hanging from a tree branch for a few seconds .. because i ducked to go under it .. and the loop on top snagged the tree and lifted me off my bike (well wrather it stopped me, right there. and my bike kept rolling) ...

If my courier bag is done up tight, it's fine to go MTBing with.

However, I'll be riding with a Camelbak until school starts, and when school starts, I'll just wear my courier bag for lunch MTB rides.

The latest hype/concern has been about polycarbonate bottles because they may leach a compound called BPA. Camelback and (i think) Nalgene both offer bottles that are labelled BPA-free. Here's some info on plastic bottles so you can decide for yourself.

http://www.lifewithoutplastic.com/factsonplastic.htm
http://www.ides.com/resources/plastic-recycling-codes.asp

Thanks! I was just wondering because of the whole Nalgene/BPA thing.

I've done it. Not ideal, but whatever. Like Markok I sometimes use it on short rides when I just happen to have the bag with me.