Originally Posted by
cradduck
I am trying to find some ideas for converting a mess bag gather dust in my garage into a pannier. The bag I am hoping to use is a Timbuk2 large size mess bag. This is big enough to carry everything I need for work plus my lunch.
I have seen a couple ideas for backpacks (there is one really cool thread showing the use of PVS pipe), but nothing in reagards to mess bags.
I wouldn't even care if the bag sat on top of the rack instead of being on the side, but I am kind of at a loss on how to best attach it. It would need to be able to come off the rack...
If you can find some heavy duty cardboard or a piece of coroplast you could use it inside the bag on the side you want to attach to the bike. Then (after measuring where you want to attach hardware), punch small holes through the backing material and bag and rivet hardware like this
http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FWSA-HJH and this
http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=WSA-BUN2.
Good luck.