I was also considering Arkel and Vaude. Part of the Ortlieb choice was just that it was there and I could inspect the product before buying it. Once I saw that retention system on the back I was pretty much sold.



I won't be putting liquids in the panniers based on the fried laptop experience above and on other warnings I have heard. I thought about putting a drain hole in each of mine and then about a tenth of a second later I thought "wow, did I just think that really dumb thought?"