Originally Posted by
Doug64
I've heard this a lot, but I've never experienced it. I have stored wet tents and partially dried clothes in my Ortlieb panniers without a problem. I have also left my open pannier sitting on a picnic table during a thunderstorm, and everything in the pannier was wet or damp. The weather was not conducive to drying anything, and it was a couple of days before I could really dry things out--no problems.
If non-waterproof panniers actually do breathe, which I don't buy, they would leak like a sieve. The non-waterproof bags are constructed from coated codura and packcloth which are very water resistant. If the seams are sealed properly they come close to being waterproof. I think if there is going to be a odor/mildew problem, it will occur regardless of the material used in the pannier construction.
I was only repeating what I have heard several others say.
I try to only put dry clothing in mine. Tents, yeah I put a wet tent in it and have not had a problem but tents rarely have mildew problems anywhere near as fast as dirty wet clothing.
There was a family that rode from Alaska to Central America and had many posts on this forum, I think they made those comments on Ortliebs being a bit too air tight.