Originally Posted by
cyccommute
... Why do you put the soft parts of the tent in the panniers? I've never understood the logic.
Tents come with their own bag as a general rule and the tent poles probably don't fit in the panniers. This means that the tent poles ride outside of the bag...usually on a rack deck and usually on the back one...so why pack the soft part of the tent separately in the panniers? I can use the space for other things that don't have their own pack.
The other problem I see is that the vast majority of the time that I pitch a tent, the tent is damp or even wet in the morning. When packed in the tent bag, the whole tent eventually is wet and needs drying when I set it up at night. I could imagine putting the tent into a pannier and getting everything wet inside the panniers as well.
I'm not saying that you are doing it wrong but I just don't see the idea behind the practice.
I find how you pack is personal preference.
My tent without poles is stuffed with my rolled up air mattress, a pair of sandals and a couple other things in my front right side pannier. Wet or dry, it gets stuffed there. And the other stuff in that pannier is all stuff that won't be any problem if it gets moist and stays that way for a day.
I used to roll up my tent and pack it rolled up in the tent bag, but for several years now I have just stuffed it into the pannier, the tent bag is left at home. The tent stakes which often are dirty are in a bag to keep other things cleaner, the stake bag is on top of the tent in the pannier. I only pack stuff in that pannier that can get moist.
Tent poles I usually strap a tent pole bag on top of the rear rack or in some cases it is strapped onto the side of a drybag that is on top of the rear rack. If I am packing heavy and use the 31 liter Ortlieb duffel on top of the panniers, the tent poles will fit in that.
I do not like to pack wet clothing in an Ortlieb or in a drybag, clothing (especially if recently worn) is much more prone to mildew. But the tent and other things that are much slower to mildew when packed together in one pannier are really not a problem if packed moist for a day.
But how you pack is personal preference. No two people do it the same way.