Trying to remember where I saw this. Guy had basically made a flat plywood piece with a handle that attaches just like a regular pannier, then has something akin to PALS loops on the outside, (I think some were actually PALS compatible, while others were just lashing loops.) for attaching gear. IIRC, he also made a silnylon rain cover for the whole thing in his main camping configuration. Main benefits were that he was able to deal with bulky stuff like sleeping pads and whatnot, without having to find a commercial pannier big enough, could pull the whole thing off and carry it easily if the campsite needed to be a few yards from the bike, and could pack/unpack in a non-linear matter. (i.e. no need to dig through rain gear on top to get the cook kit from the bottom) Overall, it looked practical for touring (where one can perfect an arrangement of gear by trial and error and stick with it) but not so much for utility. (unless, I suppose, one buys the exact same things every shopping run)

Anybody remember this? I'm thinking of doing something similar, and it wouldn't hurt to have his pics and writeup available while planning out the project.