Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Panniers are usually used to carry things that need protection from the elements. Clothes, food, delicate equipment, etc. Tents don’t need that kind of protection and, if properly protected, neither does a sleeping bag.
Why? A sleeping bag takes up a lot of room even when compressed in a stuff sack. Even a light weight bag will take up most of a large pannier.
Let’s not assume that I’m stupid. I’ve never used anything but a waterproof bag. In the old days, that meant a urethane coated bag but now it’s more high tech and much lighter and much better sealed.
Tent poles of just about any kind will not fit in any pannier. I don’t know about other people but my tent wraps around my tent poles just fine and fits into a neat little bag provided by the manufacturer. It makes for a tidy small package that fits on the rack just about the same as the poles. Why pack them separately?
I guess you're right. Your way is the only way. Sleeping bags (or quilts) don't exist that won't pack down smaller than a large pannier. Tent poles cannot, without breaking some law, be packed separately from the tent fly or inner. Dry bags with wet tents in them and lashed to a rack miraculously don't mold, but a wet tents in a pannier certainly will. Man.
This is my bike, fully packed, with the offending items in the panniers. Not even close to filled.