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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,177
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
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I am sure some of it is marketing. The companies that were quite small that made the bike packing equipment needed a phrase to distinguish their product line from panniers. And to someone that was using that type of equipment, it sounded impressive to be doing the latest thing with a new name.
I consider bike packing to be using bags and harnesses to store stuff on the bike without the use of racks. I do not consider the large cages made by Salsa or Blackburn to be racks.
And some bike packers think that if you put bike packing bags and harnesses on a road bike and stay on pavement, that is not "real" bike packing because they think bike packing is only off road kinds of riding. But I consider that to be bike packing too.
And some people mix bike packing bags and harnesses with panniers because it meets their needs better.
And some people call it a bike tour if they are only carrying their water and lunch on the bike while a van hauls their luggage.
When posting subject lines on a forum like this, it is beneficial to all to be clear and unambiguous, but other than that I pretty much concur with Machka, what the specific name is does not matter that much.