Originally Posted by
cyccommute
I’m still not getting this putting a tent inside a pannier thing. I just don’t see the reason. First and foremost, every tent I’ve owned is too large to go into a pannier. My current tent is 19” long when packed. An Ortlieb Back Roller Classic is 16” x 9” which, when you do the math has a diagonal of just over 18”. The poles stick out of the top and the bag can’t be rolled. Separating the tent and the poles makes zero sense to me as they are a neat little package that is easy to carry. And, since the tent is made to endure weather, leaving it to ride out in the elements isn’t an issue.
I can see the sleeping bag in a pannier…although it does just fine outside…but the tent? Why?
I always carry my tent in the front right pannier. Sometimes I use the pannier as a stuff sack, sometimes the tent is in its own sack in the pannier. Other stuff in that pannier is stuff that does not matter if it gets wet.
After the trip in the photo below, I cut new tent poles with more segments so that the poles will fold up short enough to fit in the pannier. But in the photo, the poles would not fit in the front pannier, the poles are in the green bag on top of the rear rack.
I always put my sleeping bag in a rear pannier near the top.
I am not saying what i am doing is right. This is just the way I do it. If you want to do it differently, go ahead.
Half a century ago a scout leader taught me that you always use redundancies to make sure your sleeping bag stays dry, he learned that in the Navy in WW II. And there have been a few times that I was glad he taught me that years ago. So, I see nothing wrong with a waterproof compression sack inside of a waterproof Ortlieb which is what I usually use.
I usually have a dry bag or an Ortlieb Rack Pac on top of the rear rack, but that usually is mostly full of food. In the photo above, I was two days from home, had so little food left that the food and food drybag fit in a pannier instead of on top of the rack.