Originally Posted by
TiHabanero
... The panniers I currently use have no external pockets, have metal hooks and have survived 20 years of continuous use, plenty of crashes without even a tear in the fabric let alone broken hardware. I'm guessing the plastic hardware of the Ortleibs get brittle over time and break when stressed, and this is likely what is going on with reported failures. ....
It is my understanding that the upper hooks are fiber reinforced plastic, same with the upper rails. I have never heard of the upper hooks failing.
Lower hooks have occasionally failed, but that is not tour ending failure like an upper hook failure.
I personally have bought some panniers on line that once I got them and saw how they were made, I donated them to a charity without even trying them on a tour. I have a pair of Axiom nylon panniers that leaked like a sieve on the one tour I used them on. And have a pair of Nashbar panniers I used on one tour, that was so long ago I can't remember why I stopped using them.
The Ortliebs and the Carradry panniers are the only ones I have used on a tour that I expect to use again.
That said, if you are happy with some other panniers you have had for a couple decades, keep using those.