-MEC panniers are so snug on my rack that I have a hard enough time taking them off as is.-

Those would be the new ones with the snap on plastic mounts. Im still using the old ones that have metal hooks, as they did when I bought them 20 years ago, or whatever it was. I like the hooks because they are very simple and clean to attach and position, but they need a 4 point attachment to work properly. The four point is super secure adjustible, but hasnčt been all that popular, and now we have these snap on ones. i tried some new MECs and hated them compared to the earlier models. There were far fewer positons they could mount on a rack, and they were as heavy empty as my odd one is loaded. I think I have internal frame backpacks that weigh less.