I use a Tubus Swing (see pic below) which is great because it isolates the bags from the 'active' part of the suspension fork - in fact the ride is even smoother when there's reasonable weight in the front panniers. When stationary the fork flops around, for sure, but as soon as I'm rolling it's absolutely stable and I could easily go hands-free. I had originally planned to take a bar bag, but decided against at the last minute, and I didn't miss it at all on the trip. Took a fairly large Lowe Alpine bumbag instead (is that what you 'Merkins call a 'fanny-pack'???)