haplorrhine

I made mine from cardboard boxes. It's a rectangular box with an open ceiling, the opening of which extends down the upper portion of the front wall.

It is the right size for my college textbooks, so I put them in there to keep them in good condition.

I stuff other items such as bicycle locks and deoderant into the remaining space, so there are no free objects moving around in my backpack while I ride; such disorganization allows the backpack to shift to one side, which blocks your view to the back and is just generally annoying.

My backpack is water-resistant, but the box offers significant extra rain protection. After my cardboard box began busting open and losing its shape, I reinforced it with a bunch of packing tape, which I think will prevent the cardboard from soaking up any water that accumulates at the bottom of my backpack. I keep grocery bags in the backpack, then I put several over the box when it rains.

Closed Office

I keep a couple of garbage bags in my backpack. One to put over it when it rains and keep my laptop dry. The other is to put over me. You can probably tell I'm not one of those designer bicycle gear type of people.

I posted about my backpack adventures with a little help from Roody. I'm a backpack enthusiast

Staying organized seems to be almost as useful as intelligence. I read a report one time about teachers being asked why the kids in the bottom half of the class were there. The most common comment was 'he or she is bright enough, but is disorganized.' Makes sense to me. It's a valuable quality.

yep202

Very cool I use couple different backpacks. One large and one small. the large one is for when it gets cooler and cold. the little one is for the summer. I carry cloths, lunch, water and tools when I ride to work. Could you put up a pic of this box? I would like to see it.

haplorrhine

Sorry, I don't have a camera. Come to think of it, I should look for a cheap one.

Andy_K 

I picked this up on clearance at REI for about $4 a few years ago. It's awesome. I put stuff like my dry clothes, wallet and phone in it. It fits perfectly in either my backpack or pannier.