Tourist in MSN

My last tour, summer 2019, my front panniers were coated nylon Axiom panniers that I bought at a garage sale. I do not recall if they called them waterpoof or not, but I always consider a coated nylon as being semi-water resistant. They were nearly new. I did not put anything in the front panniers that had to stay dry. Thus, in the front it was mostly tent, sandals, cooking gear, some food, etc. For those two panniers, I had one waterproof cover, never bothered to use it. In the all day rain events that occurred on several days, everything in those front panniers was wet.

On that trip, my rear panniers were rated as waterproof but unfortunately there were some sewn through seams that leaked, I have since sealed those seams on the rear panniers and I am confident that they are now waterproof.

Most of my other tours were with Ortlieb roller panniers. Very waterproof. But, if I had damp clothes, I did not want to put that inside the waterproof panniers on a sunny hot day, mildew could set in, so I strapped damp clothing outside on such days.

Why did I use something other than my Ortliebs on my last tour? I needed some larger volume panniers than my Ortliebs for a specific trip several years earlier, bought some rear panniers that were about 30 percent larger (Carradry) but to make a long story short, that trip got canceled. And after that, every year I considered trying those instead of my Ortliebs since I already owned the rear Carradry and Axioms that I could put on front. So, on a whim for my 2019 tour, I decided to try the Carradry on back, Axiom nylon ones up front even though I had always had good luck with the Ortliebs.

If you are trying to decide whether or not you should get one pair of Ortliebs or two pair, I think at least one pair of waterproof panniers is really nice for stuff you want to make sure it stays dry. If you wanted to get one pair of panniers that were not waterproof when you have a waterproof pair, if you are careful how you pack, that can work. But if you want to tour with no waterproof panniers, with lots of plastic bags you could get by with water resistant panniers.

My Ortliebs in photo below. I have my rain gear and a windbreaker strapped on top of both front panniers. And I have the 31 liter Ortlieb Rack Pack on top in back. With one thin jacket strapped on top because I was too lazy to open up a bag and stow it inside.




My Carradry (waterproof) and Axiom (water resistant) panners in photo below. The blue bag on top in the back is a generic dry bag, not cycling specific.




You can also buy rain covers for some nylon panniers, I have one for the Axioms but did not bother to use it.

There will be days like this where you have to ride all day in the rain. Waterproof can be really nice.

Tourist in MSN

I do not know where you are located, but the link you posted was in Canada so I assume you would not be shopping at REI or at Sierra Trading Post.

Ask Happy Feet what he thinks of his Carradry panniers. His are newer than the rear ones in my photo above.

Doug64

Wet gear is always an issue. I store my wet tent and rainfly in lightweight sil-nylon bags. I'll separate them, if both the tent and rainfly are wet. I also store my sleeping bag and pad in sil- nylon bags. The wet tent goes in my rackpack along with the bag and pad. I've never had a problem with mold , mildew, or getting the other gear in the racksack wet. I have had to carry the wet rainfly for 3-4 days. but I do take things out and dry them as soon as possible.

Blue bar- tent, Yellow bag-sleeping bag, gray bags compressible pillow and sil-nylon ground cloth, orange bag- Thermarest pad. There is usually another sil-nylon bag included to separate the tent and rainfly if the fly is wet.

indyfabz

Sorry. Just saw this. Nitto Big front rack I bought from Rivendell. They have become harder to find and are not cheap. I paid $190 for mine. They go for about $230 these days. And I don’t know if they are compatible with disc brakes.

djb

I used non waterproof panniers for years, and frankly I found it to be a pain to find my stuff to be dampish feeling after riding in rain. Sure, you can plastic bag your stuff inside, but your panniers are still going to be all wet inside the tent with you.
re pockets--used them also, but in the end, I'm fine with a "one container" system

in the end, you're just going to have to go on a tour and see how you find stuff, and make changes if you wish.
also, as a regular commuter, having waterproof, very well made panniers just made sense in the long run and probably cheaper in the long run to get good ones, given that I bike all the time in my life anyway.

imi

My absolute nr.1 rule is: Keep sleeping bag dry.
Rule nr.2: If sleeping bag is wet, dry sleeping bag out.

Sometimes it is just not possible to keep sleeping bag dry, which is a reason I use synthetic bags. Bulky, heavy, but when wet far better than down.

I have slept in wet sleeping bags. Not fun at all, but better than no sleeping bag.

I pack my sleeping bag in a big black trash bag inside an Ortlieb pannier. The trash bag kan be slept in, pulled up over wet sleeping bag for extra warmth.

With a good tent and diligence sleeping bag can be kept dry almost always. The ”almost” is important though, and may well be a survival situation.

Tourist in MSN

Most of my bike trips involve a down bag to cut packed volume.

On the topic of sleeping bags I started using a waterproof compression stuffsack several years ago.
https://www.granitegear.com/event-si...n-drysack.html

Manufacturer says not intended for submersion, I have not tested it in water but so far I have no reason to distrust it. That said, I suspect it is only good for splash type waterproofness. But I have been using these bags on kayak trips where the sleeping bag stuffsack is not contained in another waterproof pack, thus has been rained on when loading and unloading a kayak, etc.

I am sure that there are competitors that make them under different brand labels if this brand unavailable in your country.

Compression is with small diameter cords, which I suspect can be pulled out of the fabric if you really yank on it. I always sit on the stuff sack to compress contents, then pull the cord to take up the slack. I never yank hard on the cord to try to compress it.

I pack my panniers with the heaviest most dense weight in the bottom (tools, spare tire, canned food) and least dense (sleeping bag) on top. I usually put my down vest in the same stuff sack as my sleeping bag.

MixedRider

I too have the packers on the back and front rollers. No problems with heavy rain. Unless you are planning some river crossings, they should be fine. I do like the rollers on the front to strap stuff to the top of them, such as wet clothes and such to dry out while riding.