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Eh? I have traveled around 50 miles so far using them for various errands and they rock in my opinion (haven't rain tested them yet). Anything that could go wrong on a really long distance trip while using these?

Clever, cheap, waterproof and hobo-chic - what more is there to say?

Good work!

excellent.

What is the source for the flat hooks? Are they drawer pulls?

Coming from a perspective of ignorance since I have never searched them out.

The design looks very functional!

The whole implementation looks pretty good. They may be a bit wider than regular panniers. Are they a bit noisy or quiet? How does the weight compare to panniers?

Are there backing plates to spread the load where you mounted hardware? If not you may want to consider if you need to add some or not.

I don't see any reason that these panniers can't work out very well. I do wonder about the utility of the tub on top of the rack. I usually use that area for strapping the tent and maybe some bulky but light items and never felt the need for a trunk bag or box.

Hey, nice work. DukeArcher said it best.

How could anyone be 'a hate'in on them? Ya gotta love it!

Cool I am glad everyone loves them as much as I do. Here are the specs for the nerds among us:

-The hooks are drawer pulls now that I think about it, real cheap and easy to find.
-I used big washers inside of the bucket to disperse weight, I am thinking of custom cutting a piece of sheet metal for superior strength but it shows promise as is so I might not mess with it.
-For maximum waterproofing I put a bit of white plumbers tape around the part of the screw going into the plastic so the pressure of the bolt would seal the tape into the hole.
-These only stick out an inch or two past my handlebars and they are just low enough to drop the center of gravity but still give me clearance for feet and ground.
-They are actually a bit noisy and I was thinking of lightly padding the inside as well as putting rubber on the hooks to also protect the paint.
-The top container has actually just been removed a few minutes ago (that was for groceries, not even really a serious thing) so I could figure the tent set up. I have a 4 person tent but it was given to me for free, only used once, and is very nice quality so I figure it means I can store my bike and gear in the tent also to protect my things.
-I am going to get the items needed to make my "shower caps" soon so I would love to hear of any other ideas I could take into consideration until then.

Thanks everyone, I am getting ready for a short camping trip by myself soon (tomorrow-ish) and will cover about 100 miles or so and get my first feel for the open road. Exciting!

It might be interesting if you could find or make a lid for the side boxes where the handles of the buckets would rotate up and work as lid holders somehow. Not sure if that makes any sense, and a google image search is failing me, but I can see it in my mind what I'm trying to suggest. It would keep the handles from rattling and bouncing, and there should be enough "spring" in the handles to snap into a recess in the lids to keep everything fairly intact.

Have a great trip and keep us posted. I look forward to hearing how things go both now and this Summer on the big trip. It is fun to follow your progress since you are taking a different path than most. The low budget stuff and the ingenuity to make it work are admirable. My hat is off to you.

On the 4 man tent... Unless it is pretty light I wouldn't want to haul it across the country. I hauled a 9 pound 4 man tent on the TA and hated it on every mountain pass. There were three of us so it made some sense, but otherwise I would not consider it. The extra 4-5 pounds (or more) makes a big difference.

Yea, I actually thought about doing something of the sort, when the handles go all the way up they are like 5-6 inches above the top of the bucket though. This interferes with the tent (it will be perpendicular across the rack along with my bed/yoga mat). I like the idea of having rigid caps on the buckets but I don't have the material or money. Thanks for the idea.

Diagram of my interpretation of what your idea:diagram.JPG
eh?

Yep, that's pretty much what I was thinking of.

Well surprisingly it only weighs about 5-6 lb so I will just make do, I will go lighter along the way if I really feel like dying and give away the tent because after all, it was free. Thanks for the positive support, I will keep everyone posted.

Best thing with these is how much they hold. You wouldn't think it but all of my water sensitive camping gear fits in here, clothes will go in the backpack on top in plastic bags. The square design makes for more room I suppose. Like I said I am doing this minimalistic, I am packing today and I will take a picture later for everyone to see. The only "luxury items" I am bringing are a few Buddhist prayer items and books so I can continue my studies on the road. For food I have bags of rice and ramen and bread and vitamins and water.

5-6 pounds is pretty good for a 4 man tent, so it isn't as bad as I would have thought.

Yea it is more like a 3 man tent I suppose, it could not hold 4 of me that is for damn sure.

THAT IS AWESOME! Great idea! The grab handles should help you to move loaded the bike. Just a few reflective stickers and you're set.

The only possible drawback I see is that the rope ties are placing pressure on the rear rack braces laterally whereas they were designed for downward pressure coming from the top shelf brace. When I first tried mounting a rear rack to a front fork, I attempted to attach it with one of those braces and found it not sufficiently stiff. I wonder whether, over a short time, the pressure from the rope tie will weaken the rack braces and cause a crack somewhere?

how about some outside pockets?

Something I haven't seen addressed here is the problem of hitting a pannier by mistake by riding too close to an obstacle. The Ortliebs I have get hit all the time as I'm pushing the bike to get started or because I have a close call with a post, car, or other solid object. I wonder if some kind of "break away" system might be added so that if you hit the panniers against something you won't cause something to break.

Ray

Looks good, well done

Is there a hook at the top so the pannier hangs from the rack, or does it "stand" on the lower hooks and the rope tie holds it in at the top? Most panniers hang on the rack, interesting variation you have there, tell us how it works going over bumps.

Is there anything to lock the pannier on so it can't shake free over bumps, eg. a strap or similar?

Yeah I was thinking about that, I will search threads for this same question and if it really does bother me I will redesign to have hooks grab the top. I designed it to grab the rack the way it is because of the bin that was on it. I got the buckets for free from the chain dept. at Lowes so I am not worried about making a new set, I have bolts a galore too. If anybody has any good ideas for me to use on a new set of "bucket pannies" send them my way.

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On another note, I have finished packing for a 2 nighter and I over-did it but I want to test all of my gear out for the big trip. yes I know I am missing a few things like water and a rear brake, but I have a few things to get with tomorrows paycheck and then I am off. I am beginning to feel like a real touring buff already, I really dig this lifestyle.

No hating here. If you were an idiot, we'd just point it out to you!

But I will sprinkle on your parade a little bit. Drawer handles are designed just for that -- drawers. There is not any thought of weight hanging off the hooked part in the design parameters. I would be concerned that the hooks will not bear the weight adequately over any distance. The vibrations created by roughish roads and higher-pressure tyres, can play havoc with weak links like that.

I truly would suggest some aluminium flat bar of generous thickness (say 1/4") cut and bent to hook shape (bent once only) would be a better proposition. Also, ensure the hooks are longer than on the drawer handles, which I feel are too shallow to be really effective. You really do want total reliability in your pannier set-up.

Other than that, good luck with the shakedown ride.

I've made mine out of buckets with lids (kitty litter), and also used rope hooks. Mine are single rope tie-down hooks, rather than a double cleat. They've been sufficiently strong, I use mine mostly for heavy groceries. The only problem I've ever had is that they can bounce away from the rack at times. If you added my hook/bungee arrangement and kept your drawer pulls you should have a solid set-up.

For the noise made by the handles bouncing around, I tied a bandana around it. They still bounce but they don't make that rattle anymore. I can't help much with the buckets themselves making noise, around town groceries make noise but never for long. On tour we keep our clothes and sleeping bags in them. Perhaps you could line them with drawer liner?

^^ i like that setup right there. nice.

Ahhh, there you are. I think it was you who put the DIY instructions online about how to make these buckets. You are the exact inspiration for the idea. So I am going back to Lowes today to get a new set of FREE buckets (Capless also because they need to punch out a big hole to pull chain out of for display. I could not find the single hook honestly which is one reason I went with my current design. I can also utilize the top of the rack now without the big ugly blue bin on top. I will seek out the single hook (I might go to mom n pop store 'Pleasants Hardware' down the street who usually has the most random little things) and go with a new design still using the bottom clips but this time use something a bit stronger or I might just get a smaller rope tie to snag the bottom of the rack and keep the buckets inward. I will have a permanent bungie attached instead of a little underwrapping bungie I have to fish in between rack and spoke... bad idea. Instead of bungies I just used a little 10" bungie to clip onto the bottom edge of the bucket while holding the handle down. I don't know if the bucket I have is designed differently or not but might be built stronger due to having to hold more weight than kitty litter could muster. As far as a cap goes I will look for some heavy PVC coated canvas (think canopy on a lemonade stand at an outdoor rock concert) and wrap/sew a strong elastic band into the edges making basically a shower cap for the bucket. Does that sound crazy to anyone?