Army surplus bags?
 

I'm in need of some new (preferably cheap and vintage looking) panniers, and I really like some of the repurposed army surplus bags I've seen on this forum. However, I haven't had any luck finding such bags locally, so I was wondering if there were any good online sources. In particular, has anyone had experience with armynavydeals.ca (or .com for the Americans)? Does anyone know of any others with reasonable shipping to Canada?

First, do you have links to the repurposed bags you've seen here? I didn't find any when I searched, but that is not surprising.

There's a guy here in Michigan, Jeff at http://www.outyourbackdoor.com/, selling a nice smallish bag based on I think a Swedish army bag. He's very accommodating. I've been thinking of asking him about a bigger model. His basic bag is always on Ebay, look up "six-way."

As far as the various military surplus sellers, I'm just struck by how vague their item descriptions are and how one never knows what one is going to get. I know from having looked at gear in stores, there can be a marked difference in quality between actual defense agency surplus and goods that are in the style of actual soldiers' kit. Make me nervous about sending them bucks, even within the United States. But Jeff is a good seller.

This is what I've seen done. Looks like a good idea? I've haven't been able to locate any myself. I believe he said they were Canadian military in the article.

http://www.bicyclinglife.com/HowTo/HeavyDutyRacks.htm

http://www.swisslink.com/products/pr...id=1440&sid=16

These look like they may be a touch smaller than what you've linked to, but they're pretty close in size. I bought a few and they're not just going to clip right on the bike, it'll take some modifying to get them to work. The top hooks fit over rack tubing if bent open just slightly. I haven't tried to stiffen the back and make a bottom attachment.

FYI, only 1 of the 4 bags I ordered had the waterproof liner.

Another option is a swiss bread bag, although they are much smaller. They already have leather straps all around that'll work to strap it on as a pannier. Not really a touring pannier but goods stylish/ugly around town bag that already has a shoulder strap attached.

As to armynavydeals.ca..... I've never ordered from them so don't have any real opinion. That said, google the name of the store for reviews of it. There seems to be quite a few unsatisfied customers.

Best of Luck,
Will