I'm trying to keep my load as light as possible. I'm looking for some ideas for a tiny emergency tool bag to hold:

• tire lever
• 3 allen keys
• 1 tube
• loose patches

Previously, I've been just been rubber banding them together, placing into a ziploc bag, and crudely strapping it onto the underside of the downtube with velcro straps--but it's just not secure enough for my tastes. I'm thinking a tiny cloth bag with a zipper, maybe with some webbing loops on it so I can zip tie it to the downtube (along the shifter cables). It doesn't really need to be a bike specific bag, I'm not sure what to look for though. A pencil case?

Also, if anyone knows of a good butt bag (fanny pack) I can use for just a few items I'd occasionally want to grab while riding, cheap, simple, not too big, comfortable?

For my last tour I started putting my tools, in a zip-lock, in a pannier, and eliminated my seat bag. I rarely need them, and If I do, pulling them out of the pannier is no big deal.

This works well for a minimalist emergency tool kit.

My touring bikes have a bottle cage below the downtube, for around home I have a toolbag in that cage with a tube, the toolbags were sold with that cylindrical shape for that purpose. Some peanut butter jars also fit those cages, such as older Skippy jars before they started making smaller jars. I spray painted the insides of some old skippy jars that fit well with black paint so it is not obvious what is in them. I also have some plastic bags in the tool bag or jar to put on my saddle if I am caught out in the rain.

When on tour, I use all water bottle cages for water bottles. I carry the spares and tools in a pannier.

Are you dead set against a seat post bag? There are tons on the market and cheap ones too that have the proper steps and whatnot to stay securely under your seat. Or as suggested, just stick all this in a zip lock in your pannier.
Fannypacks... Again there are a gazillion out there.

I have one of these. It was $10 at Walmart.
Element Waist Pack - Outdoor ProductsOutdoor Products

Nope, i have a large seatpost bag (actually a cheap dry sack lashed to the seatpost with some custom webbing) for my sleeping bag and hammock.

What about something like this,
MEC Etape Top Tube Bag - Mountain Equipment Co-op. Free Shipping Available

But mount on top tube just in front of the seat tube? I've never used these bags so don't know if they tend to flop sideways.
MEC seems to have other $15 ones but perhaps you already have all kinds of frame bags.
In any case I agree with wanting something very secure with that crucial stuff.

Buy a big bottle of Crown Royal and kill two birds with one stone.

I use something similar. I treat it as if it were part of the bike. It stays on when around home or on tour.

If you want to just strap something to your bike, and old sock works well enough, can be used to wipe your hands, and is essentially free.

I like the idea of using the underside bottle cage for tools. just buy the normal water bottle that fits the cage. The opening is large enough to get most tubes in plus a few small tools.

Just wondering where your pump is located?

Zippered Bag in the Pannier is what used .. under side bottle was the Stove Petrol.


I have a Jandd Fanny pack to resell.. I dont need it [PM] (old people lose the Butt and add to the belly so they dont stay Up )

The bracket for my pump (Road Morph G) is held onto a bottle cage mount but it is not the bracket that came with it, it might be a Zefal bracket? The pump bracket is for a slightly larger diameter pump so I put a piece of inner tube rubber over the pump barrel to make it fit better.

You can see the bottom half of my pump and a tool bag in my lower cage in this photo on one of my bikes.