I'm about to have some aluminium panniers made up. It seems he (rodger who does the ardcases) can make any shape and size I want which is great but it leaves me wondering what'll be best for me.

I've done a bit of searching online but can't seem to find much discussion about the box shape itself.

From what I can tell my options are (in terms of shape if not manufacturer - I've pretty much decided to go with the ardcase panniers already as they seem very strudy and also reasonably priced):

1) SQUARE


2) SLOPED AT THE SIDES


3) SLOPED AT THE BOTTOM


I'm not too worried about size as I don't need them to be massive, just enough for one person (33-35ish litres should be more than enough for me I think).

As well as a bit of wandering around the UK, I'd be using them to visit morocco in the near future (where I'm likely to drop the bike I'm sure), then maybe somewhere further afield in the more distant future (dreaming of a proper round the world trip at some point and although it'll likely be a while before that happens it'd be nice to get the right panniers for the job now).

They'll be mounted to an Africa Twin.

Anyone got any pointers about how the benefits of each particular type are in reality on longish trips? I know the ones sloped at the sides are meant to be more aerodynamic (which will be handy for motorways), the sloped at the bottom ones are meant to stop them digging in and may be a little better in a drop, but I'm not really sure what difference this makes in reality and whether it'll just make beating them back into shape more difficult (plus I'd like to use them as a seat when off the bike too so would the sloped bottom work just as well for that?).

Any pointers anyone can offer would be great and stop me dithering so much about what to ask for