Let me walk you through the design - feedback appreciated - especially on material choice.

After reading through the comments on lining panniers it became quite clear that my preferred option for painting them wasn't the best plan - so I've decided that I'm going to design my own pannier bags.

The left pannier bag is designed to take my tent, sleeping bag and sleeping mat - the bag leaves a 1 inch gap down the outside for my tent poles, chopping mat and a couple of other things I need the entire height for - but not width. It will also stop short of the top of the open pannier to allow me to add food or other stuff I may pick up easily and without fuss. It does mean getting in behind that for my sleeping gear - but given the plan is that's my food space it should be easy enough. It's top opening so I don't really have to remove the bag to pull my gear out - but if I do it will have a shoulder carry strap. Easy for hostels and the like without having to take my poles etc.

The right pannier has a slightly odd design. I want to split the bag up the middle so it opens a little like a suite case - allowing me to split the contents physically - one side cooking gear, the other clothing and soft stuff, first aid kit, other supplies. The interesting bit is the 2 inch square gap that you can see on the plan but not on my rather crap '3d' drawing. That gap is for my tripod which does fit but takes up the lid space - and I want the bag to only be as high as the pannier - leaving the lid space for documents / spare maps etc.

Material plan is a water resistant (but not waterproof) breathable nylon - or a 200ish denier Cordura type material.

Left pannier would have a velcro lid, right would have two zips on either side. Right would also have a hand carry handle rather than a shoulder strap.



You can download the original large JPG design here
http://thelondonbiker.com/images/pannier_design.jpg

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