I had alu boxes on for a trip this summer that included more than 6,000 miles away from sealed roads, on loose tracks of dubious passability and quite a bit totally overland (or overswamps really!). Sibirsky Extreme

Invariably there were tumbles. Many, many tumbles. Fortunately all at slow speeds.

The boxes, being rigid, sometimes kept my bike sufficiently raised from the ground that my leg/foot was not damaged and I could pull it straight out (or once in very soft sand, I dug it out with my hands). However on a couple of occasions my foot/ankle was pinned to the ground by the box and I was immobilised, completely unable to drag it out and had to wait for assistance.

Despite wearing strong riding boots and double thickness waterproof socks I had a badly bruised and twisted ankle once - and on another occasion a damaged big toe, where the blackened nail eventually fell off.

Further pain often followed while the bike was being lifted to release me. The bike's weight was transmitted to the lower edge of the box as it cut down onto my ankle/foot.

On each occasion, on coming to rest, my first thought was to instantly assess my position in the realisation a box could so easily have broken a leg.

I think at higher speeds it would have been an unfortunate inevitability that would have destroyed my trip (possibly my life) and really inconvenienced my companions.

The only advantages of boxes are security and capacity - both unnecessary in the tundra and taiga. Small capacity had the advantage of enforcing less weight. Boxes are OK for road trips to the south of France - where security is paramount!

I now favour the idea of soft luggage for serious off road trips.

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