Double ended dry bag - very very dull

[sean_iow]

I seem to have developed a slight obsession with weight recently. In the winter I use an Alpkit 13L double ended dry bag and in the summer a MYOG 8L version in a similar fabric to the Alpkit one. A double ended dry bag is quite easy to make and the only seam that needs waterproofing is the one across the length and I do this with iron-on seam sealing tape on the inside. I do this before I hem the ends which makes it even neater.

I has thinking that I could save a few more grams with a material upgrade so have now made an 8L one in Dyneema. This also has some tabs on the bottom edge to run the harness straps through to prevent it sliding out sideways on rough ground, thanks to Fitz who supplied these off an Alpkit bag where they weren't being used.

Top to bottom we have

Alpkit 13L - 131g
MYOG 8L - 105g
MYOG Dyneema - 84g



Here it is fitted into my recently made Jones H Bar specific harness, this fixes only to the bars and in addition the straps only run over the bars and not across the gap so as to still allow the full range of hand positions I use. It also only weights 110g.



Whist I had the machine out and the box of fabric etc. I also made a net pouch to mount on my waist pack to store the MSR Trailshot. Having purchased one due to it being quicker to use than a Sawer I thought it should also be to hand so it's quick to get out and put away. Being mesh any water on the hose will just drip off. This weighs a mighty 20g

[Bearbonesnorm]

Nice work Sean - would a single ended dry bag not be lighter?

[whitestone]

Interesting Sean. I recently bought an Alpkit Gnaro (where do they get these names?) that I can mount on the underside of Jones Loop bars in the same manner that your homemade harness does. I.e. I've rotated the intended mounting orientation forward by 90 degrees so rather than strap next to the stem and around the head tube I use the straps on the front of the loop and the bottom strap is now around the stem.

It sits pretty flat under the bars and doesn't interfere with the Wildcat Tomcat I've also got fitted. 220g so not too different in weight to your harness and bag combined but only 3 litres but it's enough for what I want there.

I'll get some shots and post them up.

[sean_iow]

Nice work Sean - would a single ended dry bag not be lighter?

It would, but ironing on the seam tape on a closed end bag is harder to do. Plus being double ended I can roll in both ends to keep the tabs central in the harness.

After my recent Ridgeway trip (if you walk it go in summer or wear wellies!) I had to wash all my kit, done outside with the hose. I filled the 8L yellow MYOG one as the inside was also muddy and closed it up to give it a shake. It was just about watertight with only a small seep from a single point on the seam. I could save more weight if I made it in silnylon and used smaller buckles but I think the durability would be too compromised. I really like the Dyneema, apart from the rows of ripstop threads aren't perpendicular to each other so cant be used as a guide to cut square shapes

[RIP]

Enjoyed reading about your skills there Sean. 'Developed.. obsession.. recently' - apologies if my cookset ravings set you off again . Sorry if you've answered this before but are you a self-taught machinist or is a trade? Standard sewing machine or.. ?

Deadweight packaging (in any area) is a minor bugbear of mine, so interesting to see what you're up to. Got a variety of AK bags, strapped straight to bars with no probs yet, and after a quick dabble with double-ended switched to single and just have to get my packing correct. Fair point re 'centre-ing' though. Anyway, talking of dyneema, I replaced the overlarge straps and buckles with some superlight S2S ones with hooks not buckles. On hols and can't remember the weights but big saving. Next stage I reckon is to ditch the straps for some 2mm dyneema cord but not sure where to obtain tiny buckles or hooks - maybe some hook-and-eyes from our hardware shop. It might be said the cord will act as a saw but not entirely convinced.

Obsessed? Nowt wrong with bit of healthy obsession .

[sean_iow]

I'm self taught on the machine. The first thing I can remember making was a sleeping bag for a Playmobile cowboy when I was about 8 maybe. It was uninsulated so maybe it was technically a bivi bag. There was also a bit of string to hold it rolled up and to the back of the saddle on his horse, so perhaps I invented the bike-packing harness in 1978 but didn't follow through with the idea That was on my Mum's machine. I've done various alterations over the years but didn't get really into it until I got into bike-packing.

My machine is a domestic one but it's a Frister and Rossmanm Model 46 which is quite old and all metal. I paid £75 for it 3 years ago for kit making so it's more than paid for itself now.

I've used 20mm buckles because I had some already, I could go down to 15mm to save a bit of weight. When my hands get wet and cold I struggle to open very small buckles so didn't want to make them too small. Although it's double ended I usually open it from one end only. There's a bit of reflective tape sewn to the strap on one end, which I also always put on the drive-side when it's on the bike. It's packed so the things come out in the order I need them, tarp first down to sleeping bag/quilt last. The is a bit of spare capacity to make packing easier, especially if I'm in a hurry.

As for my obsession, don't worry about being a bad influence. When I built my racing car it took 8 years and I worked on it for 3 evenings and a weekend day for the first 6 years and 5 nights a week and both weekend days for the last 2 - which coincided with being single, if you could call it a coincidence I made just about every part of it, every bracket was cut with a hacksaw, drilled, filed and finished by hand. I rebuild the engine, gearbox, axles, diff and did all the bespoke wiring and plumbing, all the sheet metal work, fabrication and designed and made the suspension, and when it was complete I stripped it all down and painted it all as parts to get the best finish and then put it all back together... so I'm partial to a bit of obsession

[Scattamah]

Groovin' on the mesh bag fella. Flip side of the mesh is sheep sh!t will make it onto your nice stuff. Consider a DCF insert for that bad boy with a drain hole in the bottom.

Greetz

S.

[sean_iow]

Groovin' on the mesh bag fella. Flip side of the mesh is sheep sh!t will make it onto your nice stuff. Consider a DCF insert for that bad boy with a drain hole in the bottom.

Greetz

S.

Good point, I didn't think of that. I've got some mesh pouches from Raidlight, usually have one each side and put my rubbish in them. I get a bar etc. out of a feed pouch without stopping, eat it and stuff the wrapper in the pouch on the hip belt. The next time I pass a bin I just empty all the rubbish out. The trailshot didn't quite fit in the pouch so I though 'what I need is just like this but slightly bigger' so that's what I made. I added the drawstring top to make it more secure, the Raidlight ones have an elastic top. I could always just put the trialshot in a plastic bag if contamination is an issue.

...I recently bought an Alpkit Gnaro (where do they get these names?) that I can mount on the underside of Jones Loop bars in the same manner that your homemade harness does.

I thought about one of them to use on the commute, how easy is it to take on and off? When I've use my bikepacking luggage on the commute it can be a pain when I get to work to empty all the odds and ends out into a carrier bag to take up to the office. I put sarnies and breckie in the frame bag, small pot of milk for breckie in the feed pouch along with my keys and some bars, wallet in the other one with the phone etc. It did work was a bit of a faff. A single bag I could easily put on and take off would mean I could ditch the rucksack. This should hopefully illustrate this

https://www.instagram.com/p/BgYTZHqD1ZV ... y=sean_iow

Also, the dimensions on the Alpkit website are 13.5cm dia x 32cm long. I make that 4.5L but it's quoted as 3L? Does it seem big for 3L?

[whitestone]

The Gnaro uses buckles and straps to attach rather than Velcro so it's not something to put on/take off on a regular basis. For commuting I use an Ortlieb saddle bag - it uses a clip on the saddle rails so is quick and easy to put on/take off, it's listed as 4 litres in size.

The size does seem bigger than 3 litres (and possibly bigger than the 4 litre Ortlieb) but I've not properly checked it. It might be that they have measured with a certain number of rolls for each end, dunno. I meant to check things last night.

[sean_iow]

I did wonder if it would be tricky to take on and off. I've currently got my pump/tube/tools in a small saddle bag. The rucksack I use is only 7L and is quite a bit lighter on the way home as you'll of seen from the pictures, most of the contents is food I leave all my work clothes in the office and take them in/home in the car on days I have to drive if I've got to go out to site/meetings. The gnaro was juts an idea to ditch the rucksack for summer. I guess as this is a MYOG board I should probably make something bespoke for the commute

[sean_iow]

I thought I'd add these few items here rather than start a new thread, mainly for Reg's amusement at the never ending quest to save a few grams

On a normal bivi, when I take a stove, I take my Silva head torch for camp duties.



It's not exactly heavy at 30g but for the occasions when I'm not cooking I don't really need it. I have the light on my helmet but wanted a back-up.



This light was from eBay, it's the same as one of the cottage manufacturer's use in their lantern. With the key ring bit removed, a short length of 1.5m cord and a plastic glove hook it comes in at 6g. I have also added a small loop inside the net top of my bivi bag to enable to to be hung up at night. I can also use it as a backup light for bike repairs etc.

Next is my peg bag. The original comes in at a hefty 12g.



This usually also holds my bear-paws. As well as the 12g this bag is also wider than my partial frame bag so doesn't sit well inside of it. If I pack the bear-paws in with the tarp the peg bag can be smaller.



The scales says it weight 0g but obviously it must weigh something, I think it was too light for the resolution. I re-weighted it with the pegs in and just the pegs on their own and it comes in at 2g.

So that's 34g saved in just 2 items and an hour or so of my time. At that rate another 29 hours should see my kit weight reduced by 1kg

[RIP]

0g - brilliant. I think you take the prize Sean there, we can't compete with that .

[whitestone]

Sean, have a look on the Reviews section for Drok lights - they plug in to USB-A sockets. £6 for 5 from Amazon! Biggest problem is their size - they're tiny!

I'll bring a spare up to Tyndrum

[BobCatMax]

Drok lights - they plug in to USB-A sockets. £6 for 5 from Amazon!

heh, they're a neat little gadget. thanks for that

[sean_iow]

Reg, yep 0g is pretty good. In theory as that much of the fabric weighs 0g then any size will also weight 0g, so I need to remake all my kit from it, bivi, tarp, shorts, jersey, jacket, socks etc. etc, all of which will weigh 0g The fabric is 70g/m2 and the bit I cut out was 110mm x 240mm so that should weigh 1.8g so the 2g seems about right.

The next thing to make is a cover for my trowel, which is mainly used for cleaning clay of the tires. I use a plastic bag over it when I shove it in the frame bag to keep the mud off the rest of the contents. I fear the made bag will weigh more than the plastic bag I use but the plastic bags don't last long so the environmental benifit will be a weight of my conscience so hopefully a saving overall

Bob, I'll keep a aye out for you, you'll be one of the few I know at the start, will be good to finally meet you in person.

[ScotRoutes]

For the trowel, I make an exception to the tin mug rule.

[sean_iow]

Talking of tin mugs, I had an email from the OS today, advertising this book, hopefully the picture shows up. Tin mug dangling

[Sarah]

Have you got any pictures of how you mount onto the loop bars? Just curious as I am experimenting with mine.

Thanks

Sarah

[sean_iow]

Hi Sarah, luckily I spotted your question before I left for work so I have taken a picture which should help



The straps are not sewn to the flat bit just fed under the webbing which runs across it. The flat bit is 2 layers of VX21 with a thin plastic sandwiched between and the webbing then sewn across. I made this a couple of years back and used it on my flat bars but mounted differently.

There is a large strap which goes around the bag and the two smaller loops which go around the bars. The smaller loop at the front when fitted (on the left in the picture) is sewn to the main strap. The rear one is just fed under the webbing on the flat part. I've sewn the front one to the large loop as it holds the main strap in place when I pull on the end to tighten it up around the dry bag, otherwise it can tend to just rotate around the bag. The rear small loop could also be sewn to the main loop but I've done it this way as I can fine tune where the buckles are to make sure they don't end up on the top of the bars as I like to rest my hands there. You could of course just run the straps around the bag and over the bars but I think they would interfere with using the alternative hand positions. If this description doesn't make sense I can put the harness on and take some pictures at the weekend. The only picture I can find of it fitted is this one when getting ready for a trip.



Still with the old bry-bag and the main straps have been changed to move the buckles round but I think it shows how it fixes to the bars.

[sean_iow]

I seem to only be doing one of 5 things these days, on here, at work, sleeping, riding my bike or in front of the sewing machine. Next in the series of things I already had but have now made lighter versions...



Seat pack in the same material as the dry bag. It's basically a copy of my alpkit one. It's slightly shorter so works out about 12L I'd say. It's not going to be as durable as the alpkit one due to the lighter fabric though so I'll save this one for when I'm counting the grams. It's got thin plastic in the base and top to help keep the shape. The straps have yet to be cut down when fitted to the bike. It's 176g at the moment and should be just on my 160g target with the excess strap removed. The alpkit one is 305g on the same scales.

[sean_iow]

I'll add this new one here rather than start a new thread. I've made another double ended dry bag, this one's in grey xpac to match my new Apidura seat pack I recently purchased from redefined_cycles I've also made a new harness to go with it. What makes this different from the previous ones is the addition of some velcro


Two strips on the harness running radially


One strip on the bag running laterally

This is not to hold the bag in place, the straps do that, but just to stop it sliding sideways, hopefully. If it works I'll add the laterall strip to my other bags I use with the harness. The layout of the strips means I don't need to get the two parts lined up exactly when putting the bag on.

I cant take the credit for this, copied from here https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/CCPODHBB/ ... barrel-bag

I don't know if they've copied it from somewhere else? It's the first time I've noticed it on a front harness. Given the discussion about the 'Jones' bar copies I won't loose any sleep over the intellectual rights to the idea

[redefined_cycles]

Sean... You're a genius wish I could sow like that. Gonna be attempting a little addition of strap to my Apidura soon...