Seat pack quandary...

[Teetosugars]

Ok, so I'm after a new seat pack..

Narrowed it down to a Revelate Terrapin

http://www.backcountrybiking.co.uk/prod ... kepacking/

Or a Wildcat tiger..

http://www.wildcatgear.co.uk/shop/seat- ... ear-tiger/

Anyone any views for or against either?

Is the Revelate worth the extra £30??

[Motorman]

+1 for the Terrapin from me. I got mine from states without shipping / taxes so it was a level playing field in my decision.
Can't make any comparison to the tiger, as I haven't seen one in the flesh, but it looked too small for my needs.

I went for terrapin as I wanted maximum capacity - the revelate drybag is 14ltr & very high quality. I bought a strap extension with mine, so you could prob fit a 20 ltr drybag if so required.

Excellent quality & very secure when mounted on the bike.

I have been so impressed by the revelate gear, I will be collecting my sweetroll, tangle, pocket & gas tank in the morning from my shipping mule

[TheBrownDog]

Im very fond of my Wildcat Tiger but there are times when I wouldnt mind a seat pack with an integrated bag rather than a harness that holds a dry bag, as it can be a struggle to get the end of my always overfull dry bag into a pointy shape to fit neatly into the harness.

[SteveM]

support the govt (import duty) or support a local manufacturer ?

As you know Nick, my view is that the Wildcat is pretty much perfect once you have mastered how to pack a dry bag to suit, and the fact that the revelates arent waterproof just seems daft

[Blackhound]

Depending on what I am taking or how long I will be out I switch between a Wildcat harness or a Porcelain Rocket. The PR held up in a storm last weekend. Scott is good to deal with, no idea if basic price or import taxes are different from Canada

[Sussex Paul]

The terrapin is waterproof, i went for that as it had the extra capacity, but only really needed that for winter trips. The shaped drybag makes it easy to fit in the harness.

[Hoojum]

I found the Wildcat Tiger to be fantastic. If used with the upcoming Alpkit shaped drybag it would be even better as I do recognise it can be differcult to fit a dry bag in well.

And as SteveM says, Wildcat are a local manufacture and should be supported.

[jBay]

Alpkit dry bags now shaped to fit

[Farawayvisions]

I found the Wildcat Tiger to be fantastic. If used with the upcoming Alpkit shaped drybag it would be even better as I do recognise it can be differcult to fit a dry bag in well.

And as SteveM says, Wildcat are a local manufacture and should be supported.

Unless you stuff really soft stuff into the bottom of the drybag, it can be fiddly to make the bag fit into the wildcat harness. It's stable, secure and strong. I've written a review of the wildcat bag here which you may find useful. http://www.farawayvisions.com/wildcat-gear-review/

[Farawayvisions]

Update on that last post - I use the Alpkit tapered dry bag and it fits well. And I called into Bespoked UK in Bristol a couple of weeks ago and Wildcat have a new dry bag in the pipeline that is the perfect fit, with a quirky and vaguely exciting idea built in. You'll love it when you see it.

[jameso]

Packing the end of any seat pack is a minor faff ime, even a tapered dry bag needs something relatively solid at that end to create a stable mount at the seat post. I find it faster/easier to always have a spare tube and/or my tarp in there first to fill that spot and then pop the dry bag in. The Tiger is a great bag system, cheap replaceable dry bags that I can rely on (or carry spares easily) and a really secure mount is a winning combo. The Terrapin looks to have a useful method of closing via the rear strap / loop, the 3 clips of the Tiger may need a bit more adjusting but it does help compress the bag into that tapered end well, overall I'd be amazed if anything fitted as securely as the Tiger (as good as Revelate kit is.. so no doubt the Terrapin would be a good bag). I also think credit to Wildcat where it's due for basically re-inventing the seat pack and doing it properly.
SteveM's point is a good one if it's a marginal decision.

Look fwd to seeing this new drybag .. may well keep using the cheap airlocks though based on the way I seem to go through them : ) specific drybags as used on some bar rolls always seem like a bad idea to me, either need to be really heavy fabric to be durable or you'll hole it eventually and it'll cost to replace? I guess it's like the Shimano vs King BB debate there..

[Zippy]

I find it faster/easier to always have a spare tube and/or my tarp in there first to fill that spot and then pop the dry bag in. The Tiger is a great bag system, cheap replaceable dry bags that I can rely on (or carry spares easily) and a really secure mount is a winning combo.

I completely agree with this.

[lionelrik]

Having only used my Revelate stuff on a few rides and without experience of the WIldcatGear stuff its hard for me to compare. What I will say though is with minimal use some of my Revelate gear has failed (Gas Tank velcro strap coming unstiched) or worn through (terrapin rubbing on seat post clamp). The first was obviously a manufacturing problem, the second however, was completely my oversight. All in all these bags have to used with a modicum of common sense i.e. not overloaded, weight distributed properly and careful positioning, and packing of the seat bag comes into this category. The new tapered bags will help enormously but I wouldn't rush out to buy one if you have a suitable bag lying around.
The reason for me buying Revelate over WildcatGear? I happened to be in the US at the time. If I was in the UK that decision would probably be reversed. Not that theres anything wrong with the Revelate stuff. In fact, it attaches fantastically to the bike and you can hardly tell its there. It's just because your a lot closer to the point of manufacture, and dealing with any issues (god forbid), might not rely on your own cack handed sewing technique.

[Ian]

Wildcat Tiger-specific tapered dry bag are in development: http://singletrackworld.com/2015/04/bes ... the-bikes/
And in keeping with the rest of the gear, it's made in the UK too

[Teetosugars]

I went for the Terrapin in the end..

[Sussex Paul]

I've got the terrapin and I do like it, but one thing I would say is that it is quite tall, meaning I don't have much clearance between it and the tyre on my Solaris, less than 10mm I think. I've not tried the Wildcat one, but it doesn't look as tall. Something to consider if you don't have a lot of seatpost on show.