Saddle bag woes :icon_scratch:

[flanagaj]

I spent ages making a saddle bag which is basically a holster for a 13 litre dry bag.  Unfortunately, after spending ages making it I go to insert a fully packed 13 litre dry bag into it, only to find that the dry bag does not fit the whole way into the holster.  As a result the holster is totally useless.

I have removed the rip stop side panels of the holster and was thinking that the other option is to just sew the holster to a factory dry bag and then seal the seams.  At least that way I can be assured that the dry bag will fit right in and be push against the seatpost.   Making gear has been fun, but I am now wondering why I just did not order the revelate bag and be done with it.  The sewing machine and materials I have bought have cost in excess of one anyway 

JerryW - does your saddle bag take a 13 litre dry bag ?

Thanks

[D45yth]

Could you not just sew some straps on to a dry bag and put a few reinforcing patches on the high-wear areas?  Didn't Alpkit put a DIY seat bag article on their website?

P.S.  Did you get a sleeping bag sorted out?  The PHD sale starts at 10am on 4th September...they're going to be selling their Minim 300 in M1 fabric for £177 instead of £246.  They're ready-made too, so there's only up to a 10 day wait.  I had to wait a month for something similar. 

[flanagaj]

Could you not just sew some straps on to a dry bag and put a few reinforcing patches on the high-wear areas?  Didn't Alpkit put a DIY seat bag article on their website?

P.S.  Did you get a sleeping bag sorted out?  The PHD sale starts at 10am on 4th September...they're going to be selling their Minim 300 in M1 fabric for £177 instead of £246.  They're ready-made too, so there's only up to a 10 day wait.  I had to wait a month for something similar. 

I might just try the option you mention. 

Funny you mention sleeping bags, as I just placed an order this morning for a Pipedream 400 from Alpkit

[fotooutdoors]

Any reason you need to have a 13L dry bag?  I finished up a saddle bag sling a couple months ago, and can't quite imagine tearing it apart without considering some other options, like a 10L dry bag (what mine is designed around).

[flanagaj]

Any reason you need to have a 13L dry bag?  I finished up a saddle bag sling a couple months ago, and can't quite imagine tearing it apart without considering some other options, like a 10L dry bag (what mine is designed around).

Before I do anything hasty I will have a look at a 10 litre bag.  The 13 litre bag did seem pretty large on the back?

[joeydurango]

I built my own seat bag setup a couple years ago.  It was ugly as hell but it worked - got me through a CTR.  I definitely realized that I should have just bought Eric's Viscacha right off, though - all the time and cash I spent trying to make something wasn't worth it to me.  In the end I got the Revelate bag anyway.  Eric's seat bags are just amazing.  I keep trying to think of better ways to do the same thing, but so far nothing doing.

[taffer]

My thoughts exactly, without a proper sewing machine and of course without materials, knowledge or patience, I was very lucky to stop myself before getting into deeper waters. Building the frame bag was acceptable, but after having made several paper prototypes I realized getting into the seat post one could have ended in tears, time and patience are also valuable and the professional guys out there do a great job on their bags, well worth every penny.

[T-manTorin]

Totally agree Taffer.   you can spend a lot of time and money figuring the SeatPack out.  Wow!  Taffer's idea of first making a paper template and fitting it together is the way to go.  I build a few models out of heavy poster paper first, fit it all together and then figured out how to sew it all together.  This method saves money and time and keeps you from having a really frustrating day..... or week!  When doing this make sure to cut out the seam width.  Mark and fold the seam on the paper so you can figure out how to sew the seams together.  It feels like you are in 4th grade art class all over again!