My daughter and I finally got around to making our first dry bag portion of this setup.  It turned out well -- big enough for a Jetboil stove and then some in each bag.  Will have to make sure I don't overweight the bags after I mount them in my Fargo fork.

The down sleeping bag packs down well.  I was thinking compression sack to get things nice and snug on the bars, but a dry bag of the same size would do the same.

OK, I will use cuben.  It is easy to work with and seems incredibly tough (though not abrasion resistant). 

This is the bar bag I was thinking of using.  In the pics, it contains my sleeping bag, silk liner and Neoair pad, so it is a good size/shape for mounting on my bars.  Wonder if a standard dry bag would be better.

Which is more waterproof, cuben fiber or silnylon?  I got a compression sack that I plan to mount on my bars for bike packing to carry my down sleeping bag and inflatable pad.  It's important that I keep the sleeping bag dry, and the compression sack is only water resistant.

I was thinking of sewing a silnylon "sock" dry bag of sorts that would slip into the compression sack and contain the down bag and pad.  Now that I have a little experience with cuben, I am wondering if there would be any advantages in using it instead of silnylon.

Does anyone have insights on this?

Looking for a good rear rack for my 29er Inbred.  The frame has attach points for the front and bottom ends of the rack.

At this point, I plan to haul a dry bag on the top and not run panniers.

Thanks for any help,
Joe

Jkidd143 at g mail dot com

Next will be sewing a roll-top dry bag out of 1000 denier Cordura.  This will slip over the plastic "spine" and ride up higher than the top of the plastic.  Might do a horizontal nylon strap at the mid point and a silnylon sock on the inside.  Will let you know as it comes together.

Double layer to make the attach point a little stouter:

Drill and mount:

Some 1/4-inch closed cell foam to bury the bolt heads and limit abrasion to contents of the bag:

Thanks to inspiration from Jeremy11 and others, I am sewing up an alternative to Anything Cages for the Fargo V2 fork on my 29er On One Inbred. 

My goal is to make what essentially will be dry bags for light items that will mount with 3 bolts on the fork.  The carcass will be potions of used Coleman water coolers I got for $3 from Goodwill.

Here is my start.

Cut a cooler down to appropriate size and shape:

For those in Oregon, Washington, wherever in the Northwest -- an effort is underway to share info, photos, announcements, ride stories, etc. about Fat Bikes, bikepacking and adventure riding on this site.

http://m.facebook.com/pages/Cascade-Fat-Bike-Club/413141362113183?id=413141362113183&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fsearch&_rdr

Yeah, the dimensions are listed as 11x24, so kinda big for the bars.

I had already made a paper pattern for a handlebar bag, which would be separate from a harness I plan to sew, a la Bedrock designs. 

But then I saw this Stoic bag and thought it would be simpler and cheaper to use it, and sew a harness to lock it on the bars.

We'll see when I get the bag.

Saw this on Steep & Cheap several times today.  Ordered two.  Might use them to carry gear on the handlebars and rear rack, if the bags are stout enough.

Will probably pop up again on their website in the next couple days.

I have 2 Anything Cages and, instead of running them until they break, I am thinking of chopping off everything but the 3-bolt spine and using this as a basis for a mount point for MYOG fabric fork bags similar to those listed above. 

My idea was an elongated homemade dry bag with a roll top that would have some stiffness/body and have the 3-bolt Anything spine sewn into it.

Not sure what to sandwich in the fabric to give it some stiffness and shape.  I have some thin, flexible plastic sheet and I some 1/4-inch closed cell foam.  Maybe use one or both of these materials?  Any ideas/opinions?

The fabric I have is 1000 denier Cordura for the outside and silnylon for the inside.

Added some tugs to the zipper pulls, finished off the bolts and threw a random assortment of stuff in the bag for a test run on the street. 

This amount fit easily.  Could have crammed more, but then I think the sides would have bulged too much. 

I am real happy with the finished product.  In retrospect, I think the end result would have been cleaner if I had cut separate panels for the sides and the exterior spine. 

(BTW, I have no idea why I have that humongous downhill tube.  All my wheels are tubeless and any spare tubes are standard, not gargantuan!)

Main reason I prefer a 29er is because I feel like I am riding between the wheels instead of on top of them.

The whole experience is different.  I love it.

I have a Jetboil, which I have used a bit for bikepacking, but it really is too big and heavy.

Been reading the gobs of stuff online about the various alcohol stoves.  Sounds like most people prefer methanol/denatured alcohol for fuel because it burns cleanly and is not as finicky as isopropyl alcohol.  Haven't seen much discussion about the poisonous nature of methanol.  This puzzles me a little. 

But then, I have used white gas, gasoline, propane, etc. for years when camp cooking and haven't thought about this being a health risk.

Anyway, I am just exploring the fuel/stove design options and was hoping to get some input on the fuel selection piece.

Thanks for any help.

Can you post a photo?  I am having a hard time visualizing this.  Thanks.

I have seen posts referring to clear helicopter tape as being the preferred option, but I am not sure what that is,

Can someone post a link or photo?

J.Paks -- is that a #5 zipper?  I can get these from a shop not too far from me but no waterproof #8.

For bears, a large-caliber revolver is the most practical with a 4" or longer barrel (if you are choosing this over/in addition to bear spray), so bag size becomes a consideration in terms of placement.

For LEO or concealed off-duty carry, there are lots of options.

One thing to consider for a safety is a small kydex trigger cover.  This is basically a molded cover that protects the trigger assemble while stowed in the bag or loose holster. 

The trigger cover typically has a small cord to grab and yank on, which pulls the cover off the gun while drawing.  I know a guy locally who makes them.  Have never looked online for them.  I think they are relatively easy to make if you learn the basics of heating and molding kydex.

Just some ideas.