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Reposting for Lanie My birthday is coming; is this what I want?

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Lanie asked on the blog where I got the bag I’ve been carrying. This post tells all about it.

I've been asked to provide a wish list. I'm thinking of asking for this, would love to hear what y'all think. https://www.basil.com/en/ever-.....green.html

I'm also asking for a basket, possibly this one, seen in photo 6 https://www.basil.com/en/swing.....brown.html The description sounds like it's huge, but it's actually only 2 liters/half a gallon. I like that it simply hooks onto the handlebars, so is easy to remove and take along, but am not sure how easy it would be to carry.

ETA the rest of the story: I hope they'll work for two distinct purposes.

Their inaugural use would be on a 2- or 3-night trip (train, bike to campsite, stay there & watch shooting stars, return home). The third piece I'd ask for along with them is something like this* https://www.ortlieb.com/de_en/.....rban+F5507 or this https://www.ortlieb.com/de_en/.....plus+F2701 We have to carry our stuff, but I can't get all tied up in outfitting that trip, because I don't know how many more of them we will do.

I'm trying to figure out a combination that would meet that need and also be useful in everyday life, running around town. I see people using the Ortlieb bags for their swimming gear all the time. They are very functional, but seem awkward to carry when they aren't on a bike. And they aren't cute like a rattan basket or botanical print

*US links & names in case anyone wants to look them up on Ortlieb's site in their country: Back-Roller Urban line https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/.....rban+F5507 (pic 7) and Bike Packer Plus https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/.....plus+F2704 (pic 8)

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by Stagiaire Fash

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Shopping

22 replies

Latest reply was from DonnaF

cheryl

Veteran

Very nice accessories! I love them both. Happy birthday early!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Thanks Cheryl! Glad you like them and I appreciate the birthday wish.

Just updated the original post with the rest of the story.

Gigi

Veteran

These look super useful! Happy birthday!

rachylou

Veteran

I can’t see the ortlieb, but the botanical and rattan are definitely thumbs up from me!

Minaminu

Veteran

very nice! hope you'll receive it for your upcoming birthday!

Synne

Veteran

Botanical! *heart eyes*.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Thanks Gigi!

Synne, bike bag incognito.

Minaminu, most years I find my family's request to pick out my own present a pain--I tend not to have expensive wishes beyond daily life-- but I'm actually excited about these.

RL, thanks for the heads-up. Trying again with the links--these should work from the USA: Back-Roller Urban line https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/.....rban+F5507 (pic 1) and Bike Packer Plus https://www.ortlieb.com/en_us/.....plus+F2704 (pic 2). I've added them to the original post. There are other styles & colors too. I just realized there is a strap on these bags, wonder why people don't use them. These both come in greens that would coordinate with the backpack bag, but idk if I'd ever carry plain green bags on their own--that color might make them less useful. Maybe better to get a color I like on its own, and not worry that our camping gear isn't fully color-coordinated. The Back-Roller also comes in safety yellow and in pvc-free fabrics (those are separate options--no safety yellow pvc bags). Basil, the company that makes the backpack bag, also makes trekking gear https://www.basil.com/en/bicycle-bags/ but I don't see any that's especially great with the botanical print, and although their bags are good, they aren't as very highly rated as Ortlieb on things like holding up to a downpour. City needs are different from a camping trip.

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Staysfit

Veteran

Fashintern, these look like awesome potential gifts for your birthday! I hope you get them!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Colors and patterns and bags, oh my! This etsy shop just blew my mind. https://www.etsy.com/market/dutch_bike_panniers

Thanks Staysfit. I just need to make up my mind. Still am not sure if the basket is the best option or what other bag I'd want to have for our trip. I seem to have put this post in a different category than the pink coat post, because it's getting a very different kind of replies.

This is the packing list for the trip.

Tent/ wind fly /footprint
Air mattress
Fire starter cubes & lighters
Frying pan
Pie irons
Utensils & bowls/plates
Phone chargers
Tire pump
Allen wrench
Toothbrushes & paste
Dr Bronner’s soap
Deo
Comb/pick
Floss
Lotion
Sun screen
Bug spray
Wipes/tp
Volleyball
Football
Board game?

Each of us:
Sleeping bag & pillow
Hammock
Beach towel & hand towel
Swim suits
2 sweaters/sweatshirts, 1 pants, 1 skirt or shorts, 3 tops, pjs/long johns, 3 undies, socks, windbreaker

The tent, sleeping bags and pie irons will be strapped onto the rack on the back of his bike, the volleyball fits in his basket and the football would fit in this one. The rest would have to fit into whatever bags I choose from the above. We also have to take food (though we could also bike from camp to a grocery store) in a rack bag on the back of my bike.

Bijou

Veteran

Without considering your needs for the trip, I would go with the botanical print because it makes for a very useful everyday bag and the print is gorgeous. It sounds as though you need a big bag for the trip, that is a very long list!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Bijou, thanks for weighing in on the decision! This is kind of a reverse packing post, where I start with what I’m going to take and then figure out how to take it. Most go the other way, but there isn’t any way to cut my list—we might wear both sweatshirts over our pjs!

Last night I pulled out all the clothes I need to take for me and a beach towel. Half of them fit in my Kate Spade bag, if I stuff it full. It’s 9 l and the botanical one is 14-19, so everything would fit, if I don’t fold the top over. My son’s bigger, so his clothes would probably fit the 20l bag the same way. Kitchen stuff in my rack bag, toiletry kit in a basket…. Two big bags would be better for the trip, but the botanical is a better fit for the rest of my life.

Barbara Diane

Veteran

Cute items but I’m no help with usefulness.
Very jealous about the shooting stars. One year I need to plan to be where it will be dark enough to see them.

Anonymous

Love the botanical bag!

LaPed

Veteran

I used a set of Ortliebs for years when I was bike commuting during the week and bike camping on the weekends. I ended up preferring the front panniers over the back ones because I got sick of dealing with heel-strike (but I think you're a good bit taller than me so may not be an issue on your bike frame); ultimately, I sold the two larger ones as the full set was overkill for my purposes. I always meant to buy a second pair of front-rollers, but made do with just strapping stuff to the rear rack.

The Ortliebs are heavy and a bit unwieldy to carry around when they're not attached to the bike, but the flip-side is they're super durable and last forever. I'd say they're a very worthwhile investment. The convertible Basil bag looks like a perfect commuter bag with lots of flexibility -- and it's cute!

If you want to figure out how much volume you'll need for your camping gear before you buy bags, try fitting everything into different cardboard boxes and then take the dimensions of the box that works best. Then you can use an online calculator to convert cubic inches into liters if needed to compare to product specs. IIRC, a pair of Ortlieb Front Rollers is equivalent to 25L (a large daypack) and a pair of Back Rollers is about 40L (a small multi-day pack).

nemosmom

Veteran

No help here (when I camped, it was by car), but wanted to wish you a happy birthday!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Thanks, Nemosmom!

La Ped, you just explained why it’s called a “back roller”. Thanks! Your recollection about the sizes is spot on. How awesome that you not only have experience with these, but can convert them into hiking backpack sizes as well. I was trying to figure out how we could get away with just one bag each, but after picking up the camp mattress today (main purpose = blocking ground chill, so it really isn’t skippable), I see that there is no way to do that. I think I’m going to get a cheapo pannier for the mattress, we will each have an Ortlieb for our own clothes, etc, and there are assorted other things & stuff for the Basil botanical—toiletries including tp, a tiny lantern, my wallet, etc.

If we continue to do these trips (I’d love them to be how we spend time together while my son is in college & a young adult), we will eventually need to replace the cheap one; he will pick his own pair of (probably) Ortliebs for that. In the meantime, I’ll have several bags to pick from for use around town.

I do remember my heels occasionally hitting the panniers I used to have, but it was more like an occasional weird thing, not an on-going problem. I’ll have to test that on the new ones. I think Ortlieb gives you 30 days for that. The Basil one is small enough I don’t think it’ll be a problem.

rachylou

Veteran

I say, are you taking a camp stove? They sell firewood at the camp site?

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Rachylou, I just broke down and got a tiny camp stove. It weighs .34 kg and can burn for almost 2 hours on a cartridge. We will be permitted to build fires at the campsite, and that's most romantic, but we all know nobody wants to wait that long for breakfast & morning coffee. https://www.camp4.de/enders/olymp-gaskocher.html I'm also sorely tempted to get a real dutch oven instead of the ceramic cocottes, but between the money and the fact that we'd be lugging an extra 10 lbs, I decided to wait until we know if this kind of trip is something we'll want to do again, and more often. https://www.camp4.de/petromax/.....boden.html

rachylou

Veteran

There are tiny dutch ovens… you could get two little ones, divide the weight between bikes if this trip proves a success…!

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Even smaller than the one I posted (about 3 pints)?
Btw, my son just broke me. He wants cornbread to be sweet, not southern style.

I just posted the current menu in my off-topic thread.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Bumping.
Here are some recent pix of me using it

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DonnaF

Veteran

I somehow missed the original post a year ago, but love the botanical bag in action.