Xavier65

Panniers these days seem to be all about total waterproofness, however, that can present a bit of a problem...

What do you do, after you've been cycling for umpteen miles in torrential rain?

I mean, in terms of, once the rain has stopped, where the heck do you put your sopping wet cape/poncho/over-trousers/spats/gloves etc?

Given you have quite a bit further to travel...

If you put them in a 100% waterproof pannier, they won't dry out, they're just going to brew, and start forming a nice mildew coating - with aroma to boot.

Is there such a thing as a wet-gear pannier bag, that one can get, that maybe is highly air-permeable mesh/net that lets the passing breeze quickly dry out wet gear?

Or maybe one can get a pair of fold-out fibre-glass rods with a washing line between, upon which one pegs out one's wet jacket, etc?

What is the trick?

Steve B.

Stick the wet stuff inside a garbage bag so it wont get other things wet. Then hope for some sunny days to wash and or try to dry stuff out. What choice otherwise ?

irc

Wring out as much water as you can. Leave wet clothes in tent vestibule. In the morning put the wet clothes back on so you still have a dry set that night if you have another wet day.

If you are carrying wet waterproof jacket etc after the rain has stopped then bunged to the rack or inside a polythene bag in a pannier to keep other pannier contents dry.

Mildew won't be a problem for a few hours in a bag until you stop for the night.

indyfabz

How is a wet-gear pannier bag going to be exposed to breeze? If you mean something outside your panniers, strap wet stuff outside the panniers. Or do what Steve B. suggests. Or find a laundromat.

djb

Xavier, I've always just given my rain gear a good shake, put them either in a bag in my pannier, or strap them to the top of my rack with a bungee
easy and it works. When taking a little break in the sunshine, I hang things and they dry quickly generally.

I've always kept my rain gear in a pannier with cooking stuff or whatever, so but a huge deal if damp a bit, and it's also easy to ride with my waterproof panniers open a bit too air out.

Never had a mildew issue.
Same goes for opening up tent during a break in the sun and drying it out.
Not a big deal

Steve0000

Same as djb. Dry them on your rack as you ride. Or wear them dry the next day.

Polaris OBark

Many panniers have a mesh pocket, which can help, but once your stuff is soaked, you have to line-dry it in the sun, or take it to a laundromat and wash/dry it.

staehpj1

After a few days of rain stop at a coin operated laundramat for a break to wash and dry stuff or maybe get a room for a night where there is a washer and dryer.

Putting stuff in a mesh bag under a pannier flap works pretty well when it is raining or just on top if it is sunny. When I travel really light I have one set of on bike clothes that are quick drying and don't soak up much moisture.

tcs

The Klickfix Rackpack Sport Plus is one of those rack-top bags where the side pouches fold down into small, integrated panniers. On the Rackpack Sport Plus, one side is enclosed and the other side is mesh.

Tourist in MSN

My Ortlieb Frontloader panniers have a strap that goes over the top. I use that strap to stow my rain gear on top of my front panniers, both before and after the rain.



But almost nobody else does that.

djb

Forgot to mention this, thanks.
This top strap is very handy, I've done the same with on/off rain days, and I've stuck bottles etc under that strap too for quick access.

gauvins

Like Tourist in MSN - rain jacket + pants + gloves + socks in a dry bag, lashed on top of a pannier or rack. Dry bag to protect against dust/mud.

Wet isn't bad. Cold and wet is. So it'll depend on the temperature. One trick I read (and was incredulous about) is to put your damp base/mid layers at the foot of your sleeping bag and they'll be dry in the morning. I've slept with damp clothes on and they were actually dry in the morning. As opposed to trying to get clothes dry by hanging them inside the tent, or even outside. Ambient humidity is usually too high.

Cold+wet is reason enough for me to search for serious shelter.

Vintage_Cyclist

Carry a mesh bag, when needed, bungee on top of the rack.

djb

I actually just bought some of those seal skin waterproof socks to try out. Will have to see how they are and if worth using with my spd shoes with no rain booties.

79pmooney

Toe straps! Even better, toe straps of twice the length. (To make, stitch two straps together with a leather sewing like a Speedy Stitcher or have a leather outfit (Portland Leather for example) cut a long 1/2" strip. Drill out the rivet of a tired strap and pop-rivet your long one on.)

Toe strap buckles are simply superior buckles. Until the strap leather is too tired, they never slip so you can use them with confidence around rotating wheels, chainrings, etc. I don't go cheaper than the Christophe straps, now owned and often labeled Zephal and skip the plastic and cloth straps entirely.

Tourist in MSN

I have Dexshell brand waterproof socks. But I only wear them in winter when it is warm enough to wear cycling shoes but too cold to wear those shoes if I have to step in a puddle of icy slush, the hole in the sole for cleat hardware would allow my shoe to full up in about two seconds. I tested the socks in the sink with my hand inside the sock for immersion, they worked.

Touring, I have never wanted to wear something that is waterproof for an all day ride (for me range from 5 to 8 hours on tour). Thus, have not used the waterproof socks for a bike tour. That said, I have taken some thick neoprene socks on a tour made of wetsuit material in case I needed to ford a stream in ice cold water with my sandals, but never had to use them.

djb

In two weeks I'll be doing a two day trip and it could be wet and cold, so may use them then. Also might be dealing with a lot of rain in Scotland, so figured I'd try them.
Who knows if they will be weird over a long ride, ie clammy feet. Will see I guess.

Xavier65

The problem with strapping is that it necessarily involves bundling and compressing wet gear.

However, a mesh pannier bag would allow rainwear to be stuffed in relatively loosely, and the draft caused by the speed of the bicycle would help dry the stuff out (in time for the next downpour).

I'm assuming a mesh pannier bag would be ideal for storing rainwear in any case, because it doesn't need to be waterproof - far from it. The moment it starts raining, you're going to want to remove its contents in order to wear them.

So, I'm naively thinking, that I'm not the first person on the planet to think of this, and that such a mesh pannier bag has long been available on AliExpress/Amazon/eBay/ETSY/etc, but, of course, I don't know how what the search term is.

Maybe, such a thing is well known in monsoon prone parts of the planet, but unknown elsewhere?

It'd probably be front mounted, and for storing everything that is either already waterproofed, rain-happy, or rainwear.


{would have replied earlier, but I reached my 5 posts per day limit}

pdlamb

How much wet stuff are you planning to carry?

I can tuck a shirt and a pair of shorts under a bungee net and get them dry in a couple hours of sunny riding. Socks and tights, if they're wet, are in a plastic bag in a pannier. When the first load is dry, it goes into the pannier and the rest of the wet clothes get aired. (If it was cold enough I needed tights the previous day, it's probably still cool enough to wear the jacket on the following sunny day.)

Two or three days of rain in a row? That plastic bag in the pannier will hold two days' worth of riding clothes. If it's still raining the third day, it's time for a motel room that night!

I'm not convinced about a mesh pannier. First, anything in it will get wet when it rains. Second, I don't think I've ever had a full pannier of wet clothes on tour. Third, I suspect you're far too optimistic about how well things in it will dry. If you put two days' wet clothes in such a pannier and go for a ride, I suspect you'd end up with two days' wet clothes that might be crunchy around the edges.

Xavier65

Cold drizzle: Light jacket.
Heavy/warm rain: Medium weight cape/poncho.
Cold rain: Waterproof gloves. Depending on tour: rain trousers, spats/gaiters, thigh-tops, etc.

Well, having enjoyed rather sustained cold and rainy rides for many hours at a time in the last couple of years, I was beginning to think I must be missing a trick, given how silly it seemed to me, to end up stuffing sopping wet gear into a water-proof pannier bag. And for that matter, why on earth my RAIN gear required a waterproof pannier bag in the first place.

This issue must have been solved by now I thought, so where better to ask than BF.net? :-)

indyfabz

I still don’t know what you mean by a wet pannier bag. A.pannier is a bag. Are you talking about a mesh bag that you somehow attach to your bike to try to dry damp clothes​​​​​​? If so, buy a mesh bag.

E.g.,:

https://www.amazon.com/JKL-Drawstrin...dDbGljaz10cnVl

Or use a mesh sleeping bag storage sack (not stuff sack).

Personally, I have dried clothes my strapping them to the rear rack on a dry day, as others have mentioned. There is good advice in the Touring Forum.

Xavier65

Yes, perhaps some pannier manufacturer (Ortlieb?) already produces a mesh pannier (with quick release bracket) precisely for such a purpose?

Not to 'dry damp clothes', but to store rainwear until needed, and to store it after use, such that it may become less wet faster than if it were in a waterproof bag.

I suppose I could just buy a dirt cheap front pannier bag and poke tons of holes in it...

Tourist in MSN

I think you will find that storing wet rain gear in a mesh bag for a few hours will not enable it to become dry. I roll it up when the rain quits and strap it on top of the front pannier again. And since it is wet, I use a clothesline to hang it to dry in a campsite later.

Clothesline is 25 feet threaded through a dozen clothespins. I do not have a photo of raingear hanging, so other laundry will have to do.

Tourist in MSN

I only wore my waterproof socks in winter, I also wore a liner sock under them for more thickness and insulation. If they feel damp after several hours and if your shoes have enough space, you might try liner socks under them.

I think I never wore them for more than two hours and when I wore them it was within maybe 5 (C) degrees of freezing, either above or below. So, they were not hot enough to sweat in them.

GhostRider62

The scenario you write? I keep the wet gear on until it is dry.

Strapped to the rear is also an alternative.

A rain jacket that does not wet out is another helpful thing.