himespau 

Just an idea I had. I've seen Alice packs and other similar bags for fairly affordable on ebay and at army surplus stores.

Seem to have many good features:
Lots of pockets and much room
Water resistant
Can attach a frame or shoulder straps
not too expensive

I wonder if anybody's tried turning them into panniers and how hard it'd be.

bud16415

I have used a number of GI surplus pieces of equipment. I have several ALICE packs and frames they are the older system being replaced by the MOLLE packs. The ALICE packs I believe come in 3 sizes and the smallest two can be used without the pack frame. They are a nicely made pack and surplus you won’t find anything of that quality for less money. The buckles are the old style metal type that the straps have to be slid thru and cinched up. They work fine but are a little slow getting into. Most surplus stores also have the newer type plastic MOLLE snaps that can be used to replace the metal buckles. The pack frame isn’t real heavy but I don’t see using it on the bike. Even the small ALICE pack would make a pretty good size pannier. If I was going to use one I could see strapping it on top of the rear rack when stuffed.


Another part of the ALICE system is the fanny pack That was made to attach to the ALICE belt setup and they are a nice size to use as a small pannier and have two steel eyelets on the back where they were clipped that can be used to attach a rack hook. I use them on the front rack I built as small front panniers but they would do nicely on the back as well. The ones I bought were the newer type made from nylon (older are canvas) and I have the special forces black but the green ones are easier to find. I will attach a photo of mine. Sorry only photo I have they were empty but they hold quite a bit.



Another useful item to look at when shopping the surplus stores is the rubberized nylon laundry bags. You can get them for about $3 and they are almost like a duffle bag without a strap and much lighter. They are really huge, but what I do turn them inside out and sew them in two directions to make any size bag I need. I have one made for my sleeping pad and another for tent etc.
I have used a military poncho as a rain cape and rode under it with good success. These ponchos are thin allow air from the bottom. The drawback to most things military is they are camo. So you have to have other additional “Be Seen” stuff on the bike. A military poncho unsnaps and turns into a nice size tarp handy to have at times and can even be made into a tent. The item that goes with a poncho is a poncho liner and you will never find a thinner warmer little blanket. Putting them together will make a sleeping bag. Not the best sleeping system but will keep you alive in a pinch. I slit my liners to match up with the head hole in the poncho and then the two can be worn together as a warm outer garment in an emergency.
Getting a little off topic but still army surplus and bike related I use a MMS (sleep system) that I carry for touring. It’s a Bag in a bag in a bag. The outer bag is a bivy bag, waterproof. With such a sleep system you are covered just lying on the ground with warm cloths on down to -50 and with mix and matching the bags as warm as 50.
https://www.tennierindustries.com/rfi-mss.html

Jamoni

I use these:
https://www.galaxyarmynavy.com/item-8104.asp
which are MUCH smaller than the Alice pack you showed. I think an Alice pack would be way too big.
The other thing is that these bags are reinforced and padded in places you wouldn't need a pannier to be, so they are very heavy. Still, it's worth checking around at surplus stores. Occasionally you can find some good bags that work well.

Jamoni

Ha! The bags I posted are the same ones Bud uses!

illdoittomorrow

I'm using this (https://www.go4hero.com/condor-modula...k-p-13323.html) as a saddlebag instead of a pannier. I added D-rings to attach a shoulder strap from another bag, and a pair of snap hooks go through the saddlebag loops. The whole works rides a bit lower than the saddle, and rests on the fender, but so far I've put around 15 pounds in it without any trouble.

bud16415

Great minds work alike. The GI (fanny / butt packs) have an inner liner that pulls up and after you stuff it you fold it over and hold it down with the top cover and buckles. As long as you don’t overfill it too much this is a really effective water barrier.
The two eyelets I mentioned you can bend two hooks to fit over the rack rod and attach the hooks to the pack with a 5mm bolt and nut. The bottom you can rig a small cord or bungee to hold the hooks down and the bottom in.

no motor?

mechanicalron made some nice ones out of old canvas army surplus bags. https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...highlight=bags shows them in use.

himespau 

I guess I didn't have a good idea of scale from those pictures. Thanks guys, sounds like it might be doable, but not with those particular bags. I actually prefer the look of faded drab canvas duck to the nylon stuff, but just thought it seemed like a cheap solution for something that could work as a moderately weather resistant work/grocery pannier and still be slung around like a bag once I get to my destination if I need to haul it a long way from my bike. Will keep looking I guess.

Digital_Cowboy

I'll have to look it up, but in an issue of Bicycle Times they had a brief write up in a company that's doing just this.

irwin7638

Try Outyourbackdoor.com. They do exactly that. They have an Ebay store https://stores.ebay.com/outyourbackdoor where you can buy several different versions.

Marc

Digital_Cowboy

Irwin,

Thank you, that's the company that if read about in Bicycle Times.

himespau 

Yeah, I'd seen his website, like the looks of his stuff, and that's where I got the idea, but my next job I'm going to have to park outside on a college campus as it doesn't look like I'll be able to store the bike in my office, so I'm looking for something that I can easily take off and yet has enough room for my stuff and the ability to take it on shopping trips. So I'm searching for the elusive panniers that are affordable, have the ease of use and ruggedness of ortliebs, and the classic looks of what outyourbackdoor sells. Didn't figure that I could find that, so was considering trying to make it.

megalowmatt

^^^ Those bags are really cool.