How to Talk to Bikepacking Bag Makers: A Practical Guide

Header image from Catching up with BXB

It’s an incredible time to be alive when it comes to our niche interest in travel by bike, whether that’s ultralight racing, comfortable overnighters, long-term overlanding, or something in between. These days, there are plenty of off-the-shelf bags on the market, including everything from mass-produced varieties to those from cottage makers who do small runs of gear.

So, why go to the effort and cost of approaching your local maker with a weird and wonderful idea for a bag? There are endless reasons to choose a custom bag. The most obvious factor is having something that perfectly fits your specific bike setup and style of travel. From there, considerations flow to specific load characteristics, space utilisation, weight distribution, dual-purpose opportunities, gear organisation, simplification/weight-saving, and the repurposing of existing gear.

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To get the creative juices flowing, let’s discuss design factors and how to bring your ideas to fruition with a sewist in some detail.

Fit

Often, the gear we buy off the shelf doesn’t function well with our bikes or racks because it doesn’t fit perfectly. The most obvious is the frame bag; the difference in frame triangles between a gravel bike, traditional tourer, dual suspension, trail hardtail, and non-suspension-corrected frames means there’s no one-size-fits-all frame bag; custom really is the only option for 90% of examples. Other bespoke requirements might be bar bags that work with your alt bars, panniers that mount perfectly to your specific rack and provide adequate heel/bottle clearance, and, for smaller riders, a slim saddle bag that doesn’t hit your rear tyre or stem bags that don’t hit your knees when climbing.

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Load characteristics

My first custom-designed bag was a small harness to carry a tarp under my bike’s downtube. I arrived at the design because the tarp easily rolled into a sausage shape and was often wet when I put it away, so I wanted it to be separate from my other gear and somewhere it could drip dry. The space under the downtube was free, and the tarp was unaffected by mud, dirt, and knocks.

Most of the gear we carry possesses the two characteristics mentioned above: a unique shape and sensitivity to environmental/storage factors. For example, electronics are small, stashable, and can’t be wet. Tent poles are long, light, and weatherproof. Sleeping bags are large and bulky but can’t be stored with wet clothes/shelters. And cooking gear is light, oddly shaped, and needs to be isolated from hard objects (racks, frames, cages) to prevent rattles and damage. With a little consideration and imagination, you can solve any of these issues with a custom bag.

Space utilisation

Some items lend themselves perfectly to storage in readily available bags, such as a sleeping bag in a waterproof bar roll, snacks in a stem bag, or clothes in a saddle bag. However, in between all these bags are a plethora of oddly shaped crevices begging to carry something. For example, the struts on a rack provide a great storage spot for spare tubes or even a folding lock.

A more involved example might be my oddly shaped micro panniers that make the most of their allotted space. I didn’t want to lose the two 1L water bottles on my forks, but I wanted more space and convenience than traditional fork bags would allow, so I simply cut the corners off the standard rectangular pannier design to create a slight wedge shape, which is easily filled with soft items, utilising the available space better than any other option.

Weight distribution

Light and bulky gear such as clothes, tents, and sleeping gear are great stashed in larger bags often stored up high on the bike, whilst food, water, tools, and electronics are better stored centrally and as low as possible due to their weight and density. Removing weight from over or in front of your front axle coupled with a good custom frame bag will get you halfway to achieving weight dispersion that doesn’t affect handling. Weight distribution could be a separate article in itself, so we’ll leave it there for now.

Dual-purpose opportunities

A principle we all try to live by is to ensure most things we carry serve more than one purpose. Sure, I could have strapped our tent poles under my bar roll on our overlanding bikes, but how perfect are those thin, light, and long poles to act as a mudguard under my rear rack with a robust bag protecting them and keeping them secure!?

Many of us utilise the same bike for a week-long bikepacking trip as we would for a day ride or a commute. Not every bag is suitable for all of these scenarios, and sometimes a rack or harness required for those bigger trips isn’t easy to remove. A good example of a versatile system is the Salsa Anything Harness that lends itself perfectly to MOLLE-style attachment of various roll-top bags for a different styles of trips and rides. Additionally, my modular frame bag allows me to replace my Cranktank with a smaller bag for overnighters with plenty of cool and clear streams to filter from.

Organisation

The difference between being frustrated every time you need something and can’t find it (or have to stop to access it) and having a relatively care-free ride can be as simple as purposeful organisation. My heavy, emergency-only spare parts (bottom bracket, specialty tools, pedal parts, spare bolts) all live deep in my frame bag in a custom triangular ditty bag. My kLite charging system is routed through my top tube bag to keep the cables tidy and protected and enable charging on the go. My raincoat is at hand in seconds from its roll-top bag on top of my rear rack, and of course, my fanny pack is purpose-built to be waterproof and easy to open for my camera at a moment’s notice. Our micro panniers have custom liners that add waterproofing and act as totes that slide out once we stop at camp or have to carry our gear up a few flights of stairs.

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Simplification

To provide appealing warranty statements on commercial gear, companies intelligently over-engineer things. For all they know, their bag that was designed for lighter-weight soft items like clothing and sleep shelters will be loaded with tins of Spam, loosely secured to the bike, and carelessly dragged up a scree slope to that perfect camp spot. This isn’t what it was designed for, but companies must take this into account when they sell to the masses; as such, they typically ensure that every facet of their bag is foolproof and tough… but also complex and heavy.

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High-denier fabrics, lining, binding, padding, and stiffeners are all applied to common bags to make them more versatile, aesthetically pleasing, stronger, and also less liable to warranty action from customers. When you design a custom bag, you can design it to be fit for purpose and nothing more. This means lighter weight, selective reinforcement, and significant simplification of the bag, leading to fewer failures in the future.

Repurpose, recycle, and repair

There is no doubt that fast fashion culture has infiltrated the bikepacking community, but this can be combated by approaching your local custom maker or repair shop and asking if they can customize your existing gear to repurpose it (or adapt it to your other kit) and repair those simple failures, often improving the item with reinforcement in that area of failure. We’ll go into fabric choice later, but don’t forget to ask about the options for recycling existing fabrics.

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Making it happen

By now, you likely have an idea of how to adapt your bike to alternate and imaginative forms of load carrying. However, what might seem like a great idea could be challenging to visualise or translate into an useable bag, so here are a few considerations that you might want to get straight in your head before you approach a maker.

Attachment

Attachment techniques vary widely. The most prevalent is hook and loop, commonly known by the brand Velcro. It allows a lot of flexibility, it’s easy to apply, and it’s strong enough for most applications. One-wrap style Velcro coupled with daisy chain webbing on something like a frame bag allows for flexible strap placement and versatility.

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The same daisy chain webbing allows for the use of stronger rubber straps, such as Voile and shockcord. These are good options when a little bit of give is required.

Nylon or polyester webbing fastened with buckles is another technique used primarily for larger-load-carrying purposes. While the webbing itself is self-explanatory there are a few buckle types you might need to consider. Side-press, ladder-lock, cam, and magnetic (plus variants of these) are the most common, and with a little research or advice from a maker, you can figure out which is most appropriate. Side-press and magnetic are often great for fast access and one-handed operation, ladder-lock is ideal for simplicity, and cam is suitable for stronger and more secure tightening.

When attaching a bag to another bag, the tried-and-tested military-style MOLLE (Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) technique is a great option that enables the use of a wide array of pouches.

Closure

Zippers are often what first comes to mind, but remembered that typical sewn-in zippers are almost never waterproof, can’t curve much on a flat surface, and usually require up to 20mm of wasted space at either end, so they’re not great for small openings. They also require some maintenance and are not good for compression style loads—try closing a zipper over a bulging puffer jacket.

Roll-top closures only work for specific purposes because they require a lot of excess fabric and take up space; check out a roll-top frame bag, and you’ll see what I mean. However, they’re good for compacting soft loads and open quickly. They’re also very waterproof and fail-proof due to the lack of hardware required for them to function.

A sewn bag made with the most waterproof fabric will lose its waterproof functionality the moment the first stitch is made. Tape and glues can be applied to limited success and usually don’t last forever. If you’re looking for the most water-resistant bags, stick with seam-welded options. A few custom makers can produce them. Keep in mind that zip-lock bags are your friend and provide a higher level of peace of mind than any claim of water resistance, and keeping important items like sleeping bags in seam-sealed roll-closure dry bags is the way to go.

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Structure

In line with the over-engineering mentioned earlier, providing shape and support to your new bag is an important consideration; even a frame bag lacking structure won’t function well. Structure can come from fabric choice, foam or plastic inserts, and shape/contour applied in design. Keep in mind that your simple idea might see some changes when you chat to your maker to make it hold its shape and work well.

Lining

Most bags will also incorporate some form of inner lining. Thinner fabric will generally cover the entire inner surface of the bag for added strength, protection from cargo, and waterproofing. Bright colours are almost always used to add visibility inside the bag as you scrounge around for small items. Lining also enables added features like pockets to be added without jeopardising the waterproofing of the outer fabric by stitching directly to it.

Fabric

This topic could also be the subject of an entire article, but I’ll hopefully succeed in summing it up with a big-picture overview of five fabrics and a consideration for each.

Canvas is a durable plain-woven fabric usually made of cotton or linen. It softens with use and can be coated or waxed for waterproofing, but maintenance may be required to keep it that way. It looks great but comes at the cost of some functionality.

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The industry standard laminate pack material is a 200-denier weave nylon face with a polyester film applied to the inside before another polyester lining is added to sandwich that film to increase durability. It is easily identified by the cross ply embedded into the fabric, and common varieties of this fabric are X-Pac VX21 and Ecopak EPX200. Another simpler version of pack fabric is the tried and tested Cordura D500 or D1000, a woven fabric with a waterproof coating applied to the inside.

The nylon outer on laminate pack fabrics provides great abrasion resistance, but when abrasion and cut resistance is a primary consideration, other fabrics, such as the Challenge Sailcloth ULTRA varieties, will serve better for the purpose; for instance, in panniers that regularly make contact with foliage, rocks, and the ground, or even dog teeth, as pictured.

Rubberized fabrics are the industry standard for reliable waterproofness over weight and abrasion resistance, and they require special techniques to create seams. They’re mostly found in the realm of mass production, but a few notable small-scale makers have mastered the art of seam welding.

Lastly, when weight is of the utmost importance, extremely light and strong fabrics are available, the most common being the Dyneema composite family of fabrics. These fabrics are unique in the way they can be used, waterproofed, and aged. They are also very expensive and bring with them many considerations for the maker, so listen to experience when you ask for them.

How to get something made

Approaching a maker might be as simple as a quick message on Instagram or as complex as ordering a physical sizing kit and filling out an online form with a deposit and long wait time. Below, I’ll provide some basic considerations you might want to take on board before breaking the ice.

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Design

A rough graphic of what you want is a great start. From there, your maker can get an accurate idea of what you require and ask for specific dimensions and other considerations they require after viewing the initial concept.

For something like a frame bag, which might be the majority of your maker’s business, they will likely have a preferred technique for making your template. It could be a physical template mailed to their door, a photo with a tape measure laid over your frame (be extremely diligent here), or a more exhaustive technique involving various measurements or a physical kit through the post.

In some instances, assuming they welcome customers, being within visiting distance of your maker is beneficial, especially if the bag is complex or involving racks/struts, unique gaps or pre-existing gear. It might be possible to mail an item to your maker (rack, bag, handlebars) so they can build the corresponding item accurately.

The human aspect

On a personal level, it can be daunting to approach someone with your idea, but if you enter the conversation with a couple of factors top of mind, you might be closer to understanding the outcome if it doesn’t quite go the way you want. Straight off the bat, there will be a wait time. Take that into account if you are tackling the Tour Divide in June, and it’s now late April.

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Don’t be offended if they say no. Some makers simply don’t like or have limited scope for custom work. They might delve into custom frame bags but not want to design a complex new carrying system for your drone kit.

The time you spend talking about the proposal is time the maker isn’t sewing. Twenty chat messages might seem trivial to you, but that might be two hours of cumulative time—that’s the time it takes to make a simple bag that can sell for well over $100. Understand that your maker may be abrupt and direct or seem to lose interest if the design phase drags on.

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Don’t be offended at the price, within reason. You get what you pay for, and you are paying for those messages, drafting a design, sourcing materials, cutting material, the highest-quality machines to put your project together, and the trip to the post office to mail your gear, among other things. And that’s without mentioning the maker’s unique skills and the years it took for them to get to where they are.

Please don’t ask them to copy something. Social media is minefield of copycat makers claiming that they merely found “inspiration” in another maker’s idea, but if you find a maker who is proud of their work, they will quickly turn away from making the item you sent them a screen shot of, and they will no doubt be offended if that item is produced and sold cheaply on a large online repository and you want it done even cheaper.

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As a maker, all of my best ideas come when I’m riding. Find an experienced bikepacker who makes gear. They can envisage your idea in use, predict how the load will act, and assist in the choice of fastening, closure, and fabric sections. In general, they will also design and make bags outside of the standard frame, top tube, stem, and saddle bags.

Take the effort to find and research makers. Remember that cottage makers don’t have the same means sponsor influencers and ambassadors because they need to eat, so their reach is generally not huge. Big outsourced companies can sponsor 50 social media accounts and pay very little for their product to be made, so they can easily infiltrate your algorithm. Additionally, make sure you question the marketing on that mass-produced gear because there’s no such thing as a gravel-specific bit of kit, and that pristine bar-bag might only defy the laws of gravity in an expensive glamour shoot when it’s loaded with bubble wrap.

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Go for a ride, get your imagination in motion, jot down your ideas, question the mass marketing, and do your bit to combat fast fashion in the bike industry. Chat to your local self-employed human maker using the considerations above, buy once, buy well, and enjoy the flawless performance of your custom bag.

For a deeper dive into this topic, be sure to explore our Guide to Custom Frame Bags and the bags section of our Bikepacking 101 Handbook below. You can also see more of Ty’s work on Instagram.

Further Reading

Make sure to dig into these related articles for more info...