Soft Bag Comparison: Adv Spec Magadan; Enduristan Monsoon, Kriega Overlander, Giant Loop Siskiyou

[KTMBLAG]

I've had a go at copying the kriega set up..seeing as I had kriega bags anyway
The plate

2012-06-05_18-01-06_799.jpg (18.14 KiB) Viewed 2926 times

P clips that holds the plate

The finished article with rotapax and us20 the other side will have us20 and us10

[VR_Rider]

I've had a go at copying the kriega set up..seeing as I had kriega bags anyway
The plate

P clips that holds the plate

2012-06-05_18-02-23_491.jpg

The finished article with rotapax and us20 the other side will have us20 and us10

2012-06-09_11-07-25_911.jpg

Looks good!

I have been thinking of going toi soft luggage with my bike. Don't do much off roading but its nice to be a as light as possible. Me and my other half went away to Suffolk for a few nights and we decided to travel light and only take the top box! It was great!

Chris, interesting stuff on your website, lost an hour having a read!

[Harty]

Harty

Try your local KTM dealer, I got a set of OEM pannier frames (i.e. Hepco & Becker) for free from their pile of insurance job bits. OK I bought the 990 from them but i'm sure you could liberate them for a few beer vouchers if they have some;)

The frames were fine with a few minor scratches and the bit that bolts behind the pillion footpeg was bent on one side but dead easy to straighten.

I also got some free crashbars but they took a bit of "persuading" into place :whistle:

I'm thinking of some soft panniers so this is an interesting thread.

I could have a had a set of Hepco & Beckers from the seller of my bike, but just don't like them. The Wolfman panniers, as expensive as they are, are far more compact and pleasing to the eye. Cheers for that anyway.

[690 Adv]

Hi,

I have both Al boxes for the 640 and soft for the more recently acquired Rally Raid 690 R Adventure. The soft is the way forward. I have been using the G L Coyote bag bought from Adv Spec. The design is very good, although not 100% water proof due to the zip, keeping the contents dry is easy. In all other respects is a very good piece of gear. it resembles a large horse shoe. I have used it around Eu and in Morocco. The CG if loaded correctly can be be much lower than other soft luggage, it 'absorbs' offs on piste much better than boxes, naturally, but also seems pretty impervious to contact with rocks, sand and general overland usage. I would have no hesitation about recommending it..........except for the cost.

Mike

[Chris S]

A strap across the bags joining the outside ... edges might get round this...

And here is a 32-L throwover that does just that - ATG Overlander from RSA.
Plenty of D-rings, separate liner and other good features but no handy external pockets. About £200.

[tetley]

Enduristan Moonsoon for me!

P1010763.JPG (68.1 KiB) Viewed 2926 times

[MHsnowy]

I have the wolfman bags but have had hard luggage and the giant loop great basin (50litres).

As I understand giant loop have now modified all the range with flaps to cover the zips so they are now properly waterproof and I can vouch for how well they handle an off.

Didn't like the hard luggage, just seemed to clumsy and bent up in an off.

I know some complain that 20 litres a side isn't enough but with a 50 litre roll bag on the rack I find it's more than enough luggage and it all sits compact on the bike. I know people say its nice to have the room and you don't have to use it all but honestly how often does that happen. If you've got 30 litres a side you'll fill them up!

I always end up taking too much so for me I only take what I need.

Travel light and smell at night!

[Smokin]

How resistant are these bags to just being slashed open? Assuming someone wanted to get in, how easy would it be? Do you use something like a PacSafe?

[Freeloadeur]

I know some complain that 20 litres a side isn't enough but with a 50 litre roll bag on the rack I find it's more than enough luggage and it all sits compact on the bike. I know people say its nice to have the room and you don't have to use it all but honestly how often does that happen. If you've got 30 litres a side you'll fill them up!

From reading Chris's site his aim is to have as little as possible high on the bike, so that the centre of gravity is kept as low as possible for travelling off-tarmac. Some people rightly point out that a bag across the pillion upsets handling a lot less than a person on the pillion, but for the type of serious miles-from-anywhere-in-the-Sahara riding Chris is doing it makes sense to keep the weight as low and as forward as possible, and so you need deep side panniers. Dare I mention Ewan & Charley in the same post as Chris Scott, but for those who've watched both of the Long Ways, you can see even they learnt from their mistakes; going round they've got metal top-boxes stuffed full of heavy communications and recording gear, going down they've ditched them in favour of smaller lighter bags (and five extra support vehicles )

How resistant are these bags to just being slashed open? Assuming someone wanted to get in, how easy would it be? Do you use something like a PacSafe?

The Magadan panniers have a special kevlar fabric, claimed to be similar to that used in ballistic vests making then stab/slash proof and loops to run a PacSafe cable lock right round bag and rack. You could, of course, cut the loops off with a blunt Swiss Army knife, squeeze the bags a bit to get the cable out the way, and then run off with the lot, but it's better than nothing. Realistically no soft luggage will be as theft resistant as good hard-luggage, but then when you're deep in the heart of the Empty Quarter or the marshland of Siberia there's not that many people around to knick your stuff anyway. The good thing about some of these soft bags with a separate drop-liner is that if you're worried you can always lift the inner bag out and stash in in the security of your RipStop nylon tent (or one of the five extra support vehicles).

[Smokin]

Thanks for the reply, mate.