Bikepacking saddle pack

I’m looking to buy a new saddle pack for bike packing and am once again being massively indecisive. the two I have my eye on are the Restarp saddle bag or the Apidura expedition saddle pack. Both are in the same price bracket and both come in similar sizes, i’m looking at either the 14 or 17/18 litre capacity ones.

I’ve seen the Apidura one (14l) in the flesh as it were and it looks a lot smaller in reality than it looks on their website photos, which makes me think I would be better off with the 17/18l varieties. That said the Restrap ones look huge on their website photos and quite unwieldly, I don’t want the thing swinging around excessively whilst riding.

I’m leaning towards the Restrap one for two reasons, firstly all my other bike bags are Restarp and my OCD and bike tart inclinations would like everything to match! Secondly I like the holster approach that they have taken which means I don’t have to take the whole bag off of the bike when I get to my overnight destination, just slide out the dry bag element.

Size wise, I’m thinking to go for the larger size, my logic being I don’t have to fill it up and can just roll down the closure to fit the contents, but if I need more space in the future it’s there to be used, anything wrong with this logic?

Finally, anyone who owns either of these bags care to give any feedback, especially if you have used both. And as Ortileb usually crops up as a suggestion, I looked and it’s a bit out of my budget.

Thanks in advance.

I’ve a couple of the Apidura bags (a saddle-bag and a bar-bag) that I bought a few years ago (so they may have changed). The only issue really is that they are not waterproof, so everything needs to go in smaller waterproof bags. This isn’t a big disadvantage as it can make packing easier (bag for clothes, wash-bag, first aid kit and so on) but I was a bit surprised.

We’ve also got an Alpkit, one that my wife loves, but it could do with bungy straps to take a jacket. IMHO.

I had a Podsacs saddle pack which I split, but learned what suited me better.

Got one of these, also have the same for the front – harness using dri-bags.

Harness stays put and dri-bags have air-release values.

Easy to replace the dri-bags and the harnesses can be attached ‘solidly’.

https://www.topeak.com/global/en/product/1423-BACKLOADER-X

in the best STW manner:

I have a caradice one.  Its very stable and big due to the steel supporting loop.  Its also heavy as a result

anything wrong with this logic?

You will fill it, even if you don’t need to.

Having said that, personally I’d go for the Restrap of those two, because bag+holster is better (having used both styles).

I’ve used a few and the Restrap one is pretty good

However racks are a million miles better, you can use your dropper and rear suspension and they don’t swing about. I got an Aeroe spider rear rack as none of my bikes have rack mounts and it’s just sooo much better than any saddlepack Got a Topeak Tetrarack coming for the front to try out

What frame are you running, does it have rack mounts? I’ve gone away from the bikepacking seatpacks and almost always have a rack either with a drybag strapped on or supporting a carradice saddle bag. Much easier to pack, more stable and you have the option to add small panniers for longer, flatter trips. Slightly heavier though.

Depends on the terrain you’ll be riding but there’s a reason a lot more people are seemingly gravitating towards a hybrid setup or Tailfin rear racks.

What frame are you running, does it have rack mounts? I’ve gone away from the bikepacking seatpacks and almost always have a rack either with a drybag strapped on or supporting a carradice saddle bag. Much easier to pack, more stable

What rack do you use?

I’ve got a few different ones depending on the bike, but mostly I ride a Genesis longitude with a Tumbleweed pannier rack on it. Not the cheapest option, but it’s light(ish) and I really like being able to bolt bottle/cargo cages on the legs for extra water and storage! Also used a Tubus Vega before that but it didn’t work so well with plus tyres as its narrower at the top.

Thanks for the replies, I do have a bike with rack and panniers and am a big fan of them, however I have a trip coming up at the end of the month that I will be travelling light for, the saddle pack will be just for a change of clothes and wash kit, of course further down the line it also gives me more options and flexibility for other trips.

I think having also read some other reviews I’ll be going with a Restrap 14l bag.

My Alpkit Big Papa along with the saddle rail is absolutely rock solid even with crocs and a litre of orange juice strapped to the outside. Recommended. Super easy and quick to get on and off too.