Anyone use one of these Alpkit bags as an under saddle pack for a sleeping bag with a few more straps?

Airlok Tapered 13l

or should I go for the £65 one 😯
Koala

I’ve been looking at them. Although I’ve not seen one in the flesh, I think for light use they’d work fine, assuming they are the same material as the Gourdon rucksack.

I use a seatpack from Wildcat Gear with an Alpkit tapered dry bag. Works brilliantly.
Read about a guy who just used a bag strapped under the seat and forgot to fasten the straps properly. Tyre burnt through through bag and brand new sleeping bag, so keep your wits about you if you go for that option.

I don’t have a clear answer to your question, but I’ve got a koala and it is great, have used it a trail centers instead of a backpack and forgotten it was there, you do have to tighten it up properly or it does move about a bit, but once tightened it’s great.

I imagine the xtra-tapered drybag (why is actually designed to go in the koala as it isn’t completely waterproof) would move about a bit, but for most bikepacking that wouldn’t be an issue as you tend to be going slower anyway.

worth checking you have enough seatpost for clearance. I don’t , so went for the Revelate Pika, which is less ‘high/deep’

I had an Airlock extra. It’d be ok for light road use at a stretch but can end up lumpy and a bit of a faff, it’d be much better as it’s intended, as a bag to fit the (excellent) Tiger seatpack, or just get the Koala. Either are worth the extra imo.

Friend of mine used an airlok xtra (non-tapered) on a tour we did. It was fine for the first day after he fitted it at home but on subsequent days, it never packed the same and was forever swaying around.
I’ve got a Wildcat one too and it is superbly made and brilliant to use. Has the added bonus that once you camp, you can just unclip the harness, and slide out your drybag to put in your tent etc.

I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another one.

Used to use a Airlok Xtra which was fantastic for the money but one would occasionally have to re-do the straps as the contents shifted and it was always much harded to repack in the field.

Now have an Apidura pack – much easier to fit/remove/repack in the field. And massive capacity. Wieghed up that vs Alpkit and Wildcat and it seemed best bang for buck

Hi Rich,

I’ve got one, not used it yet.
I think i’ll be pretty good as a budget option, should get a decent number of trips out of it before it falls apart.

Give me a shout if you want to check it out?

Moff

Hey Moff!
I wouldn’t mind having a look, but I have yet to pick the bike it is intended for, up!

[edit]
BTW which one do you have?!?
[/edit]

We will have to sort out some sort of New Forest ride soon!

Rich

Oooh – I like the taper!!

Rich- i used the (non tapered) airlok on several trips, just tightly strapped under my seat, and strapped to the seat post.

It was ‘ok’ – worked well, but did start to loosen every few miles.

I’ve now got the wildcat seat system – MUCH better, but MUCH pricier. I think with the tapered airlok it would work a treat.

However, if on a budget and simply riding gentle trails, that bag will be fine!

DrP

However, if on a budget and simply riding gentle trails, that bag will be fine!

DrP

Awesome, i’m not spending ~£100 on something I’ll use 2 or 3 times a year! Thanks DrP thats exactly the answer I wanted.

You doing the Dorset Gravel thing CTBM is organising?

Hey Rich,

I have the airlok-xtra (cheaper)one.
Was thinking about a forest spin Thurs eve, could pop by you? Pub for a beer maybe?

You doing the Dorset Gravel thing CTBM is organising?

I’d like to, but it’s the day after Spin up In a Brewery, so…No!

DrP

Rich I have the Koala – you are welcome to borrow anytime – I like it, does the job well for me

In my experience the cheaper tapered Airlok works fine if the straps are in the right place and the contents are not too firm (eg. clothes or a sleeping bag and not cooking pans or tins of beans) so you can get the tension nice and tight…

[url=https://flic.kr/p/qyuxcA]PC290903[/url] by Dittisham Stickleback Breeding Station, on Flickr

I’ve just bought a ktm seat pack, half the price of the better known brands.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=271802273440&alt=web

It’s not waterproof but it’s made solid, fairly big, attaches well. Will use it with a dry bag inside.

Got my first ride planned in a few weeks. Will feed back first impressions then.

Another vote for airlock taper with the larger sized wildcat bag. Works perfectly.

So I guess people are using the 5-8l wildcat harness with the 13l alpkit tapered bag ok.

Does the wildcats stretch to fit the bag or are people just not filling the bag up?

I have the tapered airlock and it was rock solid for new forest trails but a faff to repack/restrap. Would also like a bit more support in technical stuff.

I use a Revelate Viscacha for bikepacking and it’s a cracking bit of kit

Last time I used it with a drybag inside so I can take the kit out and be able to leave the pack on the bike. I also thought it might be wet so it was a just in case.

Don’t really know it’s on the bike, I tend to have my sleeping kit on the bars, so my other bits go in the seat pack – waterproofs, clothes, food, stove/mug

I have a koala seatpack that I used on a three day 100 mile round trip in the Peaks but my missus used a tapered airlock without any issues apart from it moved about a bit more but it didn’t cause any problems as long as you keep your straps tight. .I would suggest as someone else has that as long as you just pack it with light/soft stuff you should be fine and it’s significantly lighter than a koala too..

Hi
looked at the Revelate and Chumba seat pack, seem well made and they are like aseat mounted rucksack

Can’t really fault the Revelate Viscacha, though it’s obviously a bit more of an investment. I bought mine direct from Revelate but they are now available from backcountrybiking in Aviemore. http://www.backcountrybiking.co.uk/product/viscacha/

They also do the Terrapin – a sort of holster for a tapered drybag. In some ways, I can see how that could be more flexible.

Considering it is only done a couple of times a year I just went with some straps and a sleeping bag in a roll-top canoe bag. Cost nothing as I already had them 🙂 I never had to touch the straps once over the course of 2 rough days riding across the Black Mountains. It was even possible to use the Reverb. I did wrap the reverb stanchion with some closed cell foam before fitting the bag.