randonneur handlebar and saddle bags

the Velo Orange Campaign bag ,
still my fav front bag , it has a few issues but they can be circumvented with comparative ease ,

infinitely useful and well put together i never ride without it , i made a stiffener for the back of the bag to give a solid fixing for the Decaleur,,  the canvas is a bit thin but with all the trim it is pretty though, the only point of wear is in the base where it rubs the rack , i simply stitched a bit of leather to the base (you could also rivet on a bit too, to save the sewing ) , i have read much about these bags having rusty fittings , the fast fix for this is to spray them with nikwax leather and canvas spray on protector , my bag has been soaked a few times and as yet the buckles are all shiny silver ,
i use the shoulder strap fed under the bag to hold it down , simple ,effective and fast to release when i go walkabout.

the Iron Weed Orpington ,

nice bag , very well made and a great price considering it is hand made in the USA , however at this price dont expect any leather trim or strapping , this bag would be the ultimate camera bag with the correct foam insert , i am currently doing a little work to the Iron Weed Orpington bag as it needed a few mods such as a leather trim around the lid as it was never a great fit , the trim strip will also double as a 'D' lock holster ! , i may replace the strapping with leather too but i will do the trim first while i think about it a bit .

i have fitted elastic closures on the rear pockets as the silly metal twist locks belong on handbags ,not randonneur bags , they are the most rattly things i have experienced , worse than a loose mudguard , the leather trim strap is only fixed at the corners to allow jackets and jerseys to be tucked in , if you look at the right on the bag the strap is a loose fit , this to allow a 'D' lock to be dropped in , i have still to add a stiffener to the top of the bag as water has a habit of pooling up on top of the bag ! not so good , i will form one from plastic with a little heat to give a slightly convex profile that should encourage the water to run off .

why handlebar bags?
for me it has become indispensable for carrying a waterproof, spare tube, patch kit , tyre lever, muti tool, keyes, phone , lights etc, etc.  one very good reason is for carrying the ever important performance enhancing drug that is coffee . picture this , you are 50 miles from home , the nearest coffee shop is about an hour away and the need for a coffee fix is taking up way to much space in your head . what do i do? i simply apply the brakes at the first spot that looks like a nice spot to take a break , open the bar bag and pull out the essential Esbit coffee maker .

The old KP (Karrimor Product) saddlebag ,
i got it from a friend , he came by it when he bought an old 10 speed that it was hanging from,
it is the same size as a Carradice Cadet , it has only a single compartment and doesnt even have a safety gator and drawstring . The strapping was all nylon webbing in pale blue ,

  as you may have observed ,i have started replacing the straps with leather , i have kept the original metal work as these old Karrimor bags have superb buckles that are extremely fast to open and close , they can be opened with one hand in a couple of seconds ,

  just like the Carradice cadet it rolls up into a sausage , while replacing the straps i cut them 5" longer so that they can also double as the roll up straps rather than the old toe straps i usually use ,
 the corner rivets were replace with M5 countersunk A4 grade stainless nuts and bolts that will not rust and look quite nice too .

i will be replacing the saddle loop straps soon as i have enough left over strapping .