Durability of Dry Bags?

[yukon2012]

I'm planning my first tour this coming summer and have a question about dry bags. I've done a lot of ultralight backpacking,  so I have most of the gear I'll need for a 1100km trip. Everything, including camping gear, clothes, tools and 2-days worth of food seems to fit nicely into a single 25 litre dry bag + a smallish handlebar bag.

I was wondering if people encounter problems with items wearing or rubbing through a dry bag when it's mounted on a rear rack? I'm just curious if things like tent poles are likely to wear thru the fabric if they happen to be too close to the metal tubes on a rack? Should I perhaps duct tape a little foam on top of the rack to reduce wear-points?

I will likely fix the dry bag on top of the rear rack with either shock cord or webbing with adjustable buckles. Any recommendations on securing a dry bag are also welcome.

Thanks for any advice.

[staehpj1]

It varies.  I found that my ultrasil ones didn't hold up well and went to some heavier but still fairly light ones (Sea to Summit eVAC Dry Sack).

Edit:
I should have probably been more specific.  The Ultrasil bags lasted for a coast to coast trip, but had duct tape on them in a number of places at the end of the tour.  They probably could have lasted for another similar trip but looked like heck.  I was not very careful with them and someone willing to take more care might have had better luck with them.

They had all of my (minimalist) gear in them and were strapped on top of the rack.

[Mark Manley]

I have toured some fairly rough roads with an Ortleib dry bag strapped to my rack with no problem, just make sure it is held down tightly. If they are not too long I prefer to strap my tent poles under the top tube with velcro straps.

[bogiesan]

I'm planning my first tour this coming summer and have a question about dry bags. I've done a lot of ultralight backpacking,  so I have most of the gear I'll need for a 1100km trip. Everything, including camping gear, clothes, tools and 2-days worth of food seems to fit nicely into a single 25 litre dry bag + a smallish handlebar bag.

I was wondering if people encounter problems with items wearing or rubbing through a dry bag when it's mounted on a rear rack? I'm just curious if things like tent poles are likely to wear thru the fabric if they happen to be too close to the metal tubes on a rack? Should I perhaps duct tape a little foam on top of the rack to reduce wear-points?

I will likely fix the dry bag on top of the rear rack with either shock cord or webbing with adjustable buckles. Any recommendations on securing a dry bag are also welcome.

Thanks for any advice.

I do not do self-supported touring but I trod many miles in the early days of ultrlighting, back when we made all of our gear or supported a tiny group of home crafters. I didn't put anything in my silnylon/mesh backpack that might poke or wear through. That stuff either got stuck inn the outside mesh pockets or it was inside its own bag. I camped in a tarp and bivvy so no tent poles and I carried my staff. ONe of the more curious ultralight accessories I learned to appreciate was an umbrella. The umbrella's tip was modified and padded with a rubber ball.

Sorry, waxing nostalgic. If your gear is all ultralight, and you're not too weird about the gram count, you can carry an extra silnylon bag or two. You can carry a couple of garbage bags. You can cover your exposed metal rack tubes with cloth tape or sew an additional protective layer onto one side of the bag that will go against the rack's platform.

There are many experienced ultralight tourers on the INterwebs. Some, like staehp1, post here and others can be found on crazyguy. This ultralight bike touring techniques have, for the most part, all been invented and more or less perfected. Just takes a bit of research.

[yukon2012]

Thanks everyone.

Bogiesan, yeah I've taken a small umbrella on many backpacking trips and it's come in very handy. Thanks for the tip.

I live in the Yukon and (when it warms up in a few months) I will try a test-drive bike tour from Whitehorse, to Skagway, to Haines AK and return. I'll have a chance to see how a drybag holds up.

Thanks

[DaveB]

Thanks everyone.

Bogiesan, yeah I've taken a small umbrella on many backpacking trips and it's come in very handy. Thanks for the tip.

I live in the Yukon and (when it warms up in a few months) I will try a test-drive bike tour from Whitehorse, to Skagway, to Haines AK and return. I'll have a chance to see how a drybag holds up.

"Dry Bags" not withstanding, consider packing everthing that can be damaged or uncomfortable if wet in Zip-Lock bags.  The 1-gallon and 2-1/2-gallon sizes are great protection and also great see-through organizers making things easy to find.