Mounting Ortlieb water bottle cages on Ortlieb panniers

[gpshay]

I am looking for opinions on mounting 4 Ortlieb Water bottle cages on my Ortlieb classic Back roll panniers (front and rear) .. I purchased the cages to carry extra water when I might need to. I was using a 100oz camelback .. But the combined weight on my back (15-18 lbs.)seemed to (maybe) contribute to more saddle discomfort ... That being said I ol was thinking about mounting 2 bottle cages on each of the front panniers .. Each cage carries 25 ounces of water weighing approximately 1 lb 12 oz. so I would be increasing each front panniers by about 3 lbs. 8 oz (if my math is right) . I could mount a single water bottle cage on each pannier .. Thoughts please .. Thanks Glenn

[John Nelson]

I don't see the point. I have put as much as three gallons of extra water inside my panniers, and that's enough for me. I can also strap water to the top of my panniers if I need to. The advantage of cages is that the water is more easily accessible, but when I'm carrying a lot, I don't need it to all be so easily accessible. If my regular water bottles run dry, I don't mind stopping for a few minutes to get out my spare water and refill them.

Of course, this assumes that you haven't already stuffed your panniers 100% full with other stuff. But I think that's a good idea in any event.

[indyfabz]

Yeah. Can't you just buy a few bottles of water and put them in your panniers on the days you need to carry extra water? If you are going to tour a lot in remote areas maybe think about water purification if there will be ample water sources.

[staehpj1]

I have always just carried extra water in my bags, strapped on top, or even in jersey pockets (especially if it is infrequent to need that much on a given tour).  I usually take one water bladder (empty a lot of the time) and add or remove extra capacity by picking up or discarding used bottled water or sport drink bottles.

Water is heavy, so I typically don't carry a lot unless somewhere that chances to resupply are infrequent.  If somewhere that there is surface water but no towns I have used a filter (Sawyer Mini is my fav at 2 oz.).  Other places a filter can be useless due to the lack of any surface water.

I never felt the need to have more than two bottle cages and even have left off the third one even though there were braze-ons for it.  By the time I have emptied two bottles stopping and filling from water in my baggage isn't a hardship.