Andy from Pitt said, in agreement with DP: Some things need to be heavy duty from the get go, just as you say. Saving > a few ounces can have an exceptional cost. > I wholeheartedly agree that a few ounces of savings isn't really worth the possibility of failure, and I simultaneously have experiences to suggest that lightweight and quality are not always mutually exclusive when it comes to gear. For example, my Porcelain Rocket Mr. Fusion seat pack holds my tent and footprint (plus spare tube and a few other bits) without an issue. The entire system weighs 450g versus over 900g for my Carradice Super C saddlebag. I love both, and they both have their uses, to be sure, but I'm much more likely to choose the PR seat pack for a trip given that it has all the capacity I need. It's super sturdy and I barely notice it's back there, even when fully loaded, so lightweight and rugged are found in the same piece of gear. The downside, of course, is that it looks silly as all get out!
Also, my good buddy Jay, former Riv employee, made me the frame bag pictured in my above post. It has no zippers and is made from super tough cordura. It's still light, holds a bunch of food, and I'd have to try very hard to rip or destroy it in any way. I don't want my comments to come across as contrarian, but I also find my trips, which are generally more off-road than on, to be more fun when I'm not overloaded and carrying stuff that's heavier than it needs to be. Some things are just heavy, and that's that, like the spare 26x3" tube that I lug around even though I'll likely never use it, but other stuff can safely save a bit of weight without sacrificing functionality. Bob K. in Baltimore -- Bob 443 278 4265 http://www.smallsur.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.