Is Ortlieb worth the money?

[Trek420]

I've joined the bike rack/bag crew.

Knott got me a Wald rear mounted folding basket. I love it! No bag needed or can just toss a bag of groceries in or even the dozen eggs themselves.

If I was hauling precious cargo such as a camera in rainy conditions I'd get a waterproof case like Lowepro's all season pack.

Ortlieb's are sexy but I like it that I don't need to have the bag to carry stuff.

[Eden]

I'm a photographer and I use my own equipment at work, which means I commute with it often. I'm a messenger bag user (looked at Ortlieb messenger packs, but I'm very small and they are quite large and heavy). My solution was to get a small thin kayaker's dry bag. I have a second one for my clothes. It's kept my stuff dry and happy in some absolute downpours.

[sgtiger]

Dh has one and he loves it. He picked it up when he found out the mount for his Arkel handlebar bag wasn't compatible with the stem/handlebar on his BigDummy. Here's his write-up of it:

http://suburbancargobike.blogspot.co...hat-works.html
(scroll to about a third of the way down)

[Biciclista]

i'm a cheapskate.... I ended up getting Ortlieb too. Nothing else compared..

[Cataboo]

I have a waterproof camera that I use for kayaking and biking. I can keep it handy and actually take pictures with it. But then if you're kayaking in salt water, you don't have much leeway with your electronics.

I do keep my dslr in a pelican case lashed to my kayak if I'm going on a long trip or something especially scenic - but I've got to be completely confident in the situation before taking the camera out especially in salt water.

For the bike, I've got the detours zoom camera handlebar bag - it does have a rain fly that comes out to cover it up. For everyday use, I've got a lowepro slingshot 200 aw. For hiking I end up putting lenses in lens cases that are attached to the hip or chest belt of my camera bag and then I just have a holster style bag that I attach to the hip belt.

But anyways - I've notice the harder it is to get to my camera, the less likely I am to actually use my camera.

[moderncyclista]

Seattle Sports Panniers are great. Waterproof like Ortliebs but much, much cheaper. I don't know if they make handlebar bags though. www.seattlesportsco.com

[Zen]

No input on a bag but I don't carry my dslr in any bag that's not attached to me. I do carry my little p&s in a handlebar bag.