Homemade Panniers

Here are a few shots of the panniers we made from recycled plastic cat litter containers. We used Fresh Step brand containers, donated by Garth and Megan. I assume other brands would work just as well. We're just recycling what we have.

The panniers will attach to the luggage racks on our trikes using "rope hooks" and stainless steel bolts purchased for a few bucks at the farm supply store in Monticello.

We also fabricated some reinforcing washers/plates from a strip of aluminum. These may not have been necessary, but they will provide some extra strength and weight bearing capacity.

Add a little Krylon Fusion spray paint to cover up the cat litter labels (which are bonded to the plastic and will not come off) ... and "Voila!" ... some cool-looking and functional panniers that saved us about $200. They will be light and durable, and virtually water-tight. 

I suppose, Garth, that we could have done without the spray paint. Now we have some more waste to dispose of, empty spray paint cans, not to mention the aerosols we dumped into the atmosphere during the painting process. Sometimes, I guess, aesthetics trumps environmental awareness. Also, I didn't want to be attacked by cats while we're riding. Dogs are bad enough!

The final touches were some straps to keep things from bouncing around and a little reflective tape intended to make us more visible to drivers. Most people aren't used to seeing creatures like us on the road. We sit very low ... about eyeball level to a pickup truck's bumper and tire tread depth to a big rig. The greatest threat to our survival on the road will be not being seen. The key to our safety strategy, therefore, is BE SEEN.

It they can't see this, they're BLIND!