Soft panniers made of heavy canvas bags, grain sacks or stuffed duffle bags with reinforced hanging loops suit non-fragile loads, and are lighter and snag less on trail obstacles than rigid boxes, but their contents can shift and unbalance the load. Wrap irregular shapes in a tarp and lash them to the saddle, and weigh the two sides so they differ by no more than 2 kg.
Part of Pannier Design & Construction
Bag-type panniers: what they carry, why they snag less, and how to stop loose contents from unbalancing the saddle.
Soft Panniers Trade Protection For Weight And Snag Resistance
A soft pannier has no corners to catch and weighs little itself. Its weakness is that its contents are not held in place, so a load can slump, settle or roll toward one end as the animal walks. The remedy is packing discipline and a weigh-check.
What You Need
- Heavy canvas bags or grain sacks.
- Stuffed duffle bags with reinforced hanging loops.
- A tarp and rope — for irregular shapes.
- Needle and thread, or rivets to reinforce loops; see Saddle Stitch and Bags and Pouches (leather bags, for the seam method).
- A scale or balance.
Method: Pack And Balance
Step 1: Reinforce the hanging points. The loops carry the whole weight of the bag.
Step 2: Pack firm items to the outside and bottom. Pack so the contents hold shape; fill voids so nothing can slump.
Step 3: Weigh both bags. They must differ by no more than 2 kg.
Step 4: Hang and recheck. After the first 10-15 minutes of walking, stop and look at both bags; contents settle.
Step 5: Irregular shapes. Wrap in a tarp and lash to the saddle instead of forcing into a bag.
Worked Example
Balancing two weighed sacks. Suppose a large mule is to carry 69.5 kg and the weighed sacks read 33.0 kg and 36.5 kg.
- Difference: 36.5 - 33.0 = 3.5 kg, over the 2 kg limit.
- Target per side: (33.0 + 36.5) / 2 = 34.75 kg.
- Move 36.5 - 34.75 = 1.75 kg from the heavy sack to the light one.
- Check against the large mule’s comfortable load of 60-70 kg: 69.5 kg is inside it, with the saddle and sacks themselves still to count.
The figures are for illustration. The method is: sum, halve, move the difference.
Common Mistakes
- Packing loose — contents slump to the bottom and the centre of gravity changes.
- Weak hanging loops — they tear under the whole load.
- Soft bags for fragile goods — a rigid pannier protects them; see Rigid Panniers.
- Skipping the recheck after walking — settling changes the balance.
Safety
A bag that slides off pulls the saddle with it
A torn loop or a slumping load swings the saddle under the belly and can panic the animal. Pack firm, check loops, and stand clear of the animal’s hind legs when repacking a load on the trail.
What’s Next
- Learn next: Weight Distribution Rules — what goes where in a bag
- Combine with: Hitches & Lashing — holding tarp-wrapped loads