Packing for a cycle tour is a major event and somewhat stressful simply because there is always that “what if” and “do I really need that” moment.
Yes you can repack again and again and even do various mini tours to help to sort you out. But I’m sure that even the most seasoned tourer will be carrying something that they haven’t used for a while. Great way to figure out what to pack is to talk to people on various online forums, read other people’s tour write-ups and talk with people you meet while touring.
They all will pack differently from you, so what one person is carrying might not be what you need, as we all have different needs. But from that talk you will learn some tricks of the trade and along with doing a few long weekends you will find your comfort zone/needs for your touring.
There are a few questions you can ask yourself which will help you narrow down what you pack.
Where you are going : is it a developing country, mountainous, flat covered in forest?
Time of year : holiday season where you are going, will you be fighting over the campsite with all the other …

Over the last year or so I have used my Ortlieb Bike-Packer Plus (Rear) a lot.
Mainly to carry my work stuff to and from and of course touring. I fondly called them “bags of evil” simply because you keep putting stuff in them, extra lock and a brick and some tools and a brick and extra layer as it might be cold tonight when going home and that brick you forgot, now did I take a lock might as well just put one in to be sure etc etc. And the pannier just takes it and you end up with all that stuff you don’t need to take.
Since I do carry heavy things in my panniers and rest my Surly Long Hall Trucker against the wall with pannier as the wall support I have already worn a hole in the pannier. Might resort to the classic repair job with some duct/gaffa tape to stop it wearing thin where it is rubbing.
For some reason the spacers or grippers (as Erin and Sam call them) are starting to fall out of the hooks, when taking the pannier of the racks.
Erin and Sam of “A honeymoon to remember” fame over on …

Description: (From their site) With its classical lid closure the waterproof rear pannier Bike-Packer Plus allows fast access to the bag’s interior. An internal double drawstring snow flap provides additional protection against dust, humidity and snow. A fixed inner pocket with main compartment and zippered mesh pocket helps organising items inside the bag.
As seen on the blog: Label : Ortleib
I will split this review up into a few bits, first the Handle bar bag, then the front panniers and last but not least the rear panniers.
Ortlieb Ultimate 5 Plus (handle bar bag)
First lets just bad things out of the way, what is the point of the lock on these ? There is no way I would leave my valuables on my bicycle in a handle bar bag that can be easily opened. And then there is the spacer or room divider what ever you want to call it, to make some compartments for you stuff. Brilliant idea, until you start cycling and everything get shaken about and every thing falls to the bottom and the spacer crawls upwards.
Now to the good news, I really love it, I can have my bits that I need quickly and easy accessible. Such as …

… when you have a fully loaded trailer, full of your newly purchased Ortlieb panniers (4 front, 2 back and a handle bar bag) and 2 front pannier racks and 1 back pannier rack.
That you do not have any room for your shopping, so that you have to stuff it any available pockets and have a plastic bag dangling off the handle bars :)

… equal the amount of bikes you should have. Where “n” is the amount of bikes you have right now.
We just put our orders in for some bits and bobs for our new bikes.
Ortlieb panniers, racks, sleeping mats, tyres, brooks B17′s etc.
Just can’t wait until we get our Surly Long Haul Truckers, and we can go touring :)