This weekend was the official shakedown ride testing the equipment and packing methods. With the exception of the caribiners, everything is working exactly as expected. Of course, first, you must consider the expectations….
The aerostitch waterproof bags were indeed waterproof. The stroke of brilliance with the caribiners was useful to hold the bags in place while I secured with my cargo webbing, although there is too much play to use them with the rubber straps by themselves. I’d rather not have a shifting load, however, so… the webbing is mandatory. At least I don’t have to go with the full strap setup.
The downside, I didn’t really expect the waterproofing to work on the tripod bag… and it didn’t. There was some water ingress, although not as much as I expected. It was still wet inside, and the outer shell was soaked to the bone.
The triple-strap setup on the pelican case worked fine. I may, in fact, ditch the short-length strap in the inline axis. It’s awfully hard to secure around the case, just a hair (by 2-3″”) too short for ease of use, and harder still to get into the tie slots. With two cross-straps running left to right, suitably tight, and my case lock… it should be fine.
Pelican case itself? Performs exactly as advertised. I have electronics, chargers, and my long lens, and my clothes for padding… liberating my side cases for tools, cookware, riding gear,
first aid, etc.
Short version: Equipment all working as expected, and the equipment side of things is fully complete… with the brief sundry exception of eating utensils.
Next phase, simple supplies. Toiletries, food, jolly ranchers, yadda, yadda, yadda… blessedly short, fast, and above all… CHEAP! :=)
Last step will be the maintenance… soon enough. I’m basically, in a nutshell, ready…
Whoohooo!
Belg