FWIW, the Planet Bike Superflash has a seat stay bracket that works well (at least in my experience; I ride steel/ti hardtails). I suspect "better" seatstay integration is complicated because of how many different seatstay configurations and shapes there are - especially with full-suspension designs.

https://www.planetbike.com/store/tail-light-bracket.html

Just weighed my Revelate Viscacha - 14.25oz. So, almost a pound. Newer seat bags might weigh less, though I'd guess something like the Porcelain Rocket Mr Fusion (with its mini-rack) weighs more. With a rear rack, add in the weight of a dry bag and straps.

But one benefit of 'soft' seat packs over racks is that they can (theoretically) be repaired in the field with a needle and thread (or duct tape. or zip ties). A broken metal rack? Perhaps repairable, but it's more complicated.

Not saying they don't happen, but either sort of failure is probably pretty rare.

I've used both; don't have a strong preference either way. Maybe I'm missing something, but I'd say it's personal preference, and not a huge deal either way. Run what works for you.

Well, it does have adjustable dropouts, which look to be set about halfway in the second pic, so there's some room to be gained there.

well, they are bigger than i thought, anyone want to tell me what i should resize to please?

Thanks

This doesn't resize in-line the images already posted, but on Chrome (and probably other browsers), right-click on the image and select 'Open in a new tab' - this will scale the image to fit; can still enlarge to full size.

 I suppose the p clamp and strip allowed

I suppose the p clamp and strip allowed to much in and out motion. 

Ah, I suspect you're right. IIRC, I only ran standard-sized water bottles. But perhaps they still would've failed in time, in the same way your's did.

I've done it by mounting the lower cage hole to the fender/rack mount at the dropout, and the upper cage hole to a p-clamp on the seat stay. I haven't put many miles on such a setup, but it held for the ~50 mile ride I did with it. If it were to fail I'd guess it'd be at the p-clamps; a couple spare p-clamps wouldn't be a bad idea.

Back in 2012 (whoa, that long ago?), I posted about a front rack I built for my Fargo. When the Trek 1120 came out I was surprised at the similarity between its front rack and mine.



Coincidentally, I'd also been working off-and-on on a similar way to mount dry bags to the sides of a rear rack, as the 1120 does. After lots of thought and some trial and error, here's what I've come up with.

Generic rear rack, to which I added brackets out of 1" x 1/8" thick aluminum bar; p-clamped to the rack struts.



Initially, I cut reliefs in the edge of the aluminum bar to keep the straps in place, but later cut slots in the bar - now the straps won't slide off no matter what.

This worked OK, but strapping a dry bag tight would push the bag between the struts, too close to the tire for comfort.

So I scavenged some coroplast signs (picking one with an agreeable color and text), cut to shape, and zip-tied to the rack.

This works great - push-through virtually eliminated.



And plenty of heel clearance.

I use a Revelate seatbag for more technical/singletrack bikepacking, but this setup allows me to haul more stuff (and keep it off my back) for gravel, longer trips, etc.

(Lens distortion makes the bag look enormous in this pic; it's really not as big as it appears)

Seems to me it'd be important to use closed-cell (rather than open-cell) foam, so that it doesn't soak up & hold water if/when it gets wet.

That said, I've used Reflectix for padding before - lightweight, doesn't absorb water, and holds its shape pretty well.

I've settled on concentrated cold brew. Make it in advance, take as much as needed. In camp, all that's needed is boiling water.

Not so feasible on a long trip, but for the week-or-less trips I generally do, it's great.

I guess the alt. would be to have some sort of USB to AA recharger (is that actually a thing?)

There's the MintyBoost, if I understand what you're thinking of - https://www.adafruit.com/product/14

I've built one (construction isn't difficult if you're handy with a soldering iron) and it works well with my phone (Andriod); can't speak to iPhones. It works well for emergency powering/charging a phone, but carrying/buying multiple sets of AAs would be heavy & costly.

Mostly depends on the weather/current trail conditions. If it's dry, a road bike (with as wide a tire as will fit) would be better. When the trail gets wet, it can get soft - so a mountain bike would be better.

Not much of an answer, I know.

Another, shorter, option is the Wabash Trace trail (http://wabashtrace.org/) - 62 miles in SW Iowa. Very nice, more shade than the Katy, and better camping options - many towns along the trail allow camping in city parks. As I recall, camping along the Katy is more tightly controlled; camping alongside the trail is not allowed.

+1 to threepin's thoughts.

I run the cowchipper and find it very comfortable. Most of the time I ride in the drops, but on less technical singletrack or gravel, being on the hoods (or even tops) is nice.

I've never ridden the Dajia Far Bar (or the woodchipper), but I'd be worried that they have too much flare, and that the 'on the hoods' position wouldn't be as comfortable.

RE threepin's upside-down pic: I right-clicked the image and clicked 'Open in a new tab' (Chrome browser) and it displays right-side up; dunno why it's upside down here.

Edit: went back and re-read threepin's earlier post, as well as RonK's. Not surprisingly, seems like comfort, and how much flare is too much flare, boils down to personal preference.

Here's one I made, using a heavier-wall Bud/Bud Light aluminum bottle. Just crimped repeatedly around the edge with a pair of needle-nose pliers until I got the opening to the size I wanted.

I never seriously tested its efficiency, but it seems to work about as well as other designs, particularly on smaller diameter pots because the flame is concentrated in the center rather than around the stove's circumference (e.g. like a top burner stove). Use it with a separate pot stand, obviously.

Wonderful feelings of super comfort are all that matter - who cares what anyone else thinks?

RE head tube stress - I wouldn't think so.

I didn't create this one, but it looks pretty good.

http://www.bikepacking.com/plan/bikepacking-recipe-thai-salmon-curry/

Very nice; thanks for the step-by-step.

Looks great, congrats!

Here's mine. Daisy chain of 1" webbing around the perimeter of the frame bag, and paracord to lash it to the frame tubes. Works great. A bit of a PITA to put on & take off (like lacing a shoe with 7'-8' of shoelace), but not that bad, and it's not as though it's on & off frequently. And plenty of paracord available in case of emergency.

I don't run a gas tank but it'd be easy to route the paracord to accommodate any velcro attachment straps.

Sweet! Thanks for the update.

Sounds like a tension issue to me. I'd also check that you have it threaded correctly.

If you don't have it, here [1] is a 237 owners' manual; I haven't looked through it but it might show how to disassemble & adjust the tension indicator. If not, some Googling ought to turn up some results.

The spool rattling around on the pin could be a contributing factor as well; a spool stand as discussed in this article [2] might help.

[1] http://www.singerco.com/uploads/download/2b978f44b6159571b8168c0410baa128abe9c6e1.pdf

[2] http://www.superiorthreads.com/education/spools-verse-cones/