Zig-Zag and Pannier

Follow Pannier and his faithful four-legged companion on their journey throughout the beautiful Southern Australian landscape.

I'm working on a pouch for my bike lock. I have a light rack on the back of my bike that holds an Ortlieb Downtown QL3 pannier on the left side, and nothing on the right. I'm making a pouch that'll be tensioned into the right-side triangle of the rack with .125" cord and .125" 316 stainless rod. The pattern is neat; I'm not sure if it is an elegant design or not. It certainly doesn't feel elegant to stitch together. Regardless, the test sewed up nicely even though I was pretty sloppy about it. More pictures of this, my bike, and the test pieces to follow.

The tensioning cord will be wrapped in a zig-zag between the stainless rod and the stainless tube of the rear rack. This zig-zag arrangement is a theme in things I make. I think this is more the natural tendency of materials than intentional design. I do like the way it looks though. Here, I fixed my business helmet visor by drilling holes in it, stitching it together with Guetermann Tera 30, and coating it with two-part epoxy.

I also improved my LED light from ikea with zig-zagging thread. For some reason, the flexible neck that supports the light is really floppy on this one. There are two of these lamps floating around, and the other one is much better at holding its shape. That's what I get for getting the $10 light from ikea instead of the $198.98 one from McMaster. The $411.42 waterproof model with a focused beam and clamp mount is enticing to say the least, but that money is currently going towards my Australian Travel Series. With Pannier.

The 2.5" plastic support for the flexible bit was extended using McMaster packing slips cut into strips and glue. It's funny because it's true. The result is rigid and durable enough. The sewn cover is mostly decorative.

Stay tuned, more on Zig-Zag and Pannier pending.