You may have all read my touring story. If not, i'll sum it up quick. Torential down rain, cold, leaky tent, raccoon. Those are the highlights. The one really good thing about the trip was it gave me chance to really try out the swift industiers panniers I bought. Swift industies is a small buisness. I think it's run out of a house by Jason and Martina. Im always looking for the little guy because…well I myself am a little guy. I contacted them through email and few weeks later I had my panniers. I had looked at a ton of panniers online and they all looked cool- tons of pockets, zippers, waterproof bags- everything it was almost too overwhelming! that's why I was so excited when I pulled these out of the box. they're simple with just enough pockets to hold the stuff you need. They come with a huge main compartment a small zipper pocket on the front and a big zipper pocket on top of the lid to the pannier. I also had them add the pockets to the back to hold tent poles and water bottles. i also paid for the waterproof option, which looking back was a really great decision. The pannier hooks up the way most do- with two hooks on the top of the back that go over your rack and an s-hook attached to an adjustable elastic cord that attaches to the bottom of the rack to stop the panniers from falling off when you hit bumps. The only slight problem is I wish the main hooks were rubber coated because the bare metal was pretty rough on my rack. I carried plenty of stuff in the inside and it all stayed dry as could be in a serious rain. I was really impressed! They held up to a raccoon trying his hardest to rip them open ( he eventually unzipped the zipper on the lid! I wrote to them and asked if they could make the zipper raccoon proof- they said they will look into it.) they laid in the mud one night and got pretty muddy on the road, and it all washed right off in the rain and still look brand new. Swift industrias also makes a roll top pannier and I bet it would be bombproof. They offer plenty of options as far as material- cool, and thread you can design your own to mach your bike or what ever. Im really happy with these panniers. I feel the price is good, the service is great, and im sure my legs will wear out long before the panniers will. If you are looking to get panniers you should definitely consider swift and know you're helping a small company grow.