Ammo Box Panniers

I bought a new bike and was stunned at how much bike panniers cost. Some waterproof ones I liked were over $200, which is galling given they are just a kid’s backpack with some hooks. So, nuts to that.

Instead, I picked up some surplus M2A1 ammunition boxes for $10 each, a can of spray paint, and some hooks from the dollar store. They were in excellent condition, no rust, and the rubber gasket intact. They each have a 14L capacity and the lids are removable. I drilled three holes in the hooks and boxes and fastened them together with nylock nuts and rubber washers to make them water-tight. In the long run, the hooks will have to be replaced with something more sturdy, but they’ll do for trips to the dépanneur.

The motivation for painting them was two fold: I don’t want to look like some man-child playing GI-Joe on my bike, and I don’t want the bomb squad blowing it up if I park it downtown. The cheat line was done with an undercoat of gloss white and some masking tape. I put it on so it goes faster.

It’s not quite beating swords into plowshares, but it was a fun project that saved me a lot of dough.

Stainless steel hooks