Hi, been looking around and have come across these a few time, need some answers. Basically i need a way to transport water on my drz400 whilst travelling later this year. 2 options im looking at are the rotopax with bracket OR the msr dromedary bag. Main thing i want to know is how strong are these bags if i strap them to the top of my luggage, are they likely to work loose or tear, anybody have any mounting photos? Thatd be Awesome Cheers, Matt
I've had a 2 liter MSR dromedary bag for nearly 20 years. Obviously it's not the latest version, but it has proved to be durable. Mine did develop a pin hole leak at some point near the cap, but a little dab of silicon RTV took care of that. It comes along on nearly every trip.
You can just strap these on and adjust as the water levels drop? Or yours goes in a bag/pack somewhere
It's basically a rubber bag with a cordura nylon outer layer. There are grommets around the edges with a flat nylon strap threaded through, so you can strap it onto your bike or other luggage quite securely. Mine imparts a slightly nasty taste to the water, but MSR is supposed to have corrected this with later versions. I ought to upgrade...
I bought a 4L dromedary bag for carrying water and a 6L for carrying fuel. I haven't yet tried them, but I have read lots of good reviews on them. But I am still a little nervous about carrying fuel in one. I should get my first field test in two weeks. I plan on carrying the 4L with water on top of my gear bag. I will post some pictures and let you know how it works.
I've had an MSR Dromedary for jeez, at least 20+ years, and it shows zero signs of wear. I've always strapped mine to the top of my left pannier, with the spout facing up and forward ie: when the bike is on it's side stand, I can open up the flip nozzle and/or the remove the cap, and have water gravity flow out to wash my hands, pour into a canteen, onto a cloth to wipe a visor, etc., etc.
This! They have worked for me but - would not carry fuel in one. What about the tried and true 2 liter disposable soda bottles?
Mainly after the bag for the tie down ability and as a permanent way to carry water. Just waiting to hear back on a few prices out here in aus. Disposable soda bottles just means I need to find a way to carry them. On a drz I want to stick to as basic as possible. Ill put my bags on my bike this weekend and do a dry load and see how it all fits up.
I've had a 4 litre one for eons. (20+ yrs) Very durable and can double as a pillow. The red Dromedary Lite is not as rugged, so if thinking of buying, get the black version
The bf and I use the black dromedary's for backcountry trips. We use carabiners to hook them to our Giant Loop Great Basin saddle bags. One dromedary on each side, worked great!
I'd highly recommend the MSR Dromedary (black Cordura version). I've had my 3L for over ten years and it's a great design. The perimeter webbing means it's easy to hang it from a nail or a tree or attach it somewhere on the bike etc. It's compact to stow when not in use unlike a fixed volume container and I either strap it to the webbing loops on top of the GL Great Basin or if I've just ridden down to a river/lake to fill up without any panniers I just stuff it in my jacket. The wide mouth makes it easy to fill up in a stream and you can directly attach the MSR water filters to it. Very rugged design and abrasion resistant. The shot below shows the bag with the quick connect attachment for the filter but it otherwise I have the 3-in-1 fold out cap/nozzle on it.
I have a 4L Dromedary that rode under a cargo net that helped hold down my Torrent bag. Extra security with a carabiner as well. Great bags, very rugged.
Hope I catch you before you ruin your bag with fuel. I too needed a bag in a container that I could fold up small after emptying fuel into my main tank. I had looked around and it appeared this was a viable candidate. Bought a 2L for experimentation, figured I'd get another and balance them on each side of my bike if it worked. BIG BUMMER: the bag sweats fuel (91 Octane Ca gas) and odor. I thought perhaps I had spilled fuel during pouring so I cleaned the sides thoroughly; perhaps I had a pinhole leaking fuel--NO this isn't what the problems were. Pure and simple: they leak/sweat fuel. I placed it on various clean surfaces and it only took a couple of hours to transfer a small amount of liquid residue to the surface. Smell was really bad: no way to have it near anything else! I saved the caps, the tiedown cord, cut it in half and let the fumes evaporate and sadly, threw it away. Would have worked just fine with water I suspect.
This has not been my experience. Did you have one of the black ones? I have been using a 6l unit for a few years now for hauling extra fuel. It does expand a bit as the fuel warms up so I vent it out thru that little flip nozzle on the small lid. It is a real pain to fill up with fuel. Kind of like trying to fill a water balloon with a gas nozzle. I always put the gas into my tank as soon as possible. When I get home, I rinse it out with water and let it hang and air dry until the next time I head out on a big trip. I would never pack it inside of a bag with anything I care about in it. I always have it on the outside of my Giant Loop.
Same here, I use a 6L with good luck. One bit of advise, tape that little flip top down. Mine was bumped open or pushed open from the pressure and was spraying gas 30 feet in the air when I looked in my mirror! If I still has my stock cans on my 990 I would have been a big fat marsh mellow!
I appreciate all of the concern about using the Dromedary for carrying fuel. I too am nervous about the idea, and so far I haven't tried it. But I have read lots of reports that people have used them successfully - but they do give off an odor. I put a 3.5 gallon tank on my KTM 350, so hopefully that will give me sufficient range most of the time. But when my son comes on adventure rides with me, he will be riding my Husaberg FE450 which only holds 2.1 gallons. I bought the 6L Dromedary for that bike - and marked it as fuel container. Since I bought the Dromedary bags I came up with a better solution. I had some 2L holsters made that will carry either a Touratech fuel canister or a water bottle. I can strap it onto my bike or onto my luggage. I will test it out in a few weeks, along with a 4L Dromedary for water. For a full review, check out my blog.
