Building Better Bucket Panniers

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I live in the rainy Northwest United States and have seen these nifty 4-gallon square bucket panniers on some bikes over the past few years. A new pre-assembled pair will set you back about 90 dollars. I knew I could build them cheaper. Plus, I get way more satisfaction out of DIY products. For around half the price I was able to make my own, using brand new buckets and hardware. With a little ingenuity, you could save more scratch, it's up to you.

Here is what we'll be building:

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients

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Here is a pictorial inventory of what you will be needing:

Great project and great instructions. I'm thinking of modifying it for hauling water on my touring bike. So to keep the lower penetrations water tight and to keep sway to a minimum I may also use webbing with a tensioner buckle instead of the shock cord. Thanks!

Nicely done but pls don't abuse other people/ businesses; buy your own tools or borrow them from someone til you can get your own. Or join a maker network/ shop.

Does the bucket have to be square?

all of the plastic box paniers are nice! I took a heavy cardbord box and slapped on in my rack (not so great but fine for library trips) these (and all of the kitty litter/bucket type) look great here are two improvements 1) add panels of foam insulation on alll side to make one side a cooler, you could get very fancy here. 2) add LED lights if the black plastic is too dark to see contents, or, like your car boot, easy to see at night ciao

Nice job, but the deal with the drill wasn't right.

Economically, though, it was a win. Folks, you don't even need a drill for this job. The plastic is thin enough that a drill bit and a good grip (pliers) will do nicely.

Well done, nicely thought out. Decorations?

Thank you. I haven't decorated them, but I did adorn them with 3M reflective tape on the rear and an amber reflector on the side so that they'd be easier to spot in the dark.

What kind of hooks did you use? And where did you get them? It looks like they are vinyl coated...

They are. I ordered them off of the JandD website, somewhere under replacement parts, I think. They are rather inexpensive, very sturdy, and designed for pannier use.

Well done! That's a very clean build.