One month ago I received my new Louis Garneau RR-16 rack trunk from Performance Bike and shortly thereafter I wrote an evaluation of it’s build quality and capability on the bike as a camera-carrying bag. Now that I’ve put a couple hundred miles on the trunk, I can say I’m satisfied with how I’ve outfitted it to safely carry my Pentax digital SLR. If you’re unsure how to carry your camera gear aboard your bike, maybe my modifications will help you decide how to it with your bag and bike.

While the RR-16 is generously padded, I wanted additional protection for my camera and lenses. The solution came in the form of a lunch-sized soft cooler found at the local Dollar Store. It fits perfectly inside the trunk:

 

 
The cooler is padded and has a simple zip-closure lid. Its shoulder strap folds underneath when inside the trunk, but is handy if I want to remove the camera kit and sling it over my shoulder while leaving the trunk in place. There’s plenty of room left over in the trunk for food, clothes, tools, or a jacket and hat.

The DSLR fits inside the lunch cooler with a bit of elbow room, and being a belts-and-suspenders kind of gal, I wasn’t satisfied until I added more padding to prevent the camera and lenses from being jostled on rough roads. I also wanted to immobilize the kit in case of a crash, so I cut up an old closed-cell sleeping pad and added separators which I can slip between camera and extra lens, and around the sides to snug the fit:

 

 
I rest the camera back against the side closest to the bike saddle, with the lens facing aft. The spare lens (in a plastic freezer bag) goes face-down next to the lens mounted on the camera, and is held snugly in place with strips of foam. There’s room for a few odds and ends if I want them inside the camera bag. With the camera kit packed, I pull the top edges of the foam over the kit and zip the cooler lid closed.

 

 
While the hook-and-loop tabs on the rack trunk are substantial and have good grip, I couldn’t stop thinking about how awful I’d feel if the trunk was knocked free of its moorings when riding a rough road, so I used a length of heavy-duty cord to form a lanyard that lets me securely tie the bag to the bike rack without impairing my ability to get inside pockets or the main compartment:

 

 
I looped the cord through the aft D-ring on the trunk lid, ran the ends through the near D-ring, then down around the rack before bringing the ends up through the near D-ring once more before securely tying the knot. The loose ends are tucked under the mesh flap. I can unzip the lid or expand the trunk without the lanyard getting in the way, but the trunk won’t go flying into a ditch if all four flaps fail at once (not likely, but you never know!). Here’s a photo of the trunk in use, with the top flap pulled back with the lanyard in place:

 

 
When I want to stop and shoot pictures, I park, unzip the top flap of the RR-16, unzip the cooler, remove the camera, put the camera strap over my head, and shoot away. The trunk rack makes a nice platform, and if I’m going to be away from the bike’s side, I zip the top trunk flap shut to keep out dust and drizzle. It takes a bit of time to extract my camera from the trunk, but it’s worth knowing the camera kit is safe and protected as I ride, while still being accessible. If I want to take quick shots without the bother of dismounting, I pull my point-and-shoot Canon from my handlebar bag. By and large, I’m very satisfied with the LG RR-16 rack trunk, and I expect to put in many hundreds of miles with it as my camera bag.

 

 
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