We’ve all been there: a bike park on a hot day, carrying a helmet, even if you’re wearing even a mesh jacket, and wishing you’d gone in the car after all and were walking round in shorts and a t-shirt.
How cool would it be if we lived in a world where you could hang a couple of hundred quid worth of jacket and a helmet on the handlebars and walk away, confident that it would still be there when you came back.
With technology, you can.
We’ve known Deemeed for a long time now – I’ve been using a custom version of their excellent Discovery bag for years now – so when Thomasz showed me the Double Helmet Bag, which was selling like hotcakes from their stall at Prague, I was all ears.
It’s an obvious solution to an age-old problem, and while you might wonder how you’re going to fit an XL leather jacket with armour inside, never mind with a helmet – which is the alternative use of a bag intended to hold two helmets, and I would suggest the most likely – I’ve tried with four different jackets so far and each is swallowed whole, leaving more than enough space for a full face lid.
And it’s much more than just a waterproof sack that you can hang off your handlebars: this is a lockable at the opening, having drawn it closed using a steel rope that passes through the visible ends of a lighter steel rope that defines a mesh within the bag itself – a small enough grid to prevent large items being removed through it – before that rope goes on to lock the bag to the bike. Out of sight, out of mind and with a very visible restraint.
It can be a very audible restraint, too, if you opt for an Alarmed Lock in a hammer finish paint or chrome.
Mindful of the way that it will hang, you put your jacket in first – noticing that it is lined with a soft fabric that was specifically designed to protect delicate finishes – then with your gloves and any smaller items in your helmet, or stowed in the original carrying back, you put your helmet in second, open side first, and once you’ve drawn the neck closed all you can see is a small patch of helmet.
Then you hang it upside-down off the handlebar, or any other convenient point – closure at the bottom, so that it can’t fill with water if it should rain – lock it to the bike, and walk away, free of all the crap that you otherwise end up carrying around with you!
There are some obvious caveats: nothing is completely invulnerable to a determined thief, so make sure it is full visible to the rest of the world, and don’t think of it as an overnight solution … except perhaps at bike rallies where it will be infinitely more secure than your tent.
It is intended more as a robust deterrent than a safe, but as deterrents go, it has a lot going for it … which is why Thomasz was last seen rushing through the trading area when last seen, going to meet a colleague who had returned with fresh stocks.
It is as easily stowed on a Scout Bobber as the Ultra Limited, and it proved its worth even on a full dresser. In fact, I’d say that’s perhaps the optimum use for it.
How come?
Because while a Tourpak will famously hold two full-face helmets, it needs to be empty in the first place. When you’re touring it will be full, and you will be probably wearing full riding gear to cope with a broad range of conditions.
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best.