Drifta Canvas Rear Wheel Bag
In this post we show you our Drifta canvas rear wheel bag, or dirty gear bag as they are sometimes called. We take an in depth look at the bag and show you what we love about it after using it for almost 12 months now. We have been asked so many times about this Drifta canvas real wheel bag so hopefully all your questions will be answered.
If you have comments or questions please leave your feedback in the comments below or send us a message on Instagram.
Why THis Wheel Bag?
Before we purchased our Drifta canvas rear wheel bag, we had a real cheap dirty gear bag that we used to use from a well known large online retailer. We never felt confident having this cheap bag hanging off our rear wheel filled with all our rubbish. Last thing we wanted was a strap to break or come loose, and have it fall off with rubbish going everywhere and causing a big issue. We have heard a few bad stories with cheap rear wheel bags falling off the back of 4WDs. So it was time for a change.
We usually do a bit of research on products before we buy them. Looking at all the alternatives out there and the pros and cons of each. We had our eye on a couple of brands but after Drifta did a few updates to the storage options in their canvas rear wheel bag, we decided this would be the best fit for us. Check out all the cool features that we discuss in detail below.
Highlights
Check out the highlights of the Drifta canvas rear wheel bag:
- Austalian made.
- Australian canvas.
- Great storage options, highlighted below.
- Fire pit storage.
- Double removable PVC bin bags with handles.
- Easy to empty rubbish.
- Easy to clean.
- Front pocket storage.
- Super strong.
- Different colour highlights if that is your thing.
- Looks good.
- Handles the rough stuff.
- Keep Australia clean and free from rubbish!
Australian Made
Imported products have their place in a small country like Australia (population wise, definitely not land size). We would be naive to think that we could have only Aussie made products. However, when it comes to camping gear there are some awesome Aussie companies that make some quality gear. Drifta is one of these, and from what you can see on our blog we use quite a few Drifta products.
Drifta have to be the industry leader when it comes to canvas products. They use quality Australian canvas and each individual product is hand made in their factory in Gloucester NSW. We would love to get down that way and check out the Drifta headquarters one day. Anyway, back to the real wheel bag. So we try and buy Aussie made when we can, of course this is not always possible and depending on your budget this might not be feasible. But remember, buying quality products, that may be more expensive, will more than likely be part of your setup in 10 years’ time and still working good. Rather than cheap inferior products that will need to be replaced within a few years.
So when it came to purchasing our real wheel bag we decided to go Aussie made.
Multiple Storage Options
Another big factor that came into our buying decision was storage options. When it comes to a rear wheel bag this is not something that most brands have incorporated into them. Usually there is one big opening on top of the bag and you throw all your rubbish or gear into the bag from this top opening. Drifta decided to make their rear wheel bag super versatile by giving you many different options when you place your order. So you can basically buy the rear wheel bag without any liners and additional pockets, like any other wheel bag. But if you want a bit more storage options and features, you can request to have one or two removable PVC liners on the inside. Additionally, if you have a folding fire pit you can even request a canvas pocket on the inside of the bag to store this away nicely. Very clever use of space and we don’t believe there is any other product on the market that allows you to do this. You also get a front pocket with a separate zipper for even more storage options.
Check the pics above which give you a good indication of the Drifta canvas rear wheel bag that we use.
Removable PVC Liners
As mentioned above, Drifta have incorporated removable PVC liners that can be added to the rear wheel bag. You can choose to have one large one, or two smaller ones. We wanted two liners as this allows us to use one as a bin for general rubbish and the other for either recycling or other gear like dirty or wet clothes. These removable PVC liners are absolutely awesome. They have velcro around the top of them which helps them stay in place inside the rear wheel bag. They also have two handles, one on each side, so that you can pull these out and carry them to the bin when you need to empty them. Being removable also makes it super easy to clean. Pull them out, and then using a hose, rinse them and then hang them out to dry. Being PVC they are fairly waterproof (not 100% as they have sewn in seems but fairly water tight) so any leaks are contained within the liners.
Check out the short little video we created showing you how well these work on Instagram by clicking this link here.
Optional Fire Pit STorage
Another great feature of the rear wheel bag is the option to have a canvas pocket added to the inside of the wheel bag to store a foldable fire pit. Storage in our 4WD is one of the areas that we spend a lot of time trying to get practical with easy access to all our gear. Having the ability to store our fire pit outside of the Cruiser and out of the way works really well for us. We have a medium size fire pit that fits in this pocket easily. We also throw in our foldable charcoal starter as well. The fire pit is not super light so initially we thought this additional weight in the bag might cause some issues. But we have found that it works perfectly. Because they have added the pocket on the spare wheel side of the bag, and you can strap it in nice and tight, it keeps the fire pit securely against the rear wheel with little movement. After 5,000 kms on rough roads we had no issues at all with this additional weight in the rear wheel bag. The only thing we found was that you need to ensure that the strap across the top of the spare wheel must be fitted just behind the side tred on the sidewall to stop it sagging. We have 285mm wide tyres and can just fit the strap on the side of the top of the tyre. If you had wider tyres then this might be a struggle to do.
Front Pocket Storage
You also get a front zippered pocket for additional storage options. Although not necessary this is another great little storage spot for gear you don’t want to store in your 4WD. Not many other wheel bags have this as standard which we find surprising.
We use this front pocket for a range of things. This includes storing our jerry can pourer in a sealed bag, snatch strap and sometimes other wet or dirty gear depending on the type of trip we are doing.
Easy to Clean
As we highlighted above, the removable PVC liners make it all super easy to clean.
Firstly the removable liners isolate your rubbish or dirty gear from the canvas. Secondly, being able to remove the liners means you can simply grab a hose and rinse the PVC liners out easily. After weekend trips, we usually just have to clean the PVC liners depending on what we have been throwing in them. After a longer or dirtier trip, we remove the rear wheel bag, take out the PVC liners and then hose the bag down. The bottom of the canvas bag has two drain holes as well, making cleaning super easy.
After the bag and liners have been hosed out, we simply hang them on the washing line to dry. Being canvas it drys out quickly.
Very STrong
Having a bag hanging off your spare wheel with a bit of gear inside needs to be strong. The last thing you want is the bag straps to fail throwing your rubbish and gear all over the place. Especially if you are unaware that this has occurred and you leave a bunch of rubbish out in the bush, this is the last thing you want to be doing. The Drifta rear wheel bag is super strong. The straps are really thick and go through and around the bag with a lot of stitching. We can’t really see how it would be possible for the straps to break the way they have sewn them into the canvas. The clips used are large and heavy duty. All the zips are large YKK zips that can stand the test of time.
Different Colour Options
If this is your kind of thing there is the option to change the colour of the trims on the bag. From orange, red, blue or pink, a bit of customisation is possible. The canvas is black.
Overall Verdict
Awesome bit of gear. Great storage options that makes this rear wheel bag the pick of the competition by a long way. Very well made here in Australia using Australian canvas. Very strong straps that won’t break and can handle thousands of kms of rough roads. The removable PVC liners are an amazing idea and work so well. The fire pit storage is another fantastic idea, exactly what you would expect from a company like Drifta. Have been very happy with the bag for almost 12 months now.
If you have tyres wider than 285mm you might struggle to get the top strap behind the side of tyre. See the pics below showing you when we had the bag set on the tyre incorrectly vs correctly. The first one is outside Innamincka Hotel where the top strap is setup behind the top of the tyre. The second picture is in the Simpson Desert where we had the top strap sitting on top of the tyre, causing the bag to sag. If you plan to carry a fire pit you will want this strap to sit on the side of the tyre to stop it sagging due to that additional weight. If you aren’t carrying a fire pit then this won’t be an issue at all.
We would buy another one again tomorrow if we needed to. Haven’t seen any other rear wheel bag that comes close to the Drifta rear wheel bag. Another quality product by Drifta.
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- Innamincka Hotel - Setup Correctly
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- Simpson Desert - Setup Incorrectly
Keep Australia Clean!
Finally, the best thing about having a good quality Australian made rear wheel bag, is keeping Australia clean! We think it should be mandatory for every 4WD to have one of these to ensure rubbish is removed from campsites, National Parks and everywhere else in Australia. We are sick and tired of having to clean up after other people who think it is ok to leave all their rubbish lying about the place. The efforts some people go to to try and hide their rubbish as well is crazy! Just pick it up, take it out and dispose of appropriately. It is not hard.
Ok rant done. We hope you enjoyed this post on our Drifta canvas rear wheel bag. If you have any comments, questions or feedback then please let us know by commenting below or sending us a message on Instagram.
If you would like to see this Drifta canvas rear wheel bag on their website, then click here.
For more posts on the gear we use then check them out here.
Thanks for reading legends.
The thoughts of Peter.
Disclaimer – we bought this gear, it is not a sponsored post. This is our honest opinion after using the product for almost 12 months.
