Bagging It

so keith has been working on baggage for his motorcycle. on sunday we went on a marathon shopping trip to get some bags to go on the rack that he has built. one of the things we found was saddle bags at the army surplus store. keith didn't want them vibrant army green.

so we got some dye from wal-mart and plunked the bags in the dye in a bucket in the backyard. we used a handle from a plunger to poke the bag and keep it aggitated in the dye bath for 30 min. and turned the bag around in the bath using our hands with some nitrile gloves on. we were hoping for a charcoal gray. it came out darker.... still definately green, but darker, muted. so that came out alright.
UPDATE:
here's some pictures of bag modifications. for additional support we added some straps that go from the back of the bag, around the bottom and then will hook into the existing D-rings. also added was a microsuede backing to the bag which covers the straps on the back side of the bag so things don't rub as much on the seat of the bike.