Stopped outside Medellín a young guy pulled up beside me with a variety of bags and cheap panniers attached by string.
Spying my flag and appreciating it's utility he borrowed my knife, hacked off the branch of a nearby bamboo tree and made his own! Attaching was easy as he had a ball of twine!
In México city lots of delivery guys ride old MTBs with a specially attached steel rack. They'll happily carry 40kg on the back.
Mind you, there's quite a lot of unorthodox setups in this part of the world too, just not as many.
Too many people, I think, are of the opinion that they need "the best" and set about acquiring it. It can be a handy way to defer actually going.
Some of the happiest people I have met on the road are the ones who use what's available however "inappropriate" according to the Internet.
Having said all that there is a value on a soaking wet day to knowing that my sleeping gear is bone dry in my Ortlieb.