Favorite type of dry bag or dry sack?

[Dan Foster]

What's your preferred brand/model or material for small dry bags? I've been using a small polyurethane coated-nylon dry sack for my first aid supplies and other day-hatch essentials. Recently filled them with water and noticed lots of pinhole leaks. My clear PVC dry bags are bombproof, but they don't slide well past each other when packing for camping. Favorite alternatives?

[rfolster]

I absolutely LOVE the SealLine Storm Sack dry bags. I have found the fabric to have the best level of strength, abbrasion resistance, and flexability, while the inside does not have the sticky rubber feel that makes it hard to pack some materials. Although limited in color and sze choices, I have a 2.5L, 5L and 10L in each color, which allows me to sort my gear just fine. I don't use anything over a 10L because it is too hard to fit into the hatches. I also use the Sea To Summit eVent compression bags for my sleeping bag and blanket and one SealLine See clear bag for my miscellaneous gear kit.

FYI - For keeping track of what is in your bags, you can use a trick that I learned from Peter Brady (why I of all people didn't think of this - I will never know): use colored electrical tape and fold a piece around the d-ring on the bag, then use a sharpie to write what's in the bag. Easy, cheap, and easily modified.

[NateHanson]

Sea To Summit "Big River" is durable, flexible, and slippery.

[Brian Nystrom]

There's also the DIY approach using heat-seal Nylon. Making dry bags with this stuff is incredibly simple. You cut it to the desired size and shape, heat seal the edges to form the bag and sew on an appropriate length strap...done! I made a bunch in various sizes so I can organize my gear in them. I have two colors of fabric that help to differentiate what's in the bag (red for emergency gear, yellow for food and other often used gear).

I do use some commercial dry bags, mainly in the larger sizes, but I purchased them before I learned how to make my own. Commercial bags do have the advantage of being true cylinders, as opposed to large pouches and they're probably stronger in high stress situations, but I've never had a failure with my home-made bags.

[jason]

Sea To Summit "Big River" is durable, flexible, and slippery.

I too would receomend the Big River ones.

[Suz]

I third the Sea to Summit - Big River dry bags. I use mainly the 8's and do use a bigger one for the sleeping bag and as it is too big, I put my sleeping clothes in it (long undies).

I have made dry bags in the past but found that the cost of the material and time just wasn't worthwhile for me. I now use those as sacrificial "POOP KITS". Those will carry my wag bags out when I am camping.

[Dan Foster]

I'll remember never to borrow a spare dry bag from you, Suz!

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'd been leaning towards the SealLine Storm dry bags, so I'm glad those get positive reviews. I hadn't come across Sea To Summit "Big River" bags in my research. I think I'll get one of each now and try to get a feel for their strengths and weaknesses in the off-season.

I've got a pair of SealLine Taper Dry Bags that fit nicely around my skeg box. No complaints with those, although I bought them before I learned the "smaller is better" approach to packing for kayak camping. I keep them filled with the air pillows that Amazon and other online retailers use for shipping, and keep them in my unused hatches on surf and rough-water paddles. That way, if someone blows a hatch cover, I've got 90L of flotation nearby.

[josko]

Dan, maybe the question is: what are you trying to put in them? Walt-mart sells three assorted-size small dry bags for ~$10 that seem ideal for much of what I carry. Small (blue) just fits an air mattress, small down sweater, etc. Mediums (red) go for daily lunches, toiletries, emergency signalling,etc. Large (yellow) are for first aid/repair kits, camp 'essentials' etc. Then I got clothes and a sleeping bag (SeatoSummit eVent compression sacks), and then it's food which goes in either Sealine 20l bag (in front of footpegs) or SeatoSummit 'Hydraulic' for the back deck. The rest of my gear doesn't need dry sacks. I find I can deal with just one compression sack per (front/rear) compartment; everything else is either small Wal-mart bags or no bags at all (tent, stakes, stove, fuel, ... Heaviest items go in the bag just ahead of footpegs.

Incidentaly, Wal-mart bags last longer than Sealine bags. Sealine tends to split at the top fold, and Wal-mart buckles come off.

I can get ~70 lbs of stuff in a 65l SeatoSummit 'hydraulic' bag on the back deck of a loaded Explorer before primary stability is gone. It's easy enough to compensate trim by loading all the heavy stuff up forward. I'll talk more about this at our upcoming talk.

[Dan Foster]

Josko, I've been using Outdoor Products 3-Pack Ultimate Dry Sacks, which sound the same as the Walmart dry bags you mentioned. My first aid and survival supplies have lived in the red bag, which goes in my day hatch or in my backpack for hiking. I have six of these bags now, and after one failed and ruined a cheap phone (while foolishly stuffed in my PFD while playing in surf), I've been leak-testing them by filling with water. My first aid supplies have never gotten wet, but the bag they are in doesn't hold water without leaking from numerous pinholes in the fabric and seams.

So I guess I'm looking for at least two grades of small dry bags:

1. Absolutely waterproof to keep first aid/fire starters and electronics bone dry no matter what.

2. Waterproof enough to keep clothes and camping gear dry enough to be usable throughout a trip.

p.s. On the subject of stoves, what salt-water protection does a Jetboil need? Nothing?

[John Martinsen]

I don't trust electronics to bags, only boxes. I really liked Otter boxes, but I'm not sure those are even made anymore.

Trash compactor bags are great for waterproofing things. Use them inside a nylon stuff sack, squeeze out excess air, then twist remaining bag into a tail and tuck down the side of the stuff sack. For something critical like a sleeping bag use two. With a folded over sleeping mat and a marker you can also use the compactor bag as a white board.

Most of my sil nylon dry bags developed pin hole leaks after a few seasons of hard use, the pvc stuff is still going strong.

The stove is probably fine without a bag, not sure how the ignitor will work if wet though, only part I would worry about with the salt.

[djlewis]

For compressing soft stuff -- sleeping bags, fleece clothes -- the only bag that actually works (or did, as of a few years back) is the OR (Outdoor Research) Hydroseal-Drycomp. Here's my Amazon comment from -- gee whiz -- over 6 years ago.

http://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Research-Hydroseal-DryComp-Sack/product-reviews/B0007PR966

For soft, compressible things -- like fleece clothing and sleeping bags -- this is the ONLY combination dry bag and compression sack that actually works to compress and keep the contents dry. So, it's the one that kayakers, for whom space is a premium, should use for their clothing and sleeping bags.

Why? In a nutshell, it has two separate chambers. The inner one is like a standard stuff sack with a drawstring. Then there's an outer extension with a dry bag roll top. Outside of the inner chamber are four good compression straps (five straps would haven been better, but that's a minor point).

You compress and seal against water in separate steps. First fill the inner chamber with your sleeping bag and/or clothes and cinch it with the drawstring, leaving the outer/upper extension chamber flapping open. Next compress the inner chamber with the straps until it's rock hard. Finally, roll down the outer chamber and seal it against water in standard dry bag fashion.

With all other, single chamber bags (including OR's) you are simultaneously compressing and sealing, and it just doesn't work -- you will get good compression OR a good seal, but not both. Trust me -- I have a box full of them.

[scamlin]

David:

Great review for the OR Hydroseal-Drycomp bag, but I checked Amazon for the product, not available. Checked OR's website, not longer made. (They do have some fancy compression dry bags with permeable fabric, yada, yada.)

Guess you could replicate the original with a non-dry compression sack and a separate, appropriate sized drybag.

Scott

[John Martinsen]

I'm telling you, trash compactor bags work great inside a non-waterproof compression bag, save the money for some other piece of gear. Put a dry pair of socks, ear plugs, teddy bear, small container of Goldbond powder, clean underwear in there, helps save space in your clothes dry bag. Keeps all your sleeping stuff in one place. Also works great for something like a tent body, put it in a separate stuff sack from the fly and poles. Keeps the tent body dry and let's you pack it down nice and small, find another small stuff sack for the fly.

[rfolster]

djlewis, I don't understand why you believe that Outdoor Research is the "ONLY" compression drybag to use. Poor choice of word, perhaps? Many of us have been using the Sea-To-Summit eVent drybags, which work very well at compressing soft stuff and keeping it dry.

Edited February 3, 2015 by Bearded Recluse

[Dan Foster]

After several years of use and abuse, I gave all of my drybags a dunk test today.

Testing procedure: each bag was weighted with a dumbbell and the lower portion of the drybag was submerged for 10 minutes in a bucket with 6" of water. I purposefully kept the roll-top closure of the bag above water, so any leakage would be due to failure of the bottom seams, pinholes, or the failure of the fabric itself.

SealLine Storm Sack 5L, circa 2015, "210D high-vis polyurethane coated nylon" - major leaks (several tablespoons of water). I love the loop on the bottom of this bag for attaching it to packrafts or deck lines, or for clipping it through the waist and sternum straps on a backpack. But it isn't waterproof. Turning it inside-out and filling with water shows numerous leaks through the seam-sealed stitching where the bottom joins the sides.

Sea to Summit Big River 8L, circa 2015, "lightweight, waterproof TPU-coated 420D nylon, with a 10,000mm waterhead" - minor leaks (about a tablespoon). On inspection, three small punctures found in bottom. I expect I can return it to service with a few drops of Aquaseal.

SealLine Baja 8L, circa 2018, "1,000D 19 oz. Scrim-reinforced vinyl side with heavy duty 1,000D 30 oz. Scrim-reinforced vinyl bottom" - no leaks

SealLine Kodiak Taper 20L, circa 2013, "purge valve to eliminate excess air" - major leaks through the purge valve on one of my two bags. Follow-up testing shows that if the valve has gear and clothing stuffed tightly against it from the inside, like in actual use, it doesn't leak.

Sea to Summit eVent Compression Dry Sack 20L, 2015, "PU-coated 70D nylon, with a 40D nylon air permeable/waterproof base; 10,000mm waterhead" - no leaks

Cheap red/yellow/blue Outdoor Products small dry bags - major leaks.

Edited March 30, 2022 by Dan Foster

[Nancy Hill]

Most of my dry bags are either Sea to Summit, Outdoor Research,  or SealLine.  Last summer, after returning from a kayak camping trip, I hurriedly emptied the contents of my car onto the garage floor. This included all of my gear that was still packed in the Sea to Summit and Outdoor Research drybags. Overnight, we had a leak that flooded the garage floor where my stuff was. Sadly, almost every bag leaked. There was about an inch of water on the floor surrounding the bags. They leaked through the fabric/seams, not the rolled top. I sometimes carry a bag on my deck with the rubber-like coating material. That one has not leaked, but as others have said, they do not slide into hatches easily. All of my bags still look like new and are in very good shape (and what people consider quality brands), but still, most leaked after sitting in water for an extended period of time.

Am I upset about the leaking? Well, yes and no. I have been kayak camping for nearly 30 years and (knock on wood), I haven't flooded any of my hatches or gotten enough water in to leak through a drybag and ruin a trip.  I still use drybags for sleeping bag, clothes and other items  but I do not worry about leaking because I trust the integrity of my hatches. For me, drybags are more about sorting things out and compressing them and offering "splash" protection more than absolute waterproofness.

If I have something that really needs to stay dry (drugs or electronics) I will use a ziplock bag inside the drybag. Otherwise I am not going to worry about it. The drybags will work well enough when loading in the rain, or if I accidentally drop one in the water for a second. 

So, bottom line for me is that if I have water leaking into a hatch to the degree that it will flood my drybags, I will fix that rather than buying different drybags or worrying about they ones I have. The only drybag that needs to stay dry is one I might carry on my aft deck. The rubber-like coating on those seams to be very waterproof.

I agree with Dan about the Outdoor Products 3-pack. They are terrible. 

Do we worry unnecessarily about how waterproof our drybags are (other than one we might carry on deck)? 

 

 

 

 

 

[gyork]

23 hours ago, Nancy Hill said:

I still use drybags for sleeping bag, clothes and other items  but I do not worry about leaking because I trust the integrity of my hatches.

Do we worry unnecessarily about how waterproof our drybags are (other than one we might carry on deck)? 

Only use a dry bag for my sleeping bag, when on the water. Occasional use of a medium-to-large drybag for clothes, stowed inside my tent vestibule.