drybags.. Larger better? or more smaller ones?

[Clif]

Looking at some more dry bag space. So when loading on the raft, do most favor more smaller ones, or fewer large ones. curious how others do it.

I could get me another big one. Or more smaller ones. I kinda think organizing into different bags is easier. Only 1 or 2 that I open on the water. I do need a bit more room in dry storage tho. Tent and sleeping bags fill my large drybag. Another large one wold let me leave some of the smaller ones at home.

Is there a better way... or just preference?

[Eric Esche]

What ever floats your boat man - I like small float bags and .50 caliber ammoboxes as I can organize things when packing, but for the money, I like the big yellow 115 liter backpack one I got best, and the 5 gallon plastic buckets with the screw on Gamma Seal lids, and my 20 gallon pickle barrels. The buckets and pickle barrels are particularly good if you have anything you do not want crushed or bent like tent poles or cookies. And they can douple as floatation, or water containers when you go to take showers, wash dishes, or put out the fire. Hassle is the bigger the container, the harder it is to have to unload to get to the one thing Murphy says is packed on the bottom. Lableing what is in each with waterproof marker on ducktape works well for me. Pickle barrels I got have two handles on each, good for lashing in and they haven't pulled off yet. Only store I have ever seen the pickle barrels in were Ozark Mountain Trading company in Garfield, and they were the next size smaller, maybe 10 gallon. So an internet search for blue barrels and you can find them, same for the Gamma Seal lids, which will fit any standard rim bucket from 2.5 to 7 gallons. Hollar if you want me to find them for you. Shipping on the barrels can be expensive, but I lucked out the times I got mine. I got three for me and 3 for some other folks. Ryan says he wants some.

Eric

[okieboater]

Clif,

No matter how a person handles the rest of their gear, I recommend using a smaller dry bag sized just for your tent and ground cloth. I have been on many trips where it rained or snowed multiple days. Packing a wet tent in a dry bag with anything else will make the entire contents wet. I sometimes use a water proof bag inside the tent bag for the fly when it is wet. It is pretty miserable to sleep in a totally wet tent.

Recently I went from a extra large Jacks Plastic welding outfitter bag that had every thing in it to a small JPW bag just for my sleeping bag and Pillow (yup, that's right a nice pillow). And a medium sized JPW bag for every thing else. Since most of my multi day trips these days are on my own boat, I get to do this. If it is a long trip I go with either the medium or the extra large JPW outfitter bag, a tent bag, rolled up Paco pad and my roll up chair. If I am rowing I generally have a medium sized roll top bag or Watershed bag in the rowing compartment for stuff I need during the day. If I am kayaking I stick a smaller JPW bag called a canoe or kayak bag in one side of the kayak stern compartment.

Inside my big dry bag I use a series of smaller bags to keep my gear organized to make it easier to find. If at all possible I recommend a semi waterproof bag for gear stored in the big gear bags.

As a oarsman, when hauling some elses gear, it is nice to have just one large dry gear bag, one roll up chair and one small tent bag - also some folks have paco pads which can just be rolled up and stuck where ever they fit on the raft. This seems to be standard on most western river trips and is easier to pack. It is a good thing for folks to get their gear down to the raft that carried it as soon as they can after breakfast. Makes it much easier for the oar person to load if every gear bag is there early on.

For dry bags my choice is the Jacks Plastic Welding units. I have all three of their outfitter bag sizes and over the years have never had a leak. Other brands may be good as well but I have had leaks from several of them, maybe I just did not fold them right.

For a bag in the rowing compartment, the Watershed units are working well for me. I know several folks use the big watershed bags and have good luck with them as well. My JPW gear bags are many years old but still look relatively new and the hi cost of the larger Watershed bags is the main reason I have not used the big Watershed units.


JPW and Watershed are the two brands I have received great service from and I can totally recommend both.

[Crane]

For my personal clothing, etc., I have used a Watershed bag for years. It simply can't be beaten for easy access, seeing stuff, and staying water tight... so long as you squeeze the air out when you seal the thing... twice! I also use a medium Watershed bag for my personal stuff to have at hand next to my seat on the raft... again, easy access and water-tight.

For my tent and poles and ground-cloth, I use a "Tent Bag" sold by Cascade for about $20. It keeps everything pretty darned dry... particularly when I stack it on end with the roll-top up! I also splurge (on my raft) and keep my camp-chair in a similar "Tent" bag... I like a good, dry chair to sit in at the end of the day.

In cold weather, I sometimes take two sleeping bags along & haul them, a small pillow, a fleece-lined, water-proof GoreTex jacket with a hood, and a head-to-toe set of fleece in a roll-top Bill's Bag lined with a high-quality plastic garbage bag. (That bag and the tent come off first!) Yes, it's bulky, but so far, it's been dry!

Some years ago, Roger obtained several small, brown Olive Barrells. The seals are gone, but they still haul 30 beers each down-river with no danger of busted cans. I use a strap with a ring on it to tie them to the raft...

[RomanLA]

No matter how a person handles the rest of their gear, I recommend using a smaller dry bag sized just for your tent and ground cloth.

I definitely agree...that's how I pack for backpacking. My tent and rain gear each have their own dry bag, so they can be packed wet. My sleeping bag, along with the base layer and socks that I sleep in have their own dry bag. Then everything is organized into smaller dry bags to make it easier to find stuff.

[Bob Stout]

Be aware - Watershed Bags are now being made with a new material - very thin and slick. I have an Ocoee (their smallest), both old and new material - so far the new material has been OK on the Ocoee - however, my Colorado, next to largest, made of the new material is failing - the thumb loops are too far apart and very narrow, and are in the process of ripping off. I need to get off my "can" and send it back to Watershed for repair. The old style larger bags made with the "heavy" material never had this problem.

[fryingsquirrel]

My $ 0.02 : If you put everything in one large bag and it fails or you lose it...You're not gonna have a very comfortable sleep.
Medium sized, well organized bags work well. As has already been said, if you throw everything into a large bag, the one item you want will invariably be on the bottom.
Have been using old NRS bags for years with minimal complications.
Can anyone comment further on the durability/reliability of the new bags that are made from the thin slick material?
Jon Ellwood

[GutIt]

Yes I can comment on those bags, Jon.

I had a medium sized one I used in the back of my WW kayaks for lunch, rescue gear, the usual. Very lightweight and this one had an inflation valve and served as a nice added piece of floatation as well. It actually held air quite well. They are usually more expensive than the PVC types.

It failed miserably in what I thought was an ironic way. I left some drybag surprise in it, which I always do in my lunch bags. Drybag Surprise is what ever you had for lunch the last three trips, didn’t eat, and of course forgot about until this trip! Granted, I shouldn’t do this, but hey, it wouldn’t be a surprise otherwise!

A mouse ate right through it to get to my drybag surprise. Never had this happen over years and years of using the plastic, rather than nylon type material. Bill’s Bags, Baja bags, whatever. I don’t think I’ll get another nylon. I’m going to gradually change over to Jack’s Plastic Welding bags as needed. They’re kind of high too, but I think are the best built bags I have seen. And never have I seen one fail yet.

I also have a Pacific Outdoors duffel type bag (combo waterproof zipper/roll closure) that I love. It solves the “No-Matter-What-You-Want-It’s-Always-On-The-Bottom Syndrome. Never had it leak for three seasons, but never lost it overboard in a Class IV yet either. It has a purge valve to release air to compress nicely.

For me it’s sleeping gear (pad, blankey/sleeping bag, pillow, towel) in a Bill’s Bag. Tent in a separate bag with footprint/fly maybe in trash bag (in same dry bag) in case they are wet. Easy to unload and carry first and get to tent staking spot. Clothing in duffel if I am carrying a bunch of it in cold weather. Various other things in various other bags depending. I like the smaller bag option as much as I can because it’s just easier for me to pack several smaller bags into a boat rather than fewer larger ones. More options. But as mentioned, I can stuff everything I really need into one Bill’s, and an additional medium bag if someone else is carrying it in their rubber. One Bill’s Bag if it is a warm weather run. I find that raft captains would rather see me load them up with beer and cocktail supplies than a bunch of personal baggage! It is, after all, the gift that keeps on giving, plus you lighten that load over time!

[RomanLA]

A mouse ate right through it to get to my drybag surprise. Never had this happen over years and years of using the plastic, rather than nylon type material. Bill’s Bags, Baja bags, whatever.

I've been using the SealLine Baja bags for whitewater and love them. As a side note, I use the lightweight ones by Sea to Summit and Outdoor Research for backpacking. In the future, I'll only use the ones with eVent though...ripped a bag from compressing my pack with air trapped in it I think.