I noticed most drybags are opaque. but I found these Heeta bags that are a clear plastics. there are also some with a window like these.
Obvious advantage is you can see what is inside and don’t have to open the bag 100 times to triple-check if you packed everything. But are they equally as sealed and good? The reviews are good, but that doesn’t always mean much.
Yes, there are 1000 dry bag reviews online. But most look like infomercials and paid reviews.
I have the ones with the windows (these https://amzn.to/3zzwK9r) and they are fine. I carry one or two on every trip and like how the shape allows them to fit into day hatch easily, so they have the essential items.
I have a bunch of clear material ones but don’t like the material on them as it is sticky - makes it real hard to load a kayak up with lots of bags, as they don’t slide past each other. Don’t have any near by to check brand I have.
Yes, I don’t like the stickiness or texture of the all clear plastic bags either. The clear window bags are OK. If I am using multiple dry bags I usually just use different brands or different colors of the same brand, model, and size.
I wonder if the clear bags are more affected by UV than the other bags? I’m guessing they might be.
As for me personally, I don’t want one, and seriously doubt I’d use it if somebody gave me one.
So yeah, I think its a little gimmicky as far as I’m concerned; kind of like a clear plastic canoes.
My memory is not bad enough that I can’t remember what I put in what bag…
The bag that I use as a dump bag always has the same items in it
; except for the type of clothes I pack, which is dependent on the season.
BOB
I like the clear small bags for personal items. For larger dry bags I use color coding to find stuff.
Have been around for a long time, hardly a gimmick. Had a pile from our early days of kayaking when we jumped on bags for size not realizing that most of the plastic ones were stiffer and less pliable than we wanted. Great for canoes though.
Yes, the clear plastic bag material is decidedly stiffer than most other roll top dry bags.
I’m still using the one I bought when I took up yakking back in the 90s. It’s a SealLine See 10. I like the visibility, and judging by the way it’s held up so far, it’ll outlive my ability to make use of it.
Thanks for the replies. Good points on UV degradation. I should have mentioned, I’ll have an inflatable kayak, so it is more like a canoe and doesn’t need to squeeze into a hole, but will be exposed to the sun. I like to have a strap on it to tether to the boat in case the bag falls off, it doesn’t drift away.
I guess the UV-concern also will apply to the ones with a window. although one can turn that window down. but the interface between bag and window could be a weak point for leaks.
With that said, I just get an opaque one. I’ll get an orange one to add visibility with other colors to my boat (I’m wearing bright yellow shirt inc. PFD)
I still have several clear or tinted see-through dry bags. They worked as well as the coated fabric ones, except for one thing:
when tightly packing bags into sea kayak hatches, the material doesn’t slide. It wants to stick to the other bags, which makes such packing a little harder to do.
Most clear plastics will turn opaque, and even discolor over time when exposed to UV light, so keep them out of the sun as much as possible.
I’ve seen this happen on convertible car rear windows over time.
Not sure if these use the same plastic as those, but I imagine they might, which could be a problem, eventually. Keep them under cover, to prolong their life, just in case.
Clear plastic can stand up very well if it’s quality material. Look at clear curtains on boats they’re exposed constantly. They last many years.
What items that you carry are so important that you need to look at them every time you pick up or move the bag?
I don’t get it?
What not simply write what the contents of that “special bag” are in non erasible magic marker.
What is so important about seeing the contents of the bag? Is is your meds, SPOT, flashlight, fire starting material, first aid kit or other such emergency equipment? You don’t know where you keep that stuff, unless you can see it. Now if you had a map holder that allowed the viewing of the map; I could understand.
BOB
It can’t hurt to see the stuff.
True, I suppose.
I regret even writing what I did.
Much ado about anything of any conseqence.
BOB
If you have identical bags of the same size from the same maker of the same color a clear window can be helpful just to determine which bag is which. Some roll top dry bag manufacturers made their bags in only a single color in each size.
So long as you can see something inside the bag and can remember what items you packed together you really only need to see one item.
I too have a number of Seal Line See 10 and 20L bags from the 90’s and they have stood up to the test of time. They are ‘sticky’ compared to non-clear bags but having a few of these bags is handy.
Since I have had clear dry bags in my collection for close to 15 years, I am pretty sure they are not a gimmick, but I don’t like them. Being clear, I have noticed that they can form condensation on the inside if you leave them in the sun. Because I don’t like to throw stuff way, I keep my first aid gear in one, but I keep it inside another solid color bag. I also have my rescue gear pulleys, carabiners and tubular webbing in one and I keep them open when not on the river
I have a few of the clear ones. I keep them in one of my outbuildings to just take up valuable space. I like the soft urethane coated rip-stop nylon ones much better. I do the color coded packing method {different colors for different items}
If you haven’t looked check out the Army surplus bags. I buy the big rubberized laundry bags for 3 bucks and use them for storing things like PFDs and such and they also sell smaller dry bags with the quick close tops with one way air valves that help them pack down small. The government paid a fortune on this stuff and sells it off dirt cheap.