Ok. Recent weekend trip loaded down. Me the kids and packing whatever may be needed, or if wanted we had it. Just about anyway.
The collapseable/water resistant car top carrier worked good, held lots of stuff.
Now I think if I had several dry bags I could load/pack differently not to mention easier.
Any way, what’s some good ones? Also about what size for Coleman stove? Most I looked at didn’t list deminsions but said 6L, 20L, etc…
Heck I don’t use that metric crap. Need reg deminsions.
Thanks
Bg
SealLine dry bags
See their web site for dimensions in both metric and English:
http://www.seallinegear.com/packs.asp?Action=Boundary&Category=PacksDuffles
Doc
for touring kayaks…
For touring kayaks, I have found that about the 20 liter size is the largest that fits in most hatches. I can only fit 2 or 3 of these, plus my sleeping bag (that stuffs down to about the same size) into my 17 foot boat. I also have a bunch of 10 liter or so which can fit into the gaps.
I normally bring a backpack stove, which is small enough to fit into the dry bag I carry the food in. But if I used a larger stove, I likely would not put it in a dry bag. Except for added corrosion from salt water on it, I don’t think it would be damaged by getting wet (unless you have the battery start ones - then the battery could be an issue - but that would be too much like being at home for me).
keep that stove away
from any dry bag.
It will want to put holes in it. You can store stuff like pots and stoves in a wanigan. Or if you are economical, though they might not be watertight, Sterilite bins would keep the metal heavy stuff together.
I am having a hard time finding York Boxes which were ideal for food and equipment. Kind of like a hard sided waterproof cooler.
Whatever you get, get good quality
All my “economy” dry bags have quickly become MOSTLY dry bags.
Pelican boxes are the best boxes going, and the prices indicate the same. NRS has some good stuff and they do have dimensions. If they don’t have dimensions on something, I’ve found their customer service reps to be VERY helpful when asked direct questions.
- Big D
York boxes no longer available.
Or at least that’s what I’ve heard and seen. Too bad, they were a nice poor-boy drybox.
As someone who does whitewater much more than flat water, I consider “dry bags” to be a misnomer. Submerge them for a while, your stuff is likely not dry when opened. Especially if you half-ass do the 3 flap routine.
Like previously mentioned what type
of bag depends on how much you want to spend and your philosophy on how you want to keep your gear dry. Do you want to just depend on the bag or put everything in giant zip lock bags inside a non-waterproof bag? The vinly bags are inexpensive but can leak if the lid is not rolled enough. I use zip lock bags inside the vinly dry bags because of that possiblility. Also, when you’re rooting around in the bag during the rain or emptying the bag having the gear in a zip lock bags keeps things dry. Even doing that I had wet gear the last swim I took on a Canadian trip last fall. Not a good feeling finding out that your gear is wet when it’s cold and rainy. It was mostly my fault though, since I was into the gear while paddling and didn’t spend enough time repacking the bags. I met someone on the trip that had a Watershed bag which seemed like a great bag to have. I found them on sale on the Internet, but haven’t tried it yet. I now use two Granite Bags for food and non-crtical gear and replaced the vinly with the Watershed bag (Navy Seals use them) that I’ll use for sleeping bags and clothes. I still intend to use a zip lock bag inside the Watershed since it helps keeps things organized and dry when the bag is open. Actually the Watershed bags isn’t any more expensive than a good canvas bag or the Granite Bags.
There are lots of stoves out there that are much better than the Coleman stoves. Sure they’re cheap, but they’re cheap. I owned several over the year, but now have an MSR Dragonfly and a MSR Wind Pro, both great stoves. I first had the Wind Pro but deciding that it got too expensive on long canoe trips to use canisters, I replaced it with the Dragonfly which is a multi-fuel stove. One gallon of fuel will last all season. I’ll use the canister stove on backpacking trips. FYI, empty canisters costs the parks up in Canada money to dispose of them because they are considered hazardous waste.
Spending money on better equipment over the years is a better investment. You don’t want your equipment failing on a trip or replacing it because it didn’t hold up.