Need new dry bags, looking for opinions / ideas....

[WyoPadlr1]

I have had a pair of CKS "Bruneau Bags" for at least fifteen years now. Modified them with cool little steel purge valves and they have worked great. Hundreds of miles of self-support trips all over the west. But, they have finally crapped the bed. Nothing on the market comes close in design, at least from what I've seen. The Watershed "Futa" bags weigh at least twice as much empty, and I never was a fan of stuffing everything into a tapered bag. That's why I kept keeping my Bruneau Bags in decent repair as long as I could. Does anybody know of anything on the market that works like the Bruneaus and is truly watertight? Would appreciate hearing what other self-support junkies are using. Thanks.

[gh]

Watershed is the driest bag I have seen.

[kayakfreakus]

I have a wild wasser dry bag that I throw in the raft for trips like Westwater and non-self support that is not tapered I have been happy with for several years now. I believe it would fit in my creeker with the proper motivation and think it is about as heavy as the watershed.

But I agree with the watershed comment above, I use the Futa\Yukon combo when I overnight....

[WyoPadlr1]

Yeah, I know that people say they are really dry. But, I had a couple of tapered bags like that many years ago, and always hated them. So, when the Bruneaus came out, I switched and never had any problems with them staying dry. And, being able to top load them is a lot nicer. Also, their short, cylindrical shape works better: you can keep all your "must be dry" stuff inside and have a litte room behind them at the stern for stuff. I use a small aluminum coffee pot for my cook pot, with a small plastic cup, lexan fork and spoon inside. That fits perfectly behind the Bruneau right at the stern. Besides, like I said, the Watershed "Futas" are freaking HEAVY. One Futa weighs substantially more than BOTH Bruneaus together, I weighed them. Seems like there must be a way to make something lighter. Every ounce counts for self-support.

[COUNT]

I've got a couple seal-lines, an NRS, and a Watershed.

I throw the basic stuff in the seal-lines and have been very impressed. They don't seem durable and they seem too puny to keep anything dry. But I have had them in some, uhhh, questionable situations where I was basically resigned to spending that evening damp and amazingly everything came out bone dry. They're cheap, light, come in many sizes and you can get them with the window and purge valve.

I put the sleeping bag (most important self-support to thing to keep dry for me) in the NRS. It's a few years old, the rubberized drybag with buckles and you roll it. It's a little heavier than the seal-lines but lighter than the Watershed. I think it's called the Expedition. It has been in all sketchy situations the above said seal-lines have been in and has stayed 100% dry.

The video camera goes in the Watershed.

COUNT

[WyoPadlr1]

Thanks. A friend of mine mentioned those SealLines, too. I looked at them on their website, then emailed them about using them in a whitewater boat, specifically creeking. The SealLine people acted like I wanted to take their products to the moon They said, and I quote "we would not recommend our products for use in whitewater kayaks where the back of the boat might be regularly exposed to the direct forces of water." Duh. They kind of look like Bruneau bags, only lighter duty. You say you wouldn't trust your sleeping bag to them???? That isn't reassuring. I definitely trusted my sleeping bag to my Bruneaus, until this last season when both of them developed slight rips from shear old age (shit, I hope the same thing isn't about to happen to me.... ) But, for fifteen years of service, including a few ugly swims, they did righteously. Sure wish they still made them, maybe with waterproof zippers now. Ahh well, the search goes on.

Originally Posted by COUNT

I've got a couple seal-lines, an NRS, and a Watershed.

I throw the basic stuff in the seal-lines and have been very impressed. They don't seem durable and they seem too puny to keep anything dry. But I have had them in some, uhhh, questionable situations where I was basically resigned to spending that evening damp and amazingly everything came out bone dry. They're cheap, light, come in many sizes and you can get them with the window and purge valve.

I put the sleeping bag (most important self-support to thing to keep dry for me) in the NRS. It's a few years old, the rubberized drybag with buckles and you roll it. It's a little heavier than the seal-lines but lighter than the Watershed. I think it's called the Expedition. It has been in all sketchy situations the above said seal-lines have been in and has stayed 100% dry.

The video camera goes in the Watershed.



COUNT

[COUNT]

Would I trust my sleeping bag in them? Hmmm...well, we just got off a trip on Cat and my buddies didn't have dry bags so I loaned them my extra SL's. They stayed completely dry for the trip (there were no flips, either though). The way I think about it, if I'm wearing my boating gear, pretty much everything else I carry with me will be okay if it gets a little wet as long as I have a dry sleeping bag to curl up in at the end of the day. I think you'd be okay putting your sleeping bag in one but since I have a better option already, I play it safe. I go for several small drybags so it's easier to adjust the weight distribution. It also makes it feasible to have a nicer bag for the more important stuff. My .02.

COUNT

[WyoPadlr1]

That's what I love about the Bruneau design. You just open 'em up and put the heavier items forward & lighter stuff toward the back. I was always able to get good weight distribution that way. Seemed like my food load nearly always equaled my sleeping bag more or less, so those items loaded so they end up right behind my seat. The tapered designs like the Watershed Futa's force you to keep cramming shit in from the end that faces the most vulnerability to water pressure if you swim and your boat gets pinned (obviously we all try to avoid that, but it does happen occasionally). I just remember always cussing my old Voyager stow floats that were shaped and loaded just like the Futa's. The Voyagers weighed about half as much though, so at least they weren't sinking the boat to start with I think that is still my biggest beef with the Futa's: they seem ridiculously heavy for a situation where a lot of us are doing crazy shit to reduce weight by ounces.
My entire self-support shelter system (8'x10' sil-tarp, small piece of plastic ground cloth, 3/4 length super-light Therma-rest) weighs less than a pair of Futa's. I weighed 'em against each other. I've done a LOT of self-support trips (15 trips down the Clark's Fork Box, 17 Middle Feather's, several Deer Creeks & Mill Creeks in CA, tons of others) and it just seems like somebody out there could get their shit together and come up with super light, super water proof gear bags for these harder trips that require not only strenuous portages but often really long hike-in approaches. We hiked 8 miles uphill with loaded boats last summer to run the Elwha out in WA, and by the time I was halfway there I was cursing my decision to bring a freakin' toothbrush that I had squeezed a little toothpaste onto to avoid bringing the little travel tube of paste I paddle with guys who cut the handles off their toothbrush to cut down on weight (Mick Hopkinson was the first guy who showed me that one), so most of them are going to seriously scoff at the weight of the Futa's.
Ahh, what the hell. I'm just grousing because my favorite gear bags have shit the bed and there's no perfect replacement made of helium so it makes the boat lighter Maybe I should just start lifting more weights before boating season starts, or ski the backcountry with 4 or 5 1-gal jugs of water in my pack....... must be getting old and weak