RT @campingblogger: RT @roughin_it: Great News for Michigan Campers. DNR to keep open 23 State Campgrounds prev. set to close http://t.c ... - 11 June 2011, 5:33 am - View »
Ed Stafford nominated for National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. All amazing stories. http://tinyurl.com/2w2yeh7 - 18 December 2010, 7:04 am - View »
The fire is the main comfort of the camp, whether in summer or winter, and is about as ample at one season as at another. It is as well for cheerfulness as for warmth and dryness.
Terrible tag line notwithstanding, Smokey Bear has been a fixture in the camping world for longer than I've been alive. This year, he turns 65 and the celebration will be held in the Wayne National Forest (in Ohio). Smokey was "born" on August 9th, 1944.
Before our annual trip this year, I was looking all over the place for my old dry bag. I bought it a few years ago for a rafting trip, but it seemed to have migrated to someplace hidden. I started looking around online and in some of the local stores for a replacement, and I was surprised to find that the technology has changed quite a bit in the passing years.
The old bag was heavy plastic. Mine was clear, but you could also get them opaque. Clear seemed to make the most sense, since you could see what gear was inside. I don't specifically remember the quality of the bag, but it was stout (and heavy). The closure was pretty standard... put your stuff inside, squeeze out what air you could, fold the top over a couple of times, then close the clasp and your stuff stayed dry... at least in theory. I recall a tiny bit of water getting inside, but not so much that it caused any major problems.
Fast forward to what's available today. You can still get the "old style" heavy plastic or rubber versions... and I'm sure that they've improved. What I found (and ultimately ended up buying) was actually a bag that was thin, light, completely water-proof, and very compressible. The fabric is called "eVent" at it worked flawlessly on my last couple of trips. I've packed enough clothes for four days into a space about 12 inches in diameter by 6 inches in height. This is perfect for storing in one of my saddle bags on my motorcycle, and takes up so little space in my backpack that I could actually go with a smaller pack!
My experience with the pack was perfect. No water got in as far as I noticed in the field, and on our most recent camping trip it actually sat out in the rain for a while!
"Lab" testing shows a little water getting in (see the videos below). I think that the small amount of leakage was due to two factors: First, repeated compression and decompression will probably suck some water through the material (as in the submersion test). It should be noted that the instructions specifically say "do not submerge." I would think that the likelihood of this happening in the field is pretty minimal. Once the bag has decompressed as far as it can (assuming that the compression straps are secured), there should be little stress put on the fabric. Second, the high pressure from the hose in the second video probably forced some water through the eVent material. This is probably completely unrealistic in the field. The pressure generated from a garden hose is far higher than anything except a pretty significant waterfall.
As for space, the bags come in several sizes. The one that I tested is the 20-liter version.
Overall, I would say that the bag performed admirably. I have to knock off 1/2 camp-fire for the results of the submersion test, even though the instructions say not to do that. In the real-world, it's entirely possible that your stuff would fall into a river on a canoe or rafting trip. As I said, on the actual trip, everything in the bag stayed perfectly dry. This flawless performance combined with the convenience of a compression sack and the light weight means that I will be purchasing more items made with eVent materials.
Have you tried any other gear made from eVent material? We'd love to hear about your experience in the comments!
2010-10-15 04:29:38
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Marc
- Excellent Test
Excellent tests. I would agree that the likelihood of submersion, due to tipping of canoes or things just falling out is pretty good. More so on rivers than lakes perhaps. In any scenario, the last thing you want is a wet sleeping bag or clothes, so its good to test those situations out. It would be interesting to try the submersion again, going more methodically, and perhaps in a bigger tub, to see if just being submerged, versus forced into a small space, would lead to water getting inside. Perhaps your assistant could take it in the bathtub?
In 99% of the scenarios its likely to face, seems like it would work great.
Excellent tests. I would agree that the likelihood of submersion, due to tipping of canoes or things just falling out is pretty good. More so on rivers than lakes perhaps. In any scenario, the last thing you want is a wet sleeping bag or clothes, so its good to test those situations out. It would be interesting to try the submersion again, going more methodically, and perhaps in a bigger tub, to see if just being submerged, versus forced into a small space, would lead to water getting inside. Perhaps your assistant could take it in the bathtub?
In 99% of the scenarios its likely to face, seems like it would work great.