Keeping your things dry especially when traveling in the jungle is an important consideration. There are many ways of protecting your gear from getting wet. One of them would be using a Dry Bag. Here are some samples of Dry Bags:
Dry Bags are great a solution, but not a 100% reliable. They may puncture, or with a lot of abrasion, tear a hole when you need it most! Sometimes the seams of bag may deteriorate causing leaks. For old Dry Bags, the waterproofing layer on the inside, may crack at the folds.
To add protection to the Dry Bag, do wrap your gear with plastic bag within the Dry Bag. Don’t tie a dead knot on the plastic bag, but just enough to reopen it with ease. Roll the top of the Dry Bag downwards with a minimum of 3 wraps before clipping.
To waterproof your packs, a “Thick” large garbage bag works well. It has to be the “Thick” type, so that it does not tear when packing. If you are packing a lot of sharp gears, double bag (use 2 garbage bags) your pack.
Firstly, insert your empty garbage bag in the pack. Make sure it fits in right to the bottom. There should be some excess at the top of the pack. Then insert your gears in the garbage bag. Compress the air out, the twist the top and tuck in the excess.
The garbage bag works so well, even if you temporarily drop your pack while crossing a river! Its cheap, robust and effective! Because of this, I’ve stop using Rain Covers!
Summary:
1. Waterproof gears with plastic bags even though you are using a Dry Bag. Its great way to recycle too!
2. Use thick garbage bags for waterproofing backpacks to avoid leakage.
3. Rain covers are not as effective as garbage bags.
4. A cheap and effective solution for keeping gears dry.
Note: If you find this article useful, you may also want to read the following:
Water Safety TIPS- useful for those who are always near water bodies