Hey all,

First time Boundary Waters trip first week of September! How much dry storage capacity should I plan to have? To elaborate; I'm curious as to how much room in dry bags should I have for clothes, sleeping bag, etc? Understanding this is a tough question, We have nice sleeping bags and layers that compress down pretty small.

Equipment and waterproofing strategies vary but one 20L and one 10L roll top bag works for me.

This can be a tough question. I started out with borrowing a non-waterproof stuff sack for clothes and the stuff sack that came with my sleeping bag. Everything was then placed in a portage pack lined with a 3 mil garbage (contractor) bag. The contents of the pack stayed dry. From that trip onward, the lined portage pack strategy has kept the contents dry.

Having said that, I've used a 25 liter waterproof Granite Gear stuff sack for many years (the material in the GG sacks is flexible). That sack is for my clothes, books, and miscellaneous items. It is probably a bit too large: the size tempts me to take more stuff. Everything else goes in non-waterproof stuff sacks or compression sacks. I don't like stiffer vinyl dry bags because I find them harder to place together in a portage pack. Perhaps packing them would be easier if the portage pack wasn't lined with a 3 mil bag. I find that it is particularly annoying to try to slide anything past the transparent vinyl windows that are on some dry bags.

My suggestion: if you have standard stuff sacks, get your gear together and see what your total volume is.

If you are just talking about your clothes and sleeping bag, I use a 20L for clothes (one change of clothes, puffy jacket, and some odds and ends) and a 10L compression stuff sack for my sleeping bag. Obviously there is a ton of other gear (tent, tarp, cookset, tackle, water filter, etc) that is packed outside the dry bags.

We've come to really love Sea 2 Summit compression bags. It's the breathable "waterproof" version, the EVAC bags. They compress clothes and sleeping bags very well because they evacuate air while compressing them and they are "waterproof". Most of our gear still goes into dry bags so the main benefit of the S2S bags for us is the compression feature, but the fact that they are "waterproof" is an added bonus. IMO, certain items like sleeping bags should be double-bagged because a wet sleeping bag could be life threatening in a survival situation. And who wants a wet bag anyway?

But stuffing compression bags into dry bags still presents the need to have a packing strategy. 2 or 3 compression bags placed in a dry bag leaves gaps between each comp bag. It's amazing how much packing space is still usable in-between the comp bags. We use those spaces to stuff other items like sleeping pads, tent poles, tarp, etc.

20L - 6 days/5 nights of food (dehydrated meal dinners, meat sticks, tortillas, pb&j, oatmeal, trailmix, bars, etc.

10L - 1 change of clothes (1xPants/1xShorts/2x wool socks/1x underwear/1x LS Shirt/1x Alpaca sweater/1x down jacket/ 1x hat/1x gloves/1x baselayer or trunks depending on forecast.

10L Compression - Sleeping Bag.

Typically I'll bring 2 small dry bags, my sleeping bag stuff sack is sealed and I use a contractor grade trash bag as a pack liner. One dry bag is for my clothes, and the other is for miscellaneous loose gear, like repair gear and tools.

My dry bags are 10L, but I don't fill half of my gear sack. I don't even need my gear sack to be a drybag, but since I have one, I use it.

Honestly, I find the pack liner to be the first and best defense against wet gear. I don't really care if much of my gear is wet at any particular time, but I don't like carrying the extra water weight.

Like some others I use compression sacks (S2S EVAC) for sleeping bag and clothes which then go in a waterproof[ed] pack. You can get 5-mil clear plastic pack liners (like outfitters use). The size you need will vary depending on your clothing and gear. You should have a stuff sack that came with the bags and can find out its volume. You can use it to see how much you might need for clothes. If you get compression sacks in that size they will compress it down to ~half.

Like a couple of others have said, I just use a couple of compression sacks for my clothes and sleeping bag and put them in a contractor trash bag that lines my pack.

wshaffer: "... this is a tough question,..."

Why do you need to know this detail? Not sure what you would do with advice saying you need 16.3 liters, or whatever number.

Assemble your gear. Lay out your packs. Pack it. If you have more room, pack more gear. If your pack is over-full, pack less gear. No need to measure.

bobbernumber3: "

wshaffer: "... this is a tough question,..."

Why do you need to know this detail? Not sure what you would do with advice saying you need 16.3 liters, or whatever number.

Assemble your gear. Lay out your packs. Pack it. If you have more room, pack more gear. If your pack is over-full, pack less gear. No need to measure."

Most likely they are looking to buy a dry bag and are wondering what size they need. Without having a sack in hand and seeing for yourself just how much a 5L,10L or 20L sack will hold, it is hard to gauge what size stuff sack or dry bag to buy. Volume is just a difficult measurement to visualize.

A1t2o: "

Most likely they are looking to buy a dry bag and are wondering what size they need. Without having a sack in hand and seeing for yourself just how much a 5L,10L or 20L sack will hold, it is hard to gauge what size stuff sack or dry bag to buy. Volume is just a difficult measurement to visualize."





I sometimes respond to a vague question with a vague response then wait for the OP to clarify the question. Like you, I assume that the OP is in the market for a dry bag but he/she has provided few qualifying requirements and has not returned to the conversation.

Someone not returning to the conversation happens more often than I expect. Agree -hard to give a good response without some info.

boonie: "Someone not returning to the conversation happens more often than I expect. Agree -hard to give a good response without some info. "

Hey everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to reply! Some of you were more helpful than other despite my question being "vague", which I totally get.

I am in the market for a dry bag or two.

Some background on me. I'm a climber, guide, and on a rescue team. I have an assortment of backpacks from 75 to 110 liters and use pack liners often especially in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. However, a lot of the gear most paddlers carry, I'd never carry up the mountain. I mostly worry about snow etc, and less about being on a full on lake and the possibility of a canoe tipping over.

Some packing lists I've come across make it seem like paddlers put food, the kitchen sink, and their mother-in-law all into dry bags. Just trying to read between the lines to do the best I can :)

Like one poster said, volume in relation to the gear taken can be ambiguous.

Again, thank you everyone for advice on what to put into dry bags, dry bag brand names, and liner/ pack combos that work well/ don't work well together.

I'm open to any advice as a new paddler!

Cheers,

Thank you for the response. This is helpful! I might go slightly bigger trying to bring some more fresh food to accommodate some dietary restrictions.

I appreciate the response, and I can provide more info if you need. Working more than full time in the field takes me away from my phone and laptop. My trip isn't until September so fortunately time is on my side a bit.

Waterproofing strategies vary and this is my opinion. Water resistant packs or pack liners provide limited protection from rain, bilge water and capsizing. However, I find these packs or pack liners unnecessary because the majority of the equipment I take requires no additional waterproof protection and placing wet items, such as my tent, tarp or chair into one water resistant bag with my dry items, such as clothing and sleeping bag would cause cross water contamination unless I also place those items in a separate water resistant container.

Rain or shine, I move camp often and I only place items that I determine to require additional protection into waterproof bags. I use zip lock bags for small items such as medications and food and I use lightweight water resistant roll top bags for larger items such as sleeping bags and clothing.

Generally speaking people use waterproof packs like Sealine Boundary Packs -essentially a large drybag - or large canoe packs lined with a trash bag or heavier plastic liners available from Granite Gear, Frost River, or Duluth Pack. Some people use the [waterproof] 30 or 60-liter barrels - sometimes referred to as "bear barrels", although they are not a certified canister - with a harness. Some people seam seal packs - they sit in bilge water as well as rain.

I use the S2S EVAC bags for sleeping bag and clothes. I have a small waterproof rolltop bags or containers for First Aid & electronics. Some things are in zip lock bags in some inexpensive Outdoor Products roll top sacks, used for organization as much as waterproofing. Wet things can be slid down between the liner and pack or put on top after closed. When using the large plastic liners, I twist the tops, double that over and secure with BDB's.

I don't take fresh food other than nuts and bars - the dehydrated meals are sealed and the nuts in zip lock bags. All go in an OPsack in Ursacks or a BearVault, no additional protection needed. You may want to consider something similar with the fresh food for odor reduction as well as waterproofing.

Tomcat: "Waterproofing strategies vary and this is my opinion. Water resistant packs or pack liners provide limited protection from rain, bilge water and capsizing. However, I find these packs or pack liners unnecessary because the majority of the equipment I take requires no additional waterproof protection and placing wet items, such as my tent, tarp or chair into one water resistant bag with my dry items, such as clothing and sleeping bag would cause cross water contamination unless I also place those items in a separate water resistant container. "

You are right about the limited protection and cross contamination. The only reason I really use a liner is because I don't want the water in the bottom of the canoe to soak into my pack. I know that my pack likely is water resistant enough that it won't act like a sponge and soak everything on the bottom, but the contractor trash bags are cheap and provide peace of mind.

There is a small added bonus of my pack being slightly more likely to float higher in the water for longer if we were to ever capsize. I don't think my pack would actually sink if it were in the water for an hour or two, but I do worry that it would be too difficult to get it back in the canoe or sit so low in the water that I wouldn't be able to spot it in rough weather.