Got caught in a downpour last month at Big Bend and my 'waterproof' bag let me down hard

I was hiking the Outer Mountain Loop trail in Big Bend National Park last month, about 6 miles from the car, and a storm rolled in out of nowhere. I had this cheap dry bag I bought off Amazon for like $25, figured it would hold up for a day hike. Well, after 20 minutes of rain, everything inside was soaked, including my sleeping bag liner. I had to cut the trip short because I couldn't dry stuff out. Now I'm looking at real dry bags, like the SealLine ones, but they cost $60 or more. Has anyone else had a cheap bag fail on them in a bad spot? What brand do you trust for actual waterproofing?

2 comments

2 Comments

abbyhall8d ago

Oh man, that hurts. I've got a similar story but with a twist - I was kayak camping in the Ozarks and thought my "heavy duty" contractor trash bags would do the trick. Spoiler alert: they did not. After the second portage, my bag had a tear the size of my fist and my sleeping bag was basically a sponge. The worst part was that I had packed a spare set of clothes in a separate trash bag, and that one was fine. Go figure. Now I just double bag everything in those thick yard waste bags, but honestly I'm probably due for a real upgrade too.

mason.drew8d ago

@abbyhall same thing happened to me with a cheap dry bag and a river in Montana. Learned the hard way that wet sleeping bags smell like regret for weeks.