Pack Liners

[superflatz]

I feel kind of stupid, but how do you use trash compactor bags as liners? If you put the liner on the bottom, with the opening up, won't wetness come in from the top and sit inside the liner - thus guaranteeing all gets wet (namely the sleeping bag)?

Do you use two - one over the other?

Again, I feel pretty silly, but I am not an experienced backpacker. I have the Granite Gear Nimbus Ozone Pack.

bob

[bigcranky]

Put the bag in with the open side up. Put the stuff you want to keep dry inside thge bag -- but don't fill it more than 2/3 full. Then bring the top of the bag together and twist tightly, then roll the twisted end over on itself and secure with a rubber band or two.

Note that with this method you may need two bags to waterproof everything you want to keep dry.

Check this article for more info:
http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/DryGear/index.html

Repeat after me: Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. (Ask me how I learned this wisdom.)

Hope this helps.

[Jester2000]

I use a contractor bag as a liner. Like a big trash bag, but much sturdier & durable. Put it in the bag with the open side up, and then once it's full, just sort of fold the top over & tuck it in against the inside of your pack. Seems to work well for me.

[lucky luke]

Repeat after me: Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. Don't put your full water bottle inside the dry bag. (Ask me how I learned this wisdom.)

Hope this helps.

hi big cranky,

what happened? i carry my nalgenes and my dromedary inside. never had anything leak when i closed it ok.

so let us know about your wisdom, please

greets
lucky luke

[SGT Rock]

I do something similar. Fill it up about 1/3 (I don't need a lot of room) and then fold the opening over a few times and tuck it under the bag. I then put it sideways in my Gearskin - this way I can open up one side of the Gearskin and unfold the bag to get to whatever I need. When I am done I just fold it back and close that side back up.

[Frolicking Dinosaurs]

I use a contractor bag as a liner. Like a big trash bag, but much sturdier & durable. The male dino uses Jester's contractor bags and the female dino uses a compactor bag in her diminutive pack. We both use Big Cranky's 'gooseneck' method of closure. BTW, we use mini-bungees instead of rubber bands to secure the gooseneck and they help tension our tarp in camp.

[hammock engineer]

Interesting, I have been thinking about switching from a pack cover to a pack liner.

[bigcranky]

I had a platypus bottle come apart inside my pack on a very cold day. The lid somehow managed to work loose. It was actually sitting on top of my compactor bag, *but* the compactor bag was closed with the casual roll-and-fold method that someone else mentioned. Let me warn you that this method will not keep the water out of your waterproof bag. That water will sit in the bottom of the bag and soak your down sleeping bag, which you need because it's going to be quite cold tonight. Not fun. I use the twist and tie method now, and keep water bladders and bottles in outide mesh pockets. Just being (over)cautious, but I don't want to repeat that cold night.

[Frosty]

Interesting, I have been thinking about switching from a pack cover to a pack liner.Nothing wrong with both. Most stuff in the pack won't go in the liner, anyway. Just stuff that needs to be dry. Food bag and most gear can be outside.

covering the pack keeps the pack itself dry, reducing the added water weight you will have to carry around.

I use a trash compactor bag for a liner and put sleeping bag and clothing (not including rain gear) inside it. The clothing is also in ziplocs, sorted by use (night bag, heavy layer bag, thermals, etc).

I really miss the the times when it was cool to carry an external pack. I loved all the pockets. Using an external pack now will get you in trouble with the pack police.

[hammock engineer]

Nothing wrong with both. Most stuff in the pack won't go in the liner, anyway. Just stuff that needs to be dry. Food bag and most gear can be outside.

covering the pack keeps the pack itself dry, reducing the added water weight you will have to carry around.

I use a trash compactor bag for a liner and put sleeping bag and clothing (not including rain gear) inside it. The clothing is also in ziplocs, sorted by use (night bag, heavy layer bag, thermals, etc).

I really miss the the times when it was cool to carry an external pack. I loved all the pockets. Using an external pack now will get you in trouble with the pack police.

I'm already weird enough with getting stuff wet. My compression bag for my bag is waterproof. My food and clothes bag are the ultra-sil dry bags. I have a 1 L ultra sil bag for my phone and camera when its raining. The only thing I have left to be concerned about is my hammock underquilt. It is already in sil-nylon snake skins. They are just open on the ends.

I am thinking about making a sil-nylon pack liner where either the top closes with a draw string and a top flap over it, or it closes like a dry bag.

[Just Jeff]

I was gonna make a sil pack liner. Then I realized that with a contractor bag, I don't have to seam seal it. I don't have to baby it b/c if it gets a hole I just get another one. I can cut it down the sides for an emergency ground cloth (I've needed this a couple of times). I won't worry about it if I need to cut it for a makeshift pack cover (done that, too) or if I need to wear it as emergency raingear/vapor barrier.

And it works just as well as a pack liner. JMHO.

[take-a-knee]

Readymade silnylon pack liner with leakproof top.

http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/5

[hammock engineer]

Readymade silnylon pack liner with leakproof top.

http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/5


Thanks for the reminder. I forgot about them. The compression bag and 3 ultra sil bag I have from are from seatosummit. They have been working pretty well for me so far.

[SGT Rock]

I had a platypus bottle come apart inside my pack on a very cold day. The lid somehow managed to work loose. It was actually sitting on top of my compactor bag, *but* the compactor bag was closed with the casual roll-and-fold method that someone else mentioned. Let me warn you that this method will not keep the water out of your waterproof bag. That water will sit in the bottom of the bag and soak your down sleeping bag, which you need because it's going to be quite cold tonight. Not fun. I use the twist and tie method now, and keep water bladders and bottles in outide mesh pockets. Just being (over)cautious, but I don't want to repeat that cold night.

That is why I triple protect everything in my pack. Every stuff sack has been replaced by sil-nylon which is seam sealed. Light and water resistant. then it all goes inside the pack liner. So far it stays dry even in rain - probably because my whole pack is encased inside the sleeping pad which is Plastizote (a water shedding closed cell foam). And if it really starts to rain, I dawn a Packa which keeps the whole shebang inside the jacket with me.

Anyway, just my opinion, if you are relying on just one thing to keep your stuff dry, you are increasing your chance for misery when that one thing fails. If you layer the system, then two or three things have to fail before you get your gear wet.

[mrc237]

Right on Rock! The first thing I learned as a Boy Scout and the first thing I taught as a leader "KEEP THY STUFF DRY!" and layering is the best method.

[hopefulhiker]

I used oven bags for my sleeping bags and clothes.

[Kerosene]

I tried the pack liner route on my last hike, getting the chance to test it in a thunderstorm just before I summitted Moosilaukee. Upon reaching the shelter I pulled out the pack liner with all my dry gear, but then I dumped out half a cup of water from the bottom of my GG Nimbus Ozone. I'm going back to my silnyl pack cover, modified with light cord that forms a "cross" from top-to-bottom and side-to-side to keep it from "parachuting" in the wind.

[Blissful]

I'm going back to my silnyl pack cover, modified with light cord that forms a "cross" from top-to-bottom and side-to-side to keep it from "parachuting" in the wind.

My hubby is making me a new sil nylon pack cover soon. Anyone savvy with a computer than can show what this might look like with the extra cord side to side? Is that cord elastic or do you cinch it? How do you attach it? Sew it on I guess?

[Kerosene]

The pack cover I purchased (it may be a prior version of this one (http://www.antigravitygear.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=21_26&products_id=173) from Antigravity Gear) came with a cinch string and cord lock. I string it from bottom to top and hook to a loop using a mini-biner. My wife sewed an elastic cord on one side and a loop on the other, which I connect with another mini-biner. Total weight of this get-up is just over 3 ounces. You could replace the 'biners with something lighter, or just tie in place, but I wanted to be able to remove the pack cover quickly.

[Heater]

I once hiked with Salvador Dali. :cool:

He used a dotted liner.

[DawnTreader]

I second the contractor bags. didn't need to rubber band or bungee the top, just roll and tuck. worked like a charm. I also use a sil pack cover for downpours