Sea to Summit Dry Bags

[Don H]

Has anyone used the Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sacks as the sole means of keeping your stuff dry? I'm considering using these instead of garbage bags but I'm not convinced they are up to the task.

I bought a two 13 Liter ones and tested them in my pool. First I filled them with air, rolled the closure and buckled closed per instructions and then held them under water. I noticed small bubbles forming on the fabric's surface indicating air was bleeding through the fabric. There were also bubbles forming in spots along the taped seams. I sealed the seams and tried a different test a few days later. I stuffed them with newspaper and then submerged them in water for 1 hour after which I took them out, dried the outside and opened them. They both showed water had seeped through the closure.

Do you think rain water would seep into the bags if they were in a rain soaked pack?

[brooklynkayak]

There is a myth floating around that silnylon leaks. It does not. It can be punctured and then leak but the method of making silnylon assures that it is waterproof.

The problem with most, if not all drybags, is that water can leak around the closure. I know, I use them a lot and I've use lots of different type on paddle trips.

Garbage bags, zip lock bags, etc.. all suffer from some water leakage at the closure.

I double bag my sleeping and clothing bag.

[trippclark]

Has anyone used the Sea to Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sacks as the sole means of keeping your stuff dry? I'm considering using these instead of garbage bags but I'm not convinced they are up to the task.

Do you think rain water would seep into the bags if they were in a rain soaked pack?


These are really nice bags. I have about 6-7 of them, in various sizes, from the XS up to the pack liner, which I really like. I bought these right after they hit the market. I don't recall exactly when that was, but they do have a couple of years of use now, but that is perhaps being stuffed and unstuffed 30 - 50 times . . . so not an incredible amount of use really. I also tested them in the tub and shower -- plus field use -- and have found them very much up to the task.

Until recently . . .

Just in the past few months I have noticed that the inside tape seam seal has come loose on a few of the bags. I am not sure if that is from age, from heat (they are stored in an upstairs area that is not air conditioned), or from use . . . or all of the above.

I have not yet, but do plan to remove the tape and re-seam seal the bags. That should solve the issue and make them waterproof again.

[Survivor Dave]

Do you think rain water would seep into the bags if they were in a rain soaked pack?

I don't think so. I have had mine for 3 years and never got my clothes bag wet.

For my sleeping bag and food however, I use an OR Hydrolite Waterproof bag and they are excellent as well.

At this time I do not use a liner for my pack.

It sounds like you are preparing yourself for fording a river.:eek::D

[Jonnycat]

There is a myth floating around that silnylon leaks. It does not. It can be punctured and then leak but the method of making silnylon assures that it is waterproof.

I guess that depends upon your personal definition of "waterproof".

For more on the issue, including facts and qualitative information, this article (http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/DryGear/index.html) will shed some light on the issue.

[brooklynkayak]

I guess that depends upon your personal definition of "waterproof". ... , this article (http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/DryGear/index.html) will shed some light on the issue.

And as the article says, it isn't that silnylon isn't waterproof but that it can leak from wear or if the seams aren't sealed. I will admit that silnylon is susceptible to wear that can cause pores in the material over time. That's one reason why I double bag.
We pay the price for light weight.

I use my silnylon bags to carry water from water sources to camp and have never seen one leak, even when filled with two gallons of water.

[Donnie]

I have two Sea To Summit bags as well as their pack cover. I feel that if you are really worried about a few bubbles of water after the bag has been submerged under water (and thus under more pressure) you may be expecting a little too much. There may be a period of several days where you are getting pounded with rain but the amount of water you are taking on while your stuff is inside your dry sack it probably still less than the water you will pick up packing and unpacking your gear. I know that no one enjoys wet gear (and it can be dangerous too) but you have to be prepared to deal with a little water every now and then. That's my two cents, anyway.

-Donnie

[garlic08]

And as the article says, it isn't that silnylon isn't waterproof but that it can leak from wear or if the seams aren't sealed.

Actually, the article does say that silnylon is not waterproof, if you read a little further:

LOW WATER RESISTANCE
As noted above, silnylon is waterproof, but only to a limited degree. Any "waterproof" fabric will eventually leak if enough pressure is applied either to the water that's attempting to penetrate from the outside, or to the dry inside surface of a fabric that's pressing against an external layer of moisture (the case, for example, with a stuffed sleeping bag that's pushing against the walls of a silnylon sack that's wet on the outside). A fabric's water resistance is usually gauged with a device such as this (http://www.sdlatlas.com/html/mo18.html) that's used to measure a property known as the "hydrostatic head". This factor reflects the maximum amount of pressure that a fabric can withstand before it begins to leak and is commonly expressed either as the height of the water column (usually in millimeters), or as the number of pounds per square inch of water pressure necessary to initiate that leakage.
As a point of comparison, consider that even the lightest of the commercially available polyurethane-coated nylon gear sacks have hydrostatic head values that usually range from 5,000mm to 10,000mm (note also that heavier-duty dry sacks intended for paddling use typically have much higher values). In contrast, the hydrostatic head of standard weight silnylon, according to most manufacturers' specifications, is only 1 to 2 pounds per square inch, which translates (for consistency with industry conventions) into a range of 700mm to 1,400mm. In other words, standard weight silnylon, on average, is less than 15% as water resistant as even the lightest of the conventional coated nylons.

I have a Tarptent with a silnylon floor and I can testify that with enough hydrostatic head, water will leak through the floor from damp ground. I personally do not trust my silnylon stuff sacks for waterproofness. I use a trash compactor bag inside the pack for stuff that absolutely has to stay dry, and check and repair the bag regularly.

[Don H]

I'm thinking I would put some small drain holes in the bottom of my pack to allow any water that seeps in to get out. That way I wouldn't have my sleeping bag under a foot of water that I'm carrying.

[Del Q]

I like them, also have the Sil Sack for my whole pack (inside) and a lightweight waterproof pack cover. These bags are light and also help me keep my gear separated. One packing issue with a full load of food, the air inside each bag adds up quickly and negatively alters how my pack carries. Overall a YES from Del Q, good product, better and lighter will come I am sure.

[toegem]

I've had no issues with either the compressor sacks e-Vent, ultra-sil dry sacks, or their ultra-sil pack liners. I've been using them for the last couple of years, for kayaking and canoeing. In the canoe my pack sits in bildge water almost all day long, and not once have I had anything in them wet or damp.

[Jayboflavin04]

I use one for my dry camp clothes, as well as a pack cover. I think the thing you really need to think about is. These bags are not design for extended long submersion. I think in most "general use" cases these are pretty water resistant.

One thing I always remember when gear shopping is "no fabric is water proof"