Fight to keep your stuff dry

[partinj]

Here what i done in my fight to thing dry in my pack.
1 Seam Sealer all the seams inside my pack
2 clloths in compact trash bag then in drysack
3 Sleeping Bag in compact bag then in stuff sack
4 sleeping pad in compact bag then in stuff sack
5 Food in waterproof stuff sack in also Br/Lu/din in their own glad gallon bags these are the freeze type
6 Of course my Thur-hike book maps and misc. in Glad freeze gllon size bags
My Girlfriend said this is too much But she never hike when it been raining for five days in a row. What do you guys think is this overkill i rater be safe then sorry
Thank

[Cool AT Breeze]

Looks good to me. If you know it's not going to rain, you can skip the compactor bags for a day.

[Tipi Walter]

On a long backpacking trek w/o town trips, the best way to keep the gear dry is to wait out the rain in your shelter. If I wake up in a hard rain, well, I just stay put until it passes, which could be another 24 hours. Sit tight and read, write in your journal, listen to the radio.

If I'm caught in a mean deluge while hiking, I foot it to the nearest campsite and set up for the night. The "nearest campsite" could be a small pulloff never used or something you've stayed at before. Why walk in a hard rain? Take a break. What's the rush? A five day rain is very rare nowadays though it used to be a common occurence back in the 70s and 80s. Recently here in east TN we've had some serious long-term rains, a rarity and now it ain't raining! Time to take down the tent and move!

[Slo-go'en]

I think its a little overkill, but error on the side of dryness, eh?

I just line my pack with a trash compactor bag and use a pack cover, but also line my sleeping bag sack, clothes stuff sack and food bag (which aren't water proof) with small trash bags.

I always get a kick out of the boy scouts/church group kids with trash bags on the outside of thier sleeping bag sack and tied to the outside of the pack. About 10 minutes into the trip the trash bag gets all ripped to shreads.

[Lyle]

For me that is overkill, but it's your pack so be anal if you want.

[partinj]

I don't think it anal to make sure you have dry cloths on a cold day when it been raining all day
read what to the the hiker in the white not to long ago he die because all his stuff was wet
and did not have any dry stuff to chang in to and nothing hot to drink

[Lyle]

It was a joke, note the laughing face. No offense intended.

I use a garbage bag for sleeping bag and clothing, food packed in zip locks, and a pack cover. Never had serious wetting of gear in 30+ years, including some multi-day down-pours.

You asked if your method was overkill, I think it is, but to each their own.

[Dogwood]

Sounds like U have been spending a lot of time living on a leaky submarine.

[Alligator]

Here what i done in my fight to thing dry in my pack.
1 Seam Sealer all the seams inside my pack
2 clloths in compact trash bag then in drysack
3 Sleeping Bag in compact bag then in stuff sack
4 sleeping pad in compact bag then in stuff sack
5 Food in waterproof stuff sack in also Br/Lu/din in their own glad gallon bags these are the freeze type
6 Of course my Thur-hike book maps and misc. in Glad freeze gllon size bags
My Girlfriend said this is too much But she never hike when it been raining for five days in a row. What do you guys think is this overkill i rater be safe then sorry
Thank

It's a little overkill.

2. If the drysack is a drysack then you won't need the trash bag. I'm not exactly sure what product you are using here though.

A pack cover or a trashbag pack liner with some things in stuff sacks is pretty normal. Other than my sleeping bag, there's nothing inside my pack doubled up like you are doing. Now I can't remember five straight days in a row of rain, but I've been in torrential downpours where I was crawling up the trail through a waterfall and I still wouldn't have that much redundacy.

I'd say if you are worried about it that much, go with a pack cover, an inside liner, and an extra trash bag on your sleeping bag. Silnylon stuff sacks but not doubled up. You'd be well covered.

[WalksInDark]

When folks write that "Your Way" is overkill.........just remember at the beginning or end of the day........nobody is standing in line to have wet: food, clothes, or sleeping bag.

Hike Your Own Hike & Pack Your Own Pack!

[Lyle]

When folks write that "Your Way" is overkill.........just remember at the beginning or end of the day........nobody is standing in line to have wet: food, clothes, or sleeping bag.

Hike Your Own Hike & Pack Your Own Pack!

Read his post, this is exactly what he asked. He wanted people's opinion.

[Blissful]

Reynolds oven bags work great as a second layer too over the initial stuff sack for clothng and sleeping bag.
I still would use a sil nylon pack cover, actually.

[Johnny Swank]

To each his own. Here's what I used.

-compactor bag to line my backpack
-trashbag lining my sleeping bag stuffsack if it was guaranteed to rain
-plastic grocery bags for my clothes and food stuffsacks. Rarely used.

The compactor bag by itself worked fine 99% of the time. Had a couple of pinholes in it one day, so a couple tablespoons found their way in. This was readily repaired with duct tape. No big deal.

[Mags]

To each his own. Here's what I used.

-compactor bag to line my backpack
-trashbag lining my sleeping bag stuffsack if it was guaranteed to rain
-plastic grocery bags for my clothes and food stuffsacks. Rarely used.

The compactor bag by itself worked fine 99% of the time. Had a couple of pinholes in it one day, so a couple tablespoons found their way in. This was readily repaired with duct tape. No big deal.

I was going to post something similar. Simple. Cheap. Effective.

The only caveat, is this system works better for lightweight packs that usually use less water absorbing material. If you have a traditional pack with the heavier nylon, you may want to use a pack cover. (But, even then, pack covers alway struck me as like fins on a 1950's car. )

[g8trh8tr]

Your gear should definitely stay dry which is the end goal. However, I would not recommend seam sealing the pack seams because if water does get in it will stay in which defeats the purpose. Unless of course you have some sort of drain hole.

[Johnny Thunder]

I still think pack covers (of some sort) are necessary because they keep water from getting into and on everything inside and outside the pack. It's gospel that they're not perfect so you should have some reasonable back up inside the pack; however, the pad/tent/raingear/etc strapped to the outside should be kept close to dry with the pack cover.

I used a pack cover and one compactor bag liner and kept things perfectly dry all summer. Small things that didn't go in the compactor bag were in zip locks. Everything was fine.

[KG4FAM]

pack cover and one trash compactor liner is all I use.

[garlic08]

I just use one trash compactor bag without a pack cover, but I use a silnylon pack that absorbs no water, like Mags noted. I put the sleeping bag and clothing in the plastic bag, and I let everything else get wet. I try to put my tarptent over the top of the trash bag so it sheds more water. I replace the trash bag when I replace my shoes, about every 600 miles or so. I inspect the bag for holes every couple of days, and repair it with duct tape if needed, which is very seldom. This rain protection system weighs less than one ounce. So in my mind, you have some overkill, but do you need to learn what works for you.

I had the compactor bag leak on me one time, just an ounce or so, when I packed up in a hurry and didn't fold the top of the bag over enough. The gear was fine, just human error and I'm always more careful now.

[dmax]

zip lock for toilet paper. I like mine dry.

[prain4u]

Overkill? Perhaps--but there is clearly very little risk of your stuff getting wet (which appears to be your goal). And, having dry stuff certainly isn't the worst goal in the world. Sometimes dry stuff is a real life saver. The good news is that the various trash bags and compactor bags take up relatively little volume (space) and the extra weight is pretty minimal. Thus, it is basically a case of "no harm no foul". Who knows, you could run into a "Hefty" situation where you might be extremely "Glad" that you had the extra bags with you.