No-one likes a wet sandwich. Here’s how to keep your gear dry on a canoeing adventure – on any budget.
Unexpected capsizes are rare when canoeing, but no one wants to get all their gear wet when they haven’t planned for it. Waterproofing your gear is easy and can be cheap too. Most waterproof solutions also result in gear that floats – a critical consideration so that it doesn’t end up on the bed of the waterway. Here are our top tips for waterproofing.
Dry bags are flexible bags that have a special closure (often a ‘roll top’ with a clip) that ensures water stays out. They do a great job of keeping out rain and bilgewater, are generally submersible for short periods of time, but are not great for a prolonged time floating in water – they will eventually allow water to seep in.
There are a range of materials that dry bags are made of including ultralight siliconised nylon layer for waterproofing critical items (like electronic devices, medications, and chocolate).
Dry bags come in a range of sizes, models and shapes. There are also specialist dry bags made for specific equipment. For example, you can buy dedicated dry bags for your phone that enable you to use the screen and take photographs while keeping the phone totally dry.
Lighter than barrels, dry bags are also more flexible and packable, fitting a range of gear inside of them and fitting inside almost any canoe. They can be used on their own, stored loosely in the boat, or stowed inside a regular hiking pack to make a portage more convenient. Larger size dry bags often come as stand-alone packs with built in harness systems too.
Dry bags are a great option if you also do a lot of hiking. Just pop them inside your hiking pack and your gear is waterproof and ready to go. Dry bags have the added benefit of being usable as a pillow at camp (something that barrel can’t do!).
Hard barrels are great when you’ve got lots of gear. As a result, they are very popular for overnight expeditions. They come in a range of sizes and are incredibly hard wearing compared to dry bags. Barrels are excellent at protecting your gear from hard knocks and are very buoyant. They are also affordable when you get to the larger sizes too. They are often 4 x cheaper than dry bags or even packs with garbage bag liners.
We also like barrels around camp because they are “critter proof” and they can be left outside your tent overnight with no further thought required.
When considering buying (or hiring) a canoe barrel, make sure it fits in your canoe! We also recommend a lighter colour (like an opaque white plastic, rather than a black or dark blue barrel which are common) because they won’t heat up as much on a sunny day.
The down sides to barrels are that few barrels have convenient handles, so they don’t portage well without the addition of an optional barrel harness. They are also not particularly versatile (you are unlikely to use barrels on your next hiking expedition…).
Plastic bags are a logical cheap dry bag alternative. While plastic bags aren’t great for extended immersions, they absolutely do an adequate job of keeping rain and bilgewater at bay. You can use large garbage bags, or small re-sealable “zippered” storage bags (eg Ziploc bags).
While Ziploc style bags are easy to open and close, bigger garbage bags need to be twisted to be sealed up. Squeeze the air out, make a “gooseneck” out of the top of the plastic bag, twist the neck as many times as you can then either finish off with a large rubber band or a simple overhand knot. It’s worth reiterating, make sure that you create a good seal at the neck of the bag, with lots of twisting. If you are just using plastic bags, then we recommend “double bagging” – placing the whole sealed off plastic bag inside another bag and sealing it up a second time.
Plastic bags usually don’t provide enough buoyancy to float (a phone in a Ziploc will sink!) but might provide enough buoyancy to keep your gear in reach while you recover from a capsize.
Plastic bags are also very susceptible to punctures, so we recommend putting them inside your pack (eg your day pack or an overnight hiking pack). The durability of plastic bags almost directly corresponds to their weight – with thicker plastics lasting longer than softer and thinner versions. If you are using plastic bags as a dry storage option, we recommend packing a spare.
For overnight trips, we recommend all three! A barrel for your camping gear and food, a dry bag for the items you’ll need access to during the day (snacks, sunscreen, spare warm top, etc) and then smaller plastic bags for sorting gear inside your barrel or dry bag (eg keeping your clothes separate from your food, an extra layer of protection for any electrical items, or a Ziploc style bag for your toilet paper).
Plastic bags are a great extra layer of waterproofing for items that you really want to keep dry – like your sleeping bag. Even if you open up your dry bag or barrel in the rain your critical gear will stay dry. We always have our first aid kits in dry bags. We also like to use our old (slightly leaky) drybags to help us sort our gear inside our barrels or larger packs. For example, keeping your wet tent fly separate from your sleeping bag, or keeping your smelly socks separate from your lunch!
All of these waterproofing options have the added benefit of keeping out dust and dirt, and smaller critters. All of which you’re likely to come across on your adventures. Which one you choose will depend on your budget, how often you plan on using them, and what other activities you might also enjoy in the great outdoors.
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Sign Up HereWhether it’s a weekend expedition or a casual day trip, Valley Outdoors has the dry bags, barrels, and advice to keep your gear safe and your sandwiches dry. Explore our gear or book your next canoe adventure today.
