Advice on bergan liners

[Tengu]

Am making a few

should I have one for every pocket or would that be very anal?

should I even bother with them and get dry bag instead?

 

[SimonM]

Personally i use two small dry bags. One for my dossbag and Thermarest and another for my dry clothes. I don't care if anything else gets wet and it cuts down on the weight carried. Having said that a mate of mine uses small stuff sacs to organise his kit and swears by them as it lets him find stuff quickly. My answer is always pack things in the same place and then you KNOW where they are!

Hope that helps!
Simon

 

[Beer Monster]

I tend to have one large one (waterproof) for the main sack then a number of smaller ones in the main one (or in the side pockets). My sleeping bag, spare clothes and any other "keep dry stuff" will each be in a separate waterproof bag. The rest of the kit (which I don't mind getting damp) will just be in various draw string top bags which are in general not waterproof but good for compartmentalising you kit making things easier to find.

Each bag is in general a different (very bright!) colour that way you can remember which bag is which and what is in it whilst rummaging around in a dark rucksack, on a dark night in the rain! Many of my muckers have gone for the little dpm or green bags ...... I never did see the point ..... they always ended up getting every bag out and having to open it to remember what was inside ...... then leaving them on the forest floor and in turn losing them as they were dpm?!? I know for example that my dry socks are in the bright orange bag, admin kit in the bright red bag, bungees and shelter sheet etc in the purple bag.

Hope that helps.

 

[Beer Monster]

..... on that note I also do similar thing with the top pockets of my smock. I got fed up with the rummaging around in them trying to find small items like whistles, chewing gum, lipsalve and all the other "useful" but small and annoying stuff that tends to collect in them! On the suggestion of an old army chum I put all said items in one of those small (and quite conveniently pocket sized) zip lock sandwich bags you get from supermarkets and then popped the now full bags back in the pockets.

No more rummaging involved. If I need something I just whip the bag out of the pocket and Roberts your fathers brother ....... they are transparent too so you can see exactly where in the bag said item is and keep the contents relatively dry.

Amazingly anal but very practical .

 

[dwardo]

I keep a dry kit in a canoe sack, my bag and hammock go inside my gortex bivi bag which is then stuffed into the bottom of my bergen. I have walked for a few hours in the peaks before now in bucketing down rain and my bergen is still yet to let any water in

 

[aeveling]

Why don't manufacturers make waterproof backpacks as standard? Can they be made waterproof with silicone sprays and seam seal type glues?

Andrew

 

[Chainsaw]

I use a dry sack slightly smaller than my main compartment for clothes and stuff i don't want to get wet. My sleeping bag goes in a... sleeping bag sized dry bag and my mat gets wrapped in my bivvi bag. There's always stuff you don't care about getting wet (hobos, mess tins etc) so I don't put them in the drysac.

As for a waterproof rucksack, I wouldn't bet your (dry) underwear on it!

Cheers,

Alan

 

[gregorach]

Why don't manufacturers make waterproof backpacks as standard? Can they be made waterproof with silicone sprays and seam seal type glues?

Andrew

You could make a rucksack water resistant, but not water proof - at least, not while it's still easy to get into. It's the closure that's the problem... The attraction of using decent drybags is that your kit stays dry even if it gets submerged.

I use Exped drybags - a 45/60L pack liner, two 13L ones for side pockets, a 6L one for my hammock + net, and a really tiny one for my tobacco pouch.

 

[markw]

Am making a few

should I have one for every pocket or would that be very anal?

should I even bother with them and get dry bag instead?

Tengu,

Nothing anal about wanting to keep your kit dry.

Personaly I use liners, main comp and pockets as well as individual wrapping kit in poly bags.


Mark