Dry bags or rucksack liner help?

[jacko1066]

Gents (and Ladys)

I have a trip coming up with a couple of chaps of here to Scotland.
Im just trying to ge my kt list together which is looking good but Im unsure on a couple of things.

I have been told by several people on here to do away with compresion bag for my sleeping bags and just stuff in the compartment right at the bottom of my Rucky along with my sleep bag liner, its a down bag so shouldnt take up too much room, do you think I should put a black bag down there first just in case?

My next conumdrum is waterproofing, Im unsure whether to get either a rucksack liner and put my spare clothes in a dry bag as well in side my pack, or whether to get a waterproof pack cover and still do the same with a dry bag with my clothes in and obviously still have the black bag with my sleeping bag in it.

So what do you guys do?

I must tell that this is my first trip actually covering any distance and wild camping hence why I am a little unsure, could do with a little help with my kit list too so my post that up at some point.

Cheers
Steve

 

[adestu]

Morning,
Sports direct have Karrimor dry bags in various sizes ar a reasonable price.

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk

 

[treelore]

i would put all kit you want to keep dry in a dry bag, as for your sleeping bag i put mine in a pertex bivvi bag as it keeps it waterproof.... if your down sleeping bag gets wet it stays wet so i would use a dry bag or bivvi as water will alway get in some where. i use Ortlieb Drybag hve used them for years camping,bushcraft,working in the woods and caving as they are bombproof

happy camping

 

[jacko1066]

Wow that was quick lol!!
So would you guy use the dry bags in conjunction with a wateproof pack cover? or just leave the important stuff ie sleeping bags, spare clothes, food etc in dry bags?
Does putting a sleeping bag in a dry bag make it difficult to pack?
Cheers
Steve

 

[treelore]

yeah if you put a sleeping bag in a dry bag it is a pain and takes room up, hence why we always put ares in a bivvi bag. put you sleeping bag in the bivvi as you normally would and then place in your bag with the hood at the top. spare cloths etc go into your dry bag or you could place it in your sleeping bag

 

[Dark Horse Dave]

Hey Steve

I go for the belt & braces approach, and find it works well for me - certainly gives me a lot of confidence!

I line my bergen with a liner. I use big Exped bags from Heinnie or RVops (both excellent suppliers) - a great big 140 litre one for my Vulcan or a smaller 40 litre one for my Predator 45. Inside that I stuff my down sleeping bag into its own Exped sack (think it's a medium iirc, and easy to cram a doss bag into); warm layers & stuff like that also get their own Exped bag, as do my tarp and bivi bag. The dry bags weigh very little so that's not an issue. In a side pocket I also have a bergen cover which can go over everything from the outside if need be.

Hope that helps

 

[blacktimberwolf]

With a liner, dry bags & rucky cover...you're ready for all eventualalities.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

I'd go with the liner and dry bags as mentioned above. If you want to add the rucksack cover to that lot, then go ahead, but it won't be hugely necesary- it may help stop the rain adding a bit of extra weight to your pack, and make using your otherwise wet pack nicer in the evenings. To be honest though, driving rain always seems to get past any rucksack cover I have used, and most the time its like walking around with a giant sail on your back in heavy winds.

If you don't want to suffer or maybe die, then make sure your down bag does not get wet!

 

[santaman2000]

I'd agree with most of the above posts. However I'd forego the rucksack cover and get a poncho large enough to wear over the ruck. That protects you and the pack/contents.

 

[Shewie]

I use a plastic trash bag and a pack cover, I've gone back to using stuff sacks though.

When I used a big bergan it didn't really matter about taking up room with a loose bag, as I've moved to smaller packs I found that space is key and stuff sacks just work better for me. Careful packing avoids the empty spaces and you can still stuff them with smaller softer objects.

Sleeping bag and spare clothes go in the trash bag, that gets scrunched down and then everything else goes on top.

A pack cover does help but they can't be relied on for keeping your essentials dry.

 

[ged]

Shewie's right about the space saving benefit of a stuff sack but I would say that when a sleeping bag is compressed it can still be quite bulky but it's also then solid and bulky. Sometimes I find that it's then harder to find somewhere it will fit, especially if you're taking a smaller pack. If the pack is strong enough, if nothing else in it will mind much being crushed, and if you don't want to be getting things out of the pack and putting it back in every ten minutes, then you can use the pack as the stuff sack and have the best of both worlds.

I often spend many hours at high speeds in very wet conditions on motor-cycles. Even though I often have hard luggage on the bike, everything that matters still goes in dry bags of different sizes. I might have to camp a distance from the bike and carrying all the hard luggage might not be an option.

Agreed that a bivy bag can help keep a sleeping bag dry but I'd be very careful about packing it if I wanted to keep my sleeping bag dry that way on the bike. I generally have the sleeping bag in its own individual long dry bag, but leave the dry bag closure open until everything else that goes in with them is rammed in there. Then I crush as much air as possible out of the sleeping bag and its dry bag before rolling up the closure. A breathable bivvy bag is great for airing out a sleeping bag while you're sleeping in it.

Santaman's right about ponchos, they do work but if you're in thick scrub some of the lightweight man-made fibre ones aren't very good with brambles and suchlike. They can be a pain in strong winds and I usually find my legs get wetter with a poncho than with a waterproof jacket unless I'm wearing gaiters or waterproof trousers.

Ortlieb dry bags are about the toughest but they're a bit heavier, bulkier and more expensive than many others.

 

[jacko1066]

Thanks for all the replys chaps, I should have made myself an bit clearer, Im not gonna be bivvying, to much of a wuss for that lol, I will be tenting it.
But Im gonna do a bit of all 3, I have got a couple of dry bags on order from Sports Direct (cheap as chips by the way) a 10 litre and a 5 litre, Im gonna get a couple of really strong bin liners and use them in my pack and then get a cheap pack cover too, and see how I get on!! then after all them precautions it will be beautiful sunshine lmao!!
Cheers
Steve

 

[sandbender]

"...do you think I should put a black bag down there first just in case?..."

Not a 'black bag' but a B&Q rubble bag, much thicker and will take more of a beating. I place an open rubble bag halfway into the mouth of my rucksack, I then shove the sleeping bag into the rubble bag pushing it and the surrounding rubble bag into the bottom of the pack. I can then compress it, twist it closed and shove the rest of my gear (also in rubble bags} atop that. That has kept my kit dry on many long walks in Scotland and elsewhere in the world.

Have a great trip.

 

[jacko1066]

Not a 'black bag' but a B&Q rubble bag, much thicker and will take more of a beating. I place an open rubble bag halfway into the mouth of my rucksack, I then shove the sleeping bag into the rubble bag pushing it and the surrounding rubble bag into the bottom of the pack. I can then compress it, twist it closed and shove the rest of my gear (also in rubble bags} atop that. That has kept my kit dry on many long walks in Scotland and elsewhere in the world.

Have a great trip.

Your the 2nd person to mentin these rubble bgs mate, so I think thats the way forward!!! Cheaper than pack liners too!!
Cheers
Steve

 

[zarkwon]

Assuming you're not going to be wading through rivers or crossing streams that sounds fine. In hiking, as in ghostbusters, crossing the streams can be dangerous and if you end up on your back you'll be glad the pack was there to break your fall right up until the moment you remember you skimped on roll top waterproof dry bags and went for a bin bag. I take the view that i'd rather spend money once on a bit of kit that will do the job on all my future trips and some of them may involve wading. Pack liner and individual dry bags for the electronics, down and spare clothes is my advice.

 

[Shewie]

Your the 2nd person to mentin these rubble bgs mate, so I think thats the way forward!!! Cheaper than pack liners too!!
Cheers
Steve

Not quite as heavy as rubble bags but better than bin liners are Polylina storage bags, I think I got mine in Asda. I got a roll of 20 bags in April last year and I'm still using the first one I took out.

 

[sandbender]

Assuming you're not going to be wading through rivers or crossing streams that sounds fine. In hiking, as in ghostbusters, crossing the streams can be dangerous and if you end up on your back you'll be glad the pack was there to break your fall right up until the moment you remember you skimped on roll top waterproof dry bags and went for a bin bag. I take the view that i'd rather spend money once on a bit of kit that will do the job on all my future trips and some of them may involve wading. Pack liner and individual dry bags for the electronics, down and spare clothes is my advice.

Actually a rubble bag can be surprisingly waterproof, presuming you close it properly, think rolling closed over a good bit of its length as you would with an Ortlieb bag.

My original reason for going with rubble bags was to make my kit look less impressive and valuable when out and about in the world, it works, my kit looks ****ty and worthless and no-one has tried to nick it so far.

My gear has survived the odd few river crossings and inundated canoe situations. That said I keep my mobile phone and documents in some form of proper drybag.

 

[santaman2000]

...Santaman's right about ponchos, they do work but if you're in thick scrub some of the lightweight man-made fibre ones aren't very good with brambles and suchlike. They can be a pain in strong winds and I usually find my legs get wetter with a poncho than with a waterproof jacket unless I'm wearing gaiters or waterproof trousers...

Yeah I've found that ponchos don't do much good for my lower legs either. They're slightly undersized for us taller folks. I've just seen this one show up in a thread over on BCUSA though and I'd love to hear from someone who actually has it www.survival-solutions.com/O_P_S_E_C__Details.html

 

[jacko1066]

Assuming you're not going to be wading through rivers or crossing streams that sounds fine. In hiking, as in ghostbusters, crossing the streams can be dangerous and if you end up on your back you'll be glad the pack was there to break your fall right up until the moment you remember you skimped on roll top waterproof dry bags and went for a bin bag. I take the view that i'd rather spend money once on a bit of kit that will do the job on all my future trips and some of them may involve wading. Pack liner and individual dry bags for the electronics, down and spare clothes is my advice.

No, my down bag will be in dry bag mate, so will my spare clothes, I already have a small clear dry bag which I use to put my valuables and phone etc in so they will fine also, the only things that may get a bit wet is my billy and cooking stuff I guess, my food will all be sealed or vacuum packed too!!
Some great advice though so cheers for your input.
Steve

 

[rik_uk3]

Bin liners.