Monday Kit Tip - Dry-Sac Revelations

If it's Monday, it's time for the Monday Kit Tip. This week, keeping stuff dry in packs and no, it's not as simple as just doing up the lid, so welcome to the dry bag...

You might assume that because most packs are made from waterproof fabrics that they'll keep the contents dry - unfortunately, as a few wet walks will conclusively prove, most packs aren't waterproof. Why? Because the seams generally aren't taped or sealed in any way, so in heavy rain, water leaks through the joins and turns your pack into a mobile sieve.

One option is a rain cover, supplied with many packs and also aftermarket, but for neatness, we prefer canoe-style dry bags. These are completely waterproof sacs with a roll-over and clip top and available in pretty much any size you care to mention from tiny through to backpack-sized monstrosity.

Traditionally they were big, heavy things, but you can now find really light but tough versions from the likes of Sea to Summit and Pod Sacs. Rather than one big one, a selection of smaller bags helps to organise the contents of your pack neatly. Ideal for protecting down sleeping bags too - try one with a micro-porous base that acts as a vacuum sac. One big plus is that you can stick wet clothing in your pack without soaking everything else and access, say, spare clothing without everything else being exposed to the rain as you do it plus you retain easy access to outside pockets that would be obstructed by a pack cover.

Our last tip is that you can use heavy duty dry-bags from the likes of Ortlieb as impromptu side pockets on backpacking and expedition packs, just strap them under and clip to side compression straps for instant waterproof pack capacity extension.