Packing for Sea Kayak Expeditions and How to Choose Dry Bags and Dry B
The following lists all the dry bags, dry boxes, and mesh sacks that I use for sea kayak camping trips along with the gear I typically store in each and where I typically put them in a sea kayak. Having the right dry bags and dry boxes makes loading your kayak faster and less frustrating. It will also help you fit more gear into less space, so you can go on longer trips or use a lower volume, more efficient, higher performance kayak that may fit you better than the size kayak you thought you needed in order to go on camping trips. Kayak Academy has all our dry bags custom made in the USA. Our dry bags are heavy duty compared to most because ours are intended for kayaking whereas most drybags on the market are designed for backpacking with watersports as a secondary market. Similarly, none of the K.A. drybags have circular end pieces, our dry bags are simply made of two flat pieces of fabric welded together at the edges. When stuffed full, the bottom of our bags assume a slightly pointed shape whereas bags with circular end pieces create a flat circular bottom. Flat bottom bags save space in backpacks because backpacks have flat bottoms. However, in kayaks we slide one bag in after another and flat bottomed bags jam sooner reducing the number of bags you can shove into the end compartments.
With the exception of some very small bags for electronics etc., all of the dry bags I use are the fold-down coated nylon type with the waterproof coating on the inside. Zippered dry bags can't be compressed as well as fold-down sealing bags, and with fold-down bags you never have to worry about a catastrophic failure like breaking a zipper. In general, fold-down bags are not 100% dry which is why I don't use them for my cell phone etc., but they are good enough for clothes, food, sleeping bags, etc. Just be sure to fold them down at least three times and four times is usually better. These coated nylon dry bags have the waterproof coating on the inside and slippery nylon on the outside so they slip in and out of kayaks faster and more easily than clear plastic dry bags or bags with the rubber coating on the outside. Sticky bags waste space because they jam before they are stuffed as far into the kayak's end compartments as a slippery bag will go. Slippery drybags also last longer because they are less prone to catching on sharp edges of hatches, deck fittings screws, fiberglass seams, etc. To make up for the fact that coated nylon bags are opaque, I use a felt tip pen to write the contents ("VHF radio", "kitchen", "food", etc.) of each bag on the outside of the bag. With each bags' contents marked on the outside I don't miss having my clothes etc. in clear (sticky) bags.
All my fold-down dry bags have a vent valve. This is the kayaker's equivalent of a backpacker's compression sack - it allows you to get more gear in your kayak. BTW, compression bags are miserable for kayaking, first of all most compression bags compress the wrong way (lengthwise); unlike a backpack, kayaks are long and narrow so we need bags that get thinner not shorter when compressed. Secondly, compression bags are a pain to use when kayaking because the straps on the outside of a compression sack will catch on hatch rims and the open lip of your dry bags. Further, the buckles on the outside of compression sacks can wear holes through a drybag. In contrast, vented dry bags get thinner, and letting the excess air out of them allows the bag to flex so you can bend it while loading through a hatch. Non-vented dry bags waste space due to air getting trapped at the end. With a vent valve, air escapes from the bottom while I shove more clothes into it.
Note, coated nylon dry bags can be machine washed with mild detergent, but don't put them in a dryer - hang to dry.
I use a total of three dry bags for all my clothes. Clothes I won't need until camp (wind pants, pile pants, heavy socks, down vest, etc.), I store in a tapered coated nylon dry bag with a vent valve. A tapered bag full of clothes makes good use of the space in the kayak's bow and keeps the bow light which is good for handling. This tapered bag is the first bag I load into the bow which makes it hard to get to, and that's why I only fill it with clothes I won't need it until I'm unpacking the whole kayak at camp. Using this tapered bow bag system instead of a rectangular bag will save enough room in your kayak to carry and another day or two's worth of food so you can go on longer trips.
Clothes I may want in an emergency or while on shore for lunch I put in a small size coated nylon dry bag with a one-way air vent valve. I keep this bag either in a day hatch or behind my seat. This bag is where I keep a warm ski hat, non-paddling gloves, and a thin fleece vest (50 to 100 weight pile) or thin Primaloft filled jacket, and nothing else. By keeping these few items in their own small bag, I know I can get them quickly and easily if I start to get chilled while eating lunch, or if someone starts getting cold. I do the same with a CAG in it's own small size coated nylon dry bag with a one-way air vent valve. Any remaining clothes that I don't need until night time go with my sleeping bag into an Medium nylon dry bag with a one-way air vent valve. A third small, vented, fold-down, coated nylon dry bag gets used for my camp stove which is in the liner sack that the stove came with to protect the dry bag from the stove's sharp edges.
Behind the tapered bow bag I usually pack my sleeping bag with some additional clothes which I put in a Medium size coated nylon dry bag with a vent valve. Then I slide the bear resistant food container in and if the kayak is big enough I tip it on its side and slide it aft until its bottom is against the front bulkhead. Any space left over gets filled with small bags and lunch stuff. If I can't get the bear container on its side, I'll pack the space around it first and then drop the bear container in vertical and close the bow hatch over it. I use another Medium size coated nylon dry bag with a vent valve for a tarp and put this bag in sideways between the foot braces and the front bulkhead (note never order a kayak with custom located front bulkhead to use as your foot support or you will loose this versatile storage space). A third Medium size coated nylon dry bag with a vent valve is used for my tent minus the poles and stakes. Note, tent poles and stakes will make holes in dry bags and they make it hard to fit a medium size bag through a hatch so just put the poles in the stern without a dry bag. The tent body and rainfly can fit in the bow or stern hatch.
Besides tent poles, I put one S dry bags in the stern (behind the skeg box if the kayak has a retractable skeg). One of these bags is used for a roll of toilet paper as well as my toiletries (toothbrush, skin care, etc.). On the side of the skeg box I slide a small mesh sack with cooking utensils (they don't need to be in a dry bag and would put holes in one if you did) and another small mesh sack with pot scrubbers and cleaning supplies. I put a partially used roll of TP in a third S dry bag flattened as small as it can be made along with a 9"x6" Aloksak bag for storing used TP. This bag is kept in a day hatch for convenience.
For electronic devices (VHF radios -if it is not waterproof, cell phones, GPS, etc.) I use an Aloksak brand bag (which has a unique ziploc seal that is actually air tight, unlike sandwich bags). These bags are designed to be completely waterproof (at least to a few meters). The small 6"x6" Aloksak bags are perfect for GPS units, wallets, car keys and for protecting a pack of three Skyblazer brand aerial flares, and small air horn with canister.
Tools, Swiss army knife, spare batteries, small parts etc. get divided between the small and medium size dry boxes.
1 Tapered, vented, fold-down, coated nylon dry bag
3 Medium, vented, fold-down, coated nylon dry bags
4-5 Small, vented, fold-down, coated nylon dry bags
4 6"x6" Aloksak bags
2 9"x6" Aloksak bags
1 cell phone bag
1 Small clear fold-down dry bag - optional
3 Small mesh sacks
1 Mesh rucksack
1 Small dry box
1 Medium dry box
1 Small Size Bear Resistant Food Container (not waterproof, but you can line it with a trash bag)
You are welcome to use this just for your own information, but if you care to help support the Kayak Academy please purchase your dry boxes, dry bags, and mesh sacks from us. Thanks, George Gronseth