Bringing spare clothes for outdoor excursions can spare you the discomfort of trudging along with soaked hiking socks. If you’re caught without a change of socks and you accidentally step into a stream, you’ll find yourself trying to call an Uber to the hiking trail. And, while tossing a pair of socks into a Jansport is okay, there are situations in which your bag might get wet, too. The most obvious scenario is kayaking, but even if you’re just hiking across a stream you run the risk of dropping and soaking your bag. Plus, there are worse things to get wet than socks. Any essentials like wallets, phones, and keys you might want to bring with you are better off not soaked.
The simple solution to safely toting your stuff around is a dry bag or dry sack. Yeah, the name sounds like something you should talk to a doctor about, but it’s not that. A dry sack is a single-pocket waterproof bag that typically features a rolltop with a clip. Many dry sacks also have shoulder straps that make them easy to carry. Take these on your next outdoor adventure and you’ll have one less thing to worry about.
1. Earth Pak Waterproof Dry Bag – Roll Top Dry
This dry bag comes with a shoulder strap and a separate waterproof pouch for a phone. It features a rolltop design with a clip, and it’s available in a variety of vibrant or subdued colors. Plus, there are a variety of options depending on how much storage you need. It ranges from 10 to 55L.
Pros: Comes with a waterproof phone case, has an over the shoulder strap, available in many different colors.
Cons: The strap is not very comfortable over long periods of time.
2. Unigear Dry Bag
The dry bag from Unigear is available in a wide range of sizes, from 2 to 40L. If you only need to carry a few things, like a change of socks, phone, wallet, and keys, getting a 2L bag can ease the load of what you need to carry. All the bags come with shoulder straps that are customized to the bag size.
Pros: Comes with a separate pouch for a phone, available in 2 L to 40 L sizes.
Cons: Must be rolled very tightly to ensure waterproofing.
3. Outdoor Products Dry Sack
This dry sack kit from Outdoor Products comes in a set of three, including 2, 4, and 8-liter bags. The bags have roll tops and clipped closures. The bags are vibrant red, yellow, and blue, making them easy to spot if you drop them in the water.
Pros: Affordable kit includes 3 dry sacks of different sizes.
Cons: No carrying handle.