Dry Bags vs. Dry Boxes - How to Choose

There are hundreds of choices when it comes to keeping your gear dry and protected from sudden, unexpected impacts. With all of these choices, how do you decide? I’ll try to explain all of the features and benefits for the different choices that you will have to consider to help you make an educated decision.

The biggest advantage of a Dry Bag is that it is flexible. Its flexibility allows it to be stored in places that normally go unused and out of the way, like in the bow of your kayak or in front of your feet. The flexibility of the Dry Bag also means that you can stow larger, bulky gear in it, like tents, sleeping bags, and roll-tables. Dry bags are also light. If you empty the contents of the bag during a trip and no longer need the bag, it can be folded or rolled up and easily stowed.

There are two main disadvantages to most Dry Bags. The most popular and inexpensive Dry Bags have a roll-top closure.  This means that all of your gear is loaded in through the top and the gear is stacked on top of other gear, meaning that if you need something in the bottom of the bag, you need to completely unload the Dry Bag to get to it.

The biggest advantage to a Dry Box is that it is rigid and can contain padding inside. This rigidity keeps its contents protected from impacts or crushing blows. Boxes can be lightly padded with a layer of foam or rubber or they can be filled with foam. Sometimes the foam is a block of foam that can be carved to fit specific items or it can be ‘Pick and Pluck’ foam. ‘Pick and Pluck’ foam fills the entire case and is perforated which allows you to remove small sections of it to make a custom fit for your items. Boxes with ‘Pick and Pluck’ foam are excellent for larger cameras or other items that are sensitive to shock. Dry Boxes also have the advantage of being quick and easy to open. Typically they have one or two latches on them so they can be accessed easily. This makes Dry Boxes a better choice than Dry Bags when you know that you will need to access your gear like a camera or phone multiple times a day.

Liter for liter Dry Boxes are more expensive than Dry Bags, so for cost efficiency a combination of the two may work best. Due to their rigidity, Dry Boxes are sometimes more challenging to store in smaller areas and their shape can make them tough to fit through some hatch openings. As well they can be difficult to stow in a backpack since their corners can press into your shoulders or back if not situated properly. Like Dry Bags, most Dry Boxes are not rated for submersion, they are meant to protect from splashes and short, shallow, quick submersions.

Make sure to read the specs for each Dry Box or Dry Bag before you choose one. There are options on the market to compensate for the shortcomings of both Dry Bags and Dry Boxes, but there is added expense to them as well. There are Dry Bags and Dry Boxes that are rated for submersion usually to 3 meters for up to 30 minutes, although there are boxes that are rated for deeper depths. Expect to pay a premium for these features but depending on what’s inside it may make the investment worth it. Dry Bags and Boxes can last through several seasons of hard use just make sure you keep them clean and stored properly so they are ready to go when you are.

This is a condensed version of this article, for the complete version click here

--Steve

Order Fullfillment Speed

At ACK almost nothing is as important as getting you the right product in the fastest possible time.  We continue to hold stock levels that are unparalleled in the Kayak Retail Industry but stock is only one factor in the equation.  While product availability is great we have gone one step further in differentiating ourselves from others out there.

First, last month we released an updated cut-off for all accessory shipments, now allowing orders of in-stock items up to 5pm CST.  We have worked with our shipping companies to arrange for late pickups and have streamlined our order processing to ensure that any in-stock order that is received before 5pm CST ships that day, two more hours of order time.  Kayak order cut-off has been moved to 3:30pm CST, an additional hour and a half.

Today we are pleased to announce the addition of UPS as one of our shipping providers.  We continue to ship using FedEx but with the addition of UPS we now are estimating the delivery date and choosing the provider based on the fastest delivery in order to get you your order even faster.  This significantly increases the number of packages delivered in 2-3 days as UPS/FedEx have very varying maps for the 2-3 day window.

Additionally, since FedEx delivers residential on Saturday and UPS on Monday it allows us to cut off significant time on packages that would have shipped on FedEx and been delivered on Tuesday, they will now deliver on Monday via UPS.

We continue to evaluate other ways to increase the speed and service of everything we do, if you have suggestions, post on up comments.

--Peter

The Dam 5K & Collegiate Race

I headed out to the check-in for the American Swimming Association’s 3rd Annual Dam 5K race that started at 7:45am on Saturday. I convinced my boyfriend to come along with me, so I loaded a Hobie Revolution and Hobie Sport into my truck, grabbed a couple of breakfast tacos and we were on our way to Lake Travis. We got there and unloaded the kayaks, checked in, and after a quick paddlers safety briefing, we were ready to launch! We didn’t have enough paddlers to assign every swimmer their own kayak, so we spread out and kept our eyes peeled for stressed swimmers and motorboats. Thankfully, most of the swimmers kept their line pretty well and none of them had to stop. I have to say how impressed I was that all the swimmers finished the race on their own accord, with the fastest swimmer coming in at 1 hour and 43 seconds. This was my first time as a safety peddler for a swimming race, but I have already volunteered for upcoming races. The swimmers and organizers were very thankful to the paddlers and showed their appreciation with yummy cinnamon rolls and t-shirts. It was a lot of fun to break into this community and provide a great service for these athletes. People were so impressed by the Hobie Mirage kayaks that we had a small demo after the races were over so swimmers and paddlers alike could experience first hand the awesomeness of the Mirage kayaks. Overall, it was a great experience and I’m looking forward to the next one!

--Kate

Camping and Climbing at Quartz Mountian

Last week a couple of friends, Steve O and Liam, and I took a long weekend up to southern Oklahoma for a few days of camping and rock climbing. Southern Oklahoma boasts some of the best granite slab climbing in the country and it’s practically right around the corner, just a short 6 hour drive from Austin. The three of us are all experienced climbers and campers and we were looking forward to weekend getaway. Our destination was Quartz Mountain, otherwise known as Baldy Point, an 1800 ft. slab of granite 75 miles WNW, of Lawton, Oklahoma.

The trip started out on Thursday morning with a fizzle, actually with a fizzle a dead battery. Since we were car-camping at a site just a couple of miles from Baldy, we pretty much left nothing behind and while loading the car the dome lights were apparently a little too much for a the 4 year old battery in the Armada, so after we filled the 56.7 ft3 of cargo space with everything that we could think of, loaded ourselves and tried to start the car, she didn’t comply. No big deal, a quick jump and we were off. In the back of my mind I thought that this might come back to bite us, but off we went. An easy, uneventful drive brought us to Quartz Mountain Nature Park and Camp Ground. We staked our claim at camp site #55 which was 75 yards from the dumpster but more importantly from the rest rooms, and quickly set up our tents. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon and while the temperature wasn’t too cold, the wind was blowing 20-30 making it chilly. We got the fire going – thankfully we planned ahead and acquired several bundles of firewood prior to arrival at the campground since this park, like many others, prohibits foraging for firewood.

Learning #1: When the wind is blowing 20-30 a campfire is almost useless. The wind blows the heat in the same direction as the smoke, so if you want to stay warm you have to sit in the plume. Always pack a cold weather and rain gear, no matter what the forecast is…

We warmed up a pot of chili that Steve O’s wife had made, grilled some sausage and enjoyed a nice hot meal before retiring for the night. The plan was to get an early start on Friday so we could spend the entire day on the rock. Steve O and I retired were sharing a tent. Since there was just the two of us in a 3 person tent, we were able to keep all our gear in the tent with us and still leave plenty of room to ourselves. Being there were no space or weight constraints I brought along my Therm-a-rest Basecamp, the largest version of the self inflating mattress series for my sleeping comfort. I do have to confess that I brought along a sleeping bag that I had removed the tags from years ago and therefore I have no idea what the temperature rating is for it. The first night with the wind blowing and cooler temps I was very comfortable, but the subsequent nights I was way too warm and that made sleeping tough.

Learning #2: Know your gear and leave the tags on them when they are informational. The proper temperature rating for the sleeping bag would have made for a much better night’s sleep. Fortunately in this case, my rating was for colder temperatures that we experienced, if the opposite was true, I might have been much more uncomfortable or worse.

I woke up Friday morning and set a pot of water on my WhisperLite Stove. I love this little thing, boils water in 3 minutes and it will burn white gas, kerosene and even unleaded fuel. Admittedly I didn’t need to use the Whisperlite since we had a two burner stove and 9 cup GSI Outdoors Glacier Coffee Pot, but I wanted to test out my new MSR MugMate Coffee Filter and it had been a while since I had used the WhisperLite. The MugMate is a simple little gem allows you to brew a single cup of coffee right in your mug. It weighs virtually nothing, is reusable and stores inside your mug so it takes up no space. Place the filter in the mug, add coffee and pour water in the top. Let it steep for a few and voila, the perfect cup of coffee.

After coffee and breakfast we loaded up the gear and ourselves in the Armada, and, well, nothing. Dead battery again, I should have trusted my gut yesterday. Fortunately we were able to flag down a park employee who very graciously gave us a jump and then grudgingly made the 20 mile trek the Napa Auto Parts just north of Lone Wolf, Oklahoma. The folks at Napa couldn’t have been nicer and we had the battery replaced and were at the climbing site within an hour.

Climbing at Baldy Point is fantastic and very accessible with a short 20 minute ride from the camp grounds. The parking lot is almost at the foot of the climbs and there is even a clean restroom in the parking lot. We climbed pretty much all day Friday and Saturday, eating lunch on the slab. One thing I noticed about Baldy is that in my opinion the routes are harder than they are rated in the guide book (Oklahoma Select) so proceed with caution and don't get yourself into something over your head. The climbing was exciting and very enjoyable and tested all of our skills. During one of the climbs on Saturday, I put my Klean Kanteen to the test as it fell out of my climbing pack and sailed 30 feet before bouncing 4 times on the granite. The bottle itself survived remarkably well with just a few very small dents in the steel, but the plastic sport top cracked. Note to self: Next trip bring the loop cap instead of the sport top.

After two strong days of climbing and beautiful weather we enjoyed steaks and fire grilled potatoes for dinner on Saturday night. Steve O set up a slack line in the camp site and we goofed around on it a bit, enjoying the last few hours before settling in for night. Sunday morning it was time to head back to Austin. The drive back was uneventful and safe. What a fabulous weekend. Not only was the climbing and the company great, but it was nice to just spend a few days away from the daily grind and enjoy nature for a bit. I've posted some pictures as well as our route on my SpotAdventures.com page for your viewing pleasure.

--Steve

Camping at Quartz Mountain

Stimulus Savings

So, back in February of this year we launched a coupon code in this blog, it was a 10% off all accessories and was set to expire when the economy started started growing again. I am sad, but yet happy, to say that today the economy showed a 3.5% growth, while that is good news it also means the end to our coupon.

On a bit of a side note of pure happenstance, I had set this code to expire on 11/1/09, as if I was predicting today's release.

--Peter

Ivan's Trip To Matagorda Island with Lessons Learned

I'll start out by saying, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray"....

My father and I have been fishing at Matagorda Island State Park in Texas several times a year since I was a kid. It’s one of our favorite spots to go and has continued to be the go to spot for our annual “father-son trip”. Years ago there was a ferry that used to run from Port O’Connor to the state park twice a day that was only $4, unfortunately it burned down. This resulted in a huge decrease in traffic to the park, which eventually led to it being transitioned into a Wildlife Management Area. Since the ferry burned down, we have enlisted the services of local fishing guides to ferry us and our gear to and from the island. The fee normally runs anywhere between $150-$175 round trip. This is probably a fair charge for services rendered but has always been hard for us to swallow having always before paid $4. With this in mind, I’ve always been looking for an alternative way to get out to my favorite spot to fish that was more economical. So one day at work (Austin Canoe and Kayak), I’m browsing through some of our laminated aerial photo card maps and see one for the “Port O’Connor Paddling Trail”. This is about a 12-mile paddle along the east side of Espirtu Bay through some barrier islands out to the campsite at Matagorda Island. “This I can do” I thought. I’ve done long paddles before, I have a map with GPS coordinates to guide me…I’m going to do this.

I set about quickly making packing lists and trying to find someone to accompany me for the weekend. Apparently many of my peers don’t have the same flair for last minute, untested, long paddles across ocean bays that I do, and I was unable to find anyone willing to commit their weekend to what in my mind would be a challenging adventure. So it looked like I’d be going this one alone. As the day grew nearer I was studying my route more I realized that it was possible to put in at Charlie’s Bait camp, about halfway along the coast between Port O’Connor and Seadrift, and there was a straight shot to my destination across open water that was only 7 miles paddling distance. As I was leaving straight after work on Friday and had a 4-hour drive down to the coast, I wouldn’t be entering the water until between midnight and 1 o’clock in the morning. With this in mind the shorter paddle began to look more appealing even though it was across open water. The weather reports said that the wind should have been less than 20 mph, so I figured the swells wouldn’t be too bad. I knew that I was entering a bit of a hazardous trip when I started out and thought I had done most things I needed to prepare myself. I had my cell phone and GPS unit, with all points already plotted, in a Pelican 1060 dry box. In hindsight I think I would of preferred to have them in a waterproof soft case like an Aquapac so that I could of manipulated the buttons without taking it out of the case and risking getting it wet. I had my Scotty 360 light, as well as a Princeton Tec Fuel Headlamp. I also had all of my clothes and sleeping bags packed into an assortment of dry bags. I, of course, also had my whistle and PFD which are required by law. My last little trick for signaling in an emergency situation is something I learned about from my time in the Marine Corps that we called a “buzzsaw.” You take a chemical light stick and tie a 3 foot piece of string to it and after it is activated you spin it around over your head to signal a rescue team, it’s very effective for aerial spotting.

I started out about 12:30 at night as intended and the wind was blowing a little bit harder than I had expected but it wasn't too cold and I wasn't real concerned. I had a borrowed Tarpon 160 that I was paddling for the first time and was about 2.5 miles in and getting out into the center of the bay when the wind started to really pick up and the swells were getting bigger. I was having a really hard time staying on course with the wind and was tiring out much quicker than I had anticipated. I'm in pretty decent shape and have done some long days of paddling before so I was surprised how quickly these types of conditions were wearing me out. My progress began to slow even more and I noticed that I now had standing water past the scupper holes in the foot well of the kayak. This had me more than a little concerned so I opened up the center hatch and looked down to the horror of seeing the kayak filled over halfway with water. I knew enough to recognize that I was in serious trouble at this point. Between the waves and the wind which was now gusting probably 35+ I knew if I got turned sideways and got just a little squirrelly I would be rolling over. I grabbed a water bottle and cut the top off of it to use as a bailing cup. My problem was that I had to alternate between scooping out a few cupfuls of water and then paddling again quickly to straighten out. A combination of this routine and stress began to really take its toll on me and I wasn't making any progress at this point. Over the next two hours I only made about 2 miles headway, as I had to repeat the bailing process several times as I continued to take on water. I was still about 3 miles from my destination when I realized I just wasn't in a condition to make it and I needed to figure out something different. I looked on my GPS for the closest land and luckily it was about 1.5 miles and in the direction the wind was trying to blow me. I limped in that direction completely exhausted and finally managed to literally wash ashore like a piece of driftwood somewhere along the barrier island for Pringle Lake. At this point I was soaked and most likely in stage 1 or 2 hypothermia. I grabbed my dry bag with my sleeping bag in it and got up above the tide line and stripped down to nothing and crawled into my sleeping bag to warm up. I probably passed out for an hour or so. Let me tell you what a relief and comfort it is to have the assurance that you have a dry place to sleep and dry clothes to put on after being cold and wet.

I woke up feeling much better, put on some dry pants and pulled my kayak up farther from the water. I have a Crestone 2, two man backpacking tent which I can luckily put up in about 5 minutes, which I did, tied my kayak to it in case the tide came up and then crashed inside of it again.

I awoke the next morning no worse for the wear, luckily my kayak hadn't tried to float away and it was a beautiful morning. I was alive so that means it was time to go fishing ! I still had about a 4 mile straight shot, 6 or so paddling miles to the slip at Matagorda so I didn't fish as much in Pringle lake as I would of liked. The water clarity there was great and I was able to paddle up on quite a few reds in shallow water. I had several follows on a Spook Jr all the way up to the kayak and a few blow-ups. I brought in 2 or 3 undersized reds but nothing else. I did see more stingrays around there than I've ever seen in one area before so if you're a wader watch out. I was relieved to FINALLY make it to Matagorda! There were a couple of sailboats in the slip and a group of 3 guys camping there. After setting up camp, I saw they had quite a few fishing poles in their camp so I wandered over to see if they'd had any luck. They'd had none at all other than 1 or 2 undersized the whole weekend. The tide was higher than normal, but I think the main problem was the water clarity it was just dirty. Not only that, but way to much floating grass all over, and that's a pain with any type of lure. I tried for the rest of the evening with everything I had, top waters, spoons, soft plastics, cut bait on the bottom, live bait under a popping cork…nada! I was regretting not spending longer in Pringle sight casting to reds.

Mosquitoes were bad as usual, but not as bad as I've seen them sometimes in the past. I brought along a Thermacell and it was the first time I've had a chance to use it, and wow, it worked great. If I walked outside of my little area of protection I got slammed by mosquitoes but around my little area there was never more than one mosquito buzzing around. I had brought a little bit of food and busted out my little Bugaboo cooking set and my MSR Whisperlite stove which really puts out a hot flame from such a little package and fired up a little dinner for myself. After a little warm food in my stomach it was time to hit the sack for the night.

I was still pretty tired and slept later than I had intended the next morning and didn't get back out onto the water till about 9:00. The water was still really dirty and I didn't have much luck for the first hour. I have rarely been skunked fishing along the channel that runs into the slip there for trout but I was having no luck. I headed to a little shallower area mostly sandy with a little bit of grass patches when I noticed quite a bit of bait working in the distance. I had a Norton bull minnow on one rod and a live mullet under a popping cork on the other. I cast the live bait over and the bait continued to boil on the surface and was surprised I wasn't getting any hits on it. I got a few little bites on my plastic but no sets. More and more patches of bait started getting run to the surface all around me so I switched over to my trusty spook junior and that was the ticket. I immediately began getting blow-ups on it, and would stop reeling do the little "wounded twitch" and bam! Fish on! It probably pulled in a couple dozen mixed of undersized reds and trout. I had gotten out of my kayak at this point and was just standing in a sandy patch when I look down and there are probably 5 or 6 reds swimming around me. I couldn't believe it. I reeled in and was thinking to myself surely they are going to spook at any second...I was able to actually just put my pole out and jig the top water across for about 2 seconds and got to watch one of the reds rocket up to the top of the water and snag it. It was a pretty awesome experience. It was getting later and I knew I had a long paddle back so much to my chagrin, right in the middle of the bite, I had to pack it back to the campsite. I did end up with 4 keeper trout, but I'm pretty sure I could of gotten my limit had I stayed. Surprising side note, I never got even a nibble on the live bait which was kicking the whole time I was out there and it was continuously surrounded by bait hitting the water...any thoughts on that? The guys at the other camp were also packing up and had a boat chartered to come pick them up. I was about loaded up myself when their ride arrived and took them away, they hadn't made it very far when they turned around and came back...I had assumed they forgot something but much to my surprise they came back for me! They generously offered to give me a ride back to Port O'Connor! I was thrilled to not have to paddle my way back across that after my experience two days before. I have to give Captain Bob there in Port O'Connor many points for his generosity for the ride and he even had his wife load me up in her truck and drive me down to Charlie's after we got back! Its nice to know there are still people in the world who show random acts of kindness to strangers.

Ok. So time for some lessons learned....

1. If you’re doing a long paddle trip or headed away from shore in an unknown kayak check it out first. The leak ended up being from a botched front hatch, which I would of figured out had I done a good inspection or done a water test on it before I had set out.
2. I had waterproof gear and didn't wear it...after you get wet it's hard to stay warm...
3. Don't go alone
4. Wind can come up at any time and it’s usually going to blow in a direction you don’t want it to.
5. If you haven't done something before, doing it at night probably isn't the best idea.
6. Get a kayak with a rudder if you’re going to be paddling long distances in the wind.

If nothing else hopefully my story helps you think a bit longer before setting off on a trip of your own. I'm glad I did the trip and encourage other people to try expeditions that push the limits a little bit. Just take the time to do it correctly and safely!

Camping and Kayaking - Part 3

Rain, rain and more rain. The April showers are 6 months late here in Austin, but well received. Hoping for a small break in the rain at the end of the month for a Camping/Climbing trip in Oklahoma so I can test out some of our new gear. Check here in early November for details from that trip. Here we go with Part 3 of Camping and Kayaking, the final segment of this series...for now.

Stove/Cook Set: Keep the kitchen simple and compact and you’ll find that you spend a lot less time cooking and more time enjoy the scenery and your family and friends. An all in one system like the MSR Reactor Stove System is great for quickly boiling water. You’ll find a plethora of dry foods out there that only require water and taste great…mmm freeze dried ice cream sandwiches- they’re good, I swear. So if your camp site doesn’t have a grill or allow open flames or you don’t feel like carting prime rib along, try one of these. You’ll be surprised. If you want a little more versatility but still want to stay simple look at something like the Whisper Lite Internationale Stove (lets you burn white gas, diesel, or unleaded) and a cook set like the GSI Bugaboo Camper Cook Set. Of course if space isn’t as issue, go all out with the real stuff and use the Pioneer Enamelware Camp Set…I still have a set of this from Boy Scouts, it lasts forever.

Dry Bags/Dry Boxes: There are probably a thousand different choices for keeping your gear dry. One thing is for sure, a Ziploc baggy and garbage sack are a disaster waiting to happen. If you value your gear, especially electronics, invest in a couple of dry bags. There are ones that are specific to electronics like SealLine Waterproof Electronics Cases and others that are more universal like the Baja Bags and Tuff Sacks. Dry Bags also work excellent for organizational purposes. Several smaller Dry Bags in different colors can help you keep your gear organized in your pack or kayak as well make it easy to sort out when you get to camp. There are various versions of Dry Bags like the See Bags that are made with clear or opaque materials that allow you to see what is in them without having to dig around or empty them. In some cases the materials that make up the clear or opaque Dry Bags is lighter duty so check the specs on these and make sure they are suitable for your situation.

Kayak Cart: I know this is not necessarily what you would consider camping gear, but I like to think on them as wheelbarrows. For those camp sites that are 100-300 yards away you load your yak on a kayak cart, pile on all your gear and wheel it out to the site- voila – one trip.

I know some or all of you are going to come up with items that I overlooked on this list or that you may think are more important, and that’s great, because my biggest goal here is to get you thinking about how easy it is to take your kayak camping with you, or your camping kayaking with you. Comments are always welcome and encouraged or you can send an email to customer@austinkayak.com.