Dry Bags

dry bag holds my FF battery.  Second dry bag holds my emergency stuff, wallet, keys.  3rd bag hold tackle and snacks

I use a smallish one in the front hatch for wallet, keys, phone and any other items that absolutely need to be dry. Gps, fish finder, and radio all launch and land in the orange plano with the tackle unless it gnarly then they go into the drybag. 

I put my safety equipment in one (signal mirror, throw line, emergency blanket,  rations, water, flint stone & first aid kit).

I always carry a couple extras for my catch bag if I'm camping and fishing a couple of days. Walmart has some for around $12. I freeze a couple of used soda liters with water and stuff one in the dry bag while I'm fishing and it lasts all weekend. After I clean and fillet fish I just rinse the bag and bottle and put the fish back in the same bag and throw the bag in my cooler. Then the next day I use another dry bag and start all over. I've kept fish like that for up to 3 days till I get home.

No need to fill our landfills with unnecessary zip bags.>

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I always have a dry bag inside another one and it carries all of my safety and emergency stuff as well as whatever else I'm looking to keep dry that day.  Sin Coast referred to it as that "huge ass drybag" that I always carry, and I like that.   

Thanks for the sensational feedback everyone!

Last Fall, I was guiding in Malibu.  People bring all their gear to the beach and we sort it out before launching. The guest showed me a beautiful selection of SeaLine dry bags and a few more he had picked up from Walmart.  I commented that "I didn't know Walmart had a paddlesport gear section" and left it at that.  At the end of the day, the guest removed a Walmart dry bag from the center hatch of his new boat (he thought the hatch sack was waterproof too) to find his I Phone and very expensive camera were ruined.  The first words out of his mouth were, "You showed us in your video not to do this".  Thankfully, the loss was not a hardship for him but a thousand bucks STINGS.  I've always recommended that anglers grow into their gear and find that people who purchase everything right away spend more money than those who run fully outfitted or just bring their new kayak.

I always liked SeaLine dry bags but went through them like socks until I found www.jpwinc.com dry bags.  "Jack's" bags (Jack's Plastic Welding) are far superior to everything I've tried.  JPW makes inflatable river boats, rescue craft, camp pads and dry bags in New Mexico.  Their Kayak Stow Bags and Outfitter Stow Bags can last 10 years or more bouncing off rocks in rivers and with gorilla-like R&D from me and the KF.com crew.   Lots of anglers will always go cheaper to test stuff out and see if it works for them.  In my experience, at 35-$42 per bag, A JPW dry bag costs less than 4 bucks a year on average, a better value with a lot more added peace-of-mind. 

   I keep my gear to bare essentials and fit my goodies inside my orange waterproof Plano box and the my yak seat back pack.

F.A. if you are referring to the orange plano that you see most of us use behind our seats, beware that they are anything but waterproof. I filled mine up a couple times on bad landings. I do use a drybag for the essentials such as tp.

Chad  - I completely agree the orange plano box is not waterproof.  I've experienced what your saying.  I am fine if whatever gear I have inside gets wet.  I do use waterproof boxes if needed.

 

   Yes dry bags are still used.

Chad  - I completely agree the orange plano box is not waterproof.  I've experienced what your saying.  I am fine if whatever gear I have inside gets wet.  I do use waterproof boxes if needed.

not to go off topic here, but quick question. Which plano box is everyone talking about?  I usually go with plano tackle boxes and just want to make sure I don't pick up the one that isn't waterproof.  anyone have recommendations for a decent waterproof box?

This one: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=111775&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50842&subdeptNum=50874&classNum=50875

It will take water inside, so I use waterproof tackle boxes and put them inside the orange Plano.
OK designed them for a good fit on the Trident Series, fits just as good on my Revo.

I've added 3 rod holders in back with DIY PVC pipes and attached Scotty Deck Mount up top #241. 

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,21871.30.html

Chad  - I completely agree the orange plano box is not waterproof.  I've experienced what your saying.  I am fine if whatever gear I have inside gets wet.  I do use waterproof boxes if needed.

not to go off topic here, but quick question. Which plano box is everyone talking about?  I usually go with plano tackle boxes and just want to make sure I don't pick up the one that isn't waterproof.  anyone have recommendations for a decent waterproof box?

I use dry boxes like the Pelican for my batteries, however, they are not "water proof" so if submerged they will leak.  As mentioned by others, the orange Plano boxes leak like a sieve. I use a dry bag as a "ditch bag" and it has my key, wallet, water, first aide kit and other safety stuff. I attach it to my rear seat strap so it is easy to get to.

Where can I find some cheap dry bags? Or could I make one?

West Marine, Sports Authority, possibly Big 5 & REI.  Depending on how large of an item you want to put in it, I've found waterproof containers at places like Tractor Supply & Wal-Mart.  For my small stuff (cell phone, wallet, keys, etc.) I use a Plano waterproof box sold in the tackle section.  Has a large 0-ring & 2 snapping cam latches to seal it all up (single compartment); less than $5.00 each!

I have several different types of boats and realized years ago that for me, anyway, boating is all bags and ropes. Virtually everything goes into bags of some kind, and everything is connected by ropes (lines).

My keys and important wallet contents go in my PFD. I can lose everything else, but if I come out alive, I will have my keys and ID. If I don't, my body will be readily identifyable.

I wouldn't buy a cheap dry bag to stow anything valueable.  Like the advise in this thread indicates, inexpensive alternatives are many.

I love my drybags and they love the surfzone.  After more than a decade, I finally got the opportunity to meet Jack (and Errol) from Jack's Plastic Welding in New Mexico at the Outdoor Retailer Show last week.  Known as one of the premier U.S. river raft craft companies by  a big part of the river running section, Jack has kept his dry bags on the Kayakfishing.com boats and sponsored various kayak fishing tournaments and causes through our effort for many years.  Unfortunately, he said he has never had the time to actually target the kayak fishing section.  The only way for anglers to get them is by ordering from their site.  He showed me a new item that was a big, open bucket.  Like a giant dry bag with a handle at the top, this thing could be used as a fish bucket, or a live well....maybe and a hundred other uses.  Hopefully, we'll get a few to the Fall Classic.

Not all cheap dry bags are cheap.  Generally speaking, private label products at larger retailers are (generally) the same product quality w/o the upcharge for marketing fee's.  One of the best drybags I have found cost me less than $10 at the time I bought it a number of years ago.  Still works great, simple to use and I can see thru it.  The most costly items I carry with me on my kayak are placed in a $6 Plano cam-lock, gasketed case.  You don't have to spend huge $ to get high quality products that will serve the same purpose ... you can if you want to but for the masses, there isn't a need to do so.   $6 Plano case vs. $100 Pelican case ....     Don't get me wrong, there ARE times the Pelican case is worth the extra money .... just throwing out Pelican cases as merely an example.