How important do you think it is to use fully submersible gear bags when you’re on the skiff?
If you do go full-submersible, what gear do you pack in it?
Feel free to vent your hate for those zippers, too!
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I’m a cheap ass redneck so it’s a no for me..lol..
But being serious.. I just use my little 20qt cooler for everything. It’s a habit I picked up from my kayaking days. It’s a sealed roto molded cooler, so it’s essentially a big dry box by design.
I also keep a separate, sealed tool box thing that houses my paperwork, fire extinguisher and other boat essentials . Otherwise that’s pretty much all that’s on my skiff.
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I carry one when I’m a guest on a skiff, in case there are no hatches available, and I carry a sling pack on the beach because it’s gonna get wet.
On my skiff, it’s all inside very dry hatches so no fancy bags.
I have been a guest many times on a friends Chittum Mangrove and the front hatch he wants me to use smells really bad to fumes, I’m sure he has a leak and I refuse to put my gear in there. So a waterproof bag is useful, I just think they are way overpriced.
The devil himself designed the zippers!
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Hey man, that cooler sorta counts!
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You’re going fishing. You and your stuff is likely to get wet. I don’t worry getting wet except when the weather and water could make me cold. Then I need and use protection from the weather. Otherwise, just get wet and deal with it. Same for my stuff.
Huh? If you don’t have anything to add to the conversation then why post dribble….
Plenty of reasons to have a waterproof bag on a boat. Medical supplies (my wife takes injections from time to time) spare cell batteries, wallets etc etc.
Now back to the op,I use to have the Fishpond backpack but it was huge and took up too much space in my opinion. Sold it on the other site and went to the Fishpond sling. That got sold too due to it being a pain in the ass to get things in/out.
Finally went with a Yeti Loadout 15 box. It’s fantastic. I can reach back into my locker and pop the lid back to get to everything.we now just use it as the boat box too. Keeps registration and other papers in it along with everything else. It’s lockable also. We ended up buying another one to keep all our safety equipment in as well as fuel additives. These load out boxes are really nice options for organizing everything.
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I have a FishPond boat bag, it’s kept stuff relatively dry even when it’s rough. It has the hard bottom that keeps it dry if it’s sitting in a bit of water. It gets soaked on the outside sometimes from spray/splashing, but at the interior pockets usually stay dry. That said I have gotten my wallet soaked at time in there. Even so I tend to put my phone either in the console or in a waterproof pouch. If I really want something to stay dry (my Nikon DSLR, car keys), I put them in a roll top bag, totally waterproof. Really the only thing I truly care about keeping dry is the DSLR and my car keys (because of the fob).
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It seems that rolltop bags are the only dependable waterproof bags. I have been using the Mustad tackle bags and they are decent but for my phone and wallet I put it in a ziplock if it is not in a hatch…
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Yeah, the zippers are a pain. I have a Dakine pack that I use when not on my boat and when on foot in the boondocks. I use chapstick on the zipper because it is always available, but it still takes a lot of force to move it. The advantage is that one can unzip down the side to reach something in the bottom of the bag. I know from experience that if the zipper is not fully seated in its “closed” dock, it will leak. Still undecided about this versus a roll-top.
The soft pack fits in places a hard box will not and it works as a carry-on for trips. On my boat, I use dry boxes inside the dry hatches just in case the worst happens.
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Other thing you can do (this is when I don’t bring my SLR), I have two small Pelican cases that can fit a wallet and keys in the smaller, and phone and keys and wallet in the slightly larger, and I will put those in my Fishpond bag. That way I don’t need a roll top bag, although alternately I could get a smaller roll top bag for smaller items. A small rolltop can also fit into the boat bag (be it Fishpond or other) easily as it’s flexible.
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I don’t think WP is a must, but mine are. The small Yeti Loadout is a handy dang thing. I used it for non-fishing but skiff essentials (key, TM remote, GPS, NOCO starter…). I also use a fishpond boat bag and have an old Patagonia one as well for fishing day stuff or dry insulation for colder runs. I like/use all three but I do fully unload my skiff when I’m not on it. I’m not so worried about theft as stuff getting ruined sitting in the hatches in my lift.
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