I’ve been looking for a simple solution to keep my wallet, phone, and Bluetooth headset dry and secure while I’m swimming, but every waterproof bag was either very tiny, very difficult to open and push things into because of the tacky plastic coating, or expensive and only useful for one purpose.
After scoping out the options at sports stores, I realized I already had a very strong, lightweight polyester day bag so I went bought a large round screw-top container with a rubber gasket and I was done.
easy to put everything in and take everything out, very good seal.
Took it into some crashing waves for an hour with my phone, wallet, and t-shirt inside(and some tissue papers so that I could periodically check if any water was getting in) and the thing works like a charm.
Bonus buoyancy means I can use the container as a small pillow while floating
The water was pretty busy today, but I’ll definitely have to try floating again, the neck pillow was very comfortable during the short test runs i was allowed.
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This is a great tip!! I’ve been thinking about something similar for fishing trips as sometimes I’d rather go into the water to clear some vegetation than lose a lure. Though I’ve used similar containers for meal storage and I’ve found they can crack from time to time, so you might wanna keep a zip lock bag around the electronics for some extra protection.
Thanks, my strongest emotion was relief that I didn’t have to keep researching the pros and cons of different waterproof pouches.
This container checked all the boxes right out of the shrinkwrap.
Ziploc’s a good idea, cant hurt to double up.
If you put pressure on the middle of that cheap plastic container, it will deform enough to cause the lid to leak or even pop off.
I’m not sure where you were looking at prices but you can get arbitrarily huge dry bags for very little money that won’t leak unless you subject them to pretty serious abuse.
I wouldn’t rely on your solution for anything that costs more than the plastic thingamajig you’re putting it in.
This. It’s not challenging to make a watertight container. It’s challenging to make a water tank container that will remain watertight under various types of duress.
i can’t see any evidence for that happening with this particular container, which has just the amount of robustness and flex i was looking for, especially with rubber sealed screw tops, which create a strong seal, but it’s something to keep in mind.
dry bags cant be submerged, unfortunately, and are fairly limited in use while taking up a lot of space.
I do have one, but dry bags are water resistant only above water, while this container is waterproof even submerged.
it’s on my back in the ocean, so it won’t be facing down vise grips anytime soon.
Again, I don’t know where you get your dry bags but they can be submerged just fine and stay dry inside. If you’re talking about how aggressively they float, that can be controlled by how much air you trap inside before closing them. I’ve done quite a bit of kayaking and never had a dry bag fail, even when repeatedly rolling the kayak (usually on purpose).
maybe we’re using different terminology.
I think I’ve found the type of kayaking waterproof dry bags you’re talking about:
those look very effective for kayaking, floating and keeping spray off.
I’m watching videos to see if the seal maintains integrity while diving or against some heavy waves.
the videos all seem to focus on slightly expensive, bulky bags used for specifically surface water sports.
the fact the kayaking dry bags float is a big selling point in these videos, which goes against the use case of a waterproof submersible dive bag.
if those bags do stay sealed underwater for extended periods, i don’t think I’d like to compress them every time i used them.
they look great for kayaking or wading, but don’t appear to do the job as a convenient, lightweight, airtight, fully submersible, compact waterproof container i can dive or roll in the waves with.
some of these “waterproof dry bags” only use magnets and velcro to maintain their seal, which a wave or strong current would easily rip wide open.
also, you can get a good rubber sealed container at most supermarkets for a couple bucks that’ll protect your phone, wallet, shirt whatever.
i appreciate your perspective, and it’s pushing me more toward the rubber sealed container being a pretty valuable lifehack for extended submersible beach use.
I’ve done a lot of river, float, and swim trips and never had an issue with dry bags
Nice solution when in a pinch though
nice. I’ve watched several surface water sports review videos now at the urging of kayakers and think the waterproof dry bags work perfectly in those situations.
at the beach, i do feel more comfortable with a strong rubber seal in the face of waves, sand and extended submersion, plus the tupperware is perfectly sized for beach essentials and the odd bits and bobs.
