Field Report

Field Report
Pacific Outdoor Equipment (POE) Pneumo Ltw Dry-Bag 25 L

June 21, 2006

Manufacturer: POE
Manufacturer's URL: http://www.pacoutdoor.com
Year Model: 2006
Size: 25 L
MSRP: $28.00 (US)
Dimensions: 16 x 33 in / 41 x 84 cm
Color: Solar Orange
Listed Weight: 5.8 oz/164 g
Tested Weight: 6.35 oz/180 g

Personal Details

Tester: Colleen Porter
Age: 31
Gender: F
Height: 5' 8” (1.73 m)
Weight: 137 lb (62 kg) Email: tarbubble at yahoo dot com
City, State: Irvine, California
Date: April 15, 2006

Biography: I’ve been backpacking for 11 years, usually with my husband. We used to be heavyweights, but having children forced us to go lighter, and now on my own my 3-season base weight (without food, water or fuel) hovers around 13 lb/6 kg. On family trips the weight usually doubles. I make some of our gear. My typical haunts are the mountains of southern California, the Sierra Nevada, the Grand Canyon, plus the Mojave and Colorado deserts. Yup, gotta carry a lot of water.

Field Conditions: So far, testing has been exclusively in southern California, in local mountains and along the coastline. Elevations have ranged from over 10,000 ft/3048 m, and temperatures from roughly 40 F / 4 C to over 100 F / 38 C. Weather has been mostly clear and dry.

Performance: The Pneumo Ltw has led a boring life for the past two months. It has primarily been used as a waterproof compression sack on a bunch of hikes where it has been exposed to no water - there's been almost no rain at all, and I haven't crossed anything that could be called more than a creek. Yeah, I could have done some more sample dunks, but I've been hoping for some "real world" opportunities. It will face its greatest challenges in July and August, when it will be dunked in both the Pacific Ocean and Montana's Flathead lake.

However, as a compression sack I have been mightily pleased with it. I can jam a 20 F/-6 C down bag, a down jacket, down slippers and my long underwear in it, squeeze out as much air as possible, roll down the top, then press my body onto the bag in order to squeeze more air out through the valve. This results in a very compressed, concentrated package, and allows me to keep my pack compressed smaller and to carry more weight closer to my back. It makes for very comfortable weight distribution in my pack. On my last trip with the Pneumo Ltw, I packed and sealed it at 9500 ft/2900 m and at about 45 F/7 C, carried it over 10,000 ft/3048 m, then brought it back down to sea level and the hottest day we've had so far this year (over 100 F/38 C). When I got it home it was still compressed nicely, despite the extreme changes in air pressure and temperature.

stuffed with a sleeping bag, down jacket, down booties, and long undies.

As of now, it seems a perfectly durable, steady dry bag. The air valve is an especially nice feature for using it in a backpack. I have fiddled with attaching it to my "new used" Luxury Lite pack frame, to use as a packbag, but haven't quite found a way to tie it on that I'm pleased with. I just got some self-attaching hook-and-loop strips and will probably try using those to attach it. Mainly I want to use it this way in order to rack up more UV exposure for it, to see how it holds up under sun damage. It will get lots of sun and water exposure in the next two months.

Read more reviews of Pacific Outdoor Equipment gear
Read more gear reviews by Colleen Porter

Reviews > Stuff Sacks > Dry Bags > Pacific Outdoor Equip Pneumo LTW Dry Bag > Colleen Porter > Field Report

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