Reviews > Stuff Sacks > Dry Bags > Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sack > Ralph Ditton > Long Term Report

Prickly Bark campsite on the Coastal Plain Trail is roughly 80 m (262 ft) elevation. It can be found at S 31°42.800' E 115°56.981'. The trail from the eastern terminus to the campsite is a sandy track that is mostly flat with a steep climb up a sand dune over the last half a kilometre (0.31 mi) to the campsite.
Shapcotts campsite at the other end of the Coastal Plain Trail is situated in a slight hollow just 7 m (23 ft) above sea level. It can be found at S 31°30.841' E 115°39.835'.
Moitch campsite is the next one along from Prickly Bark. It is at an elevation of 58 m (190 ft). It can be found at S 31° 37.419' E 115° 50.837'.

The weather was mostly wet as this is when we receive most of our rain with frequent heavy rain storms.
Snow does not occur in the areas that I hike, just heavy frost with fog.
The areas that I hike in have kangaroo ticks, huntsmen spiders and various species of snakes. Snakes in the area do not hibernate during winter as evidenced by their tracks in the sandy trails.

Field Test Information
The sack has been on two trips in my backpack lasting two days and one day each respectively. In addition I took it with me for a week's holiday where it was used to store dirty clothing inside my portmanteau.
The items stored in the stuff sack for the first trip were  dehydrated food packets, powdered soup packets, condensed milk in a tube and two "smart pouches" of vegetarian Indian meals that only require immersion in boiling water to heat up.
There was no calamitous accidents such as leaking packets of food nor tears in the stuff sack material from the sharp aluminium foil corners of the packaged food.
I was able to stuff the sack into my backpack forcefully in that there was a small gap between my sleeping mat and another stuff sack. This is where I shoved the stuff sack. The stuff sack took on a rough oval shape to fit into the gap.

food packet showing through fabric
Note the flattened look of the stuff sack in the above photo after I removed it from the backpack. That was because the contents were pushed into that shape when I forced it into the backpack.
The next occasion should have been an overnight camp, however due to the very wet conditions one of the party started to show signs of hyperthermia and the rain showed no signs of stopping. Despite our rain gear, we were all soaked through a combination of wet trousers from the rain and wet shirts from perspiration. We decided to abort the trip and made our way back to the vehicles.
For this trip I packed clothing in the stuff sack that was going to be used at the camp and to sleep in as we knew there was going to be some rain. There was my thermal pants and top, socks, underpants and tracksuit. The stuff sack was very full and I only managed to get two folds of the Hypalon roll top done and clipped closed. At one stage I had to remove the stuff sack to get to my food at lunch time and it was sitting on wet rocks in the rain.

stuff sack in my backpack on a wet day
Arriving back at the vehicles after being rained on for over seven hours, we took advantage of a slight easing of rain to get changed into dry clothes.
I took the stuff sack out of my backpack and was very happy to see that the clothes were very dry, despite the backpack rain cover not quite covering my backpack fully allowing some water to enter into the backpack through the sides at the bottom.

Whilst on holidays I used the stuff sack as my laundry basket which contained undergarments and clothing for two days at a time until the clothes were washed. I was travelling between towns so the stuff sack was packed into my portmanteau.
At no time did I detect any odour from the dirty washing seeping through the fabric.
Upon arrival home, I did give the stuff sack a good soaking in very warm water with fabric detergent. I then hung it on the line to dry in the sunshine. The stuff sack dried in about four hours. This was in early August in our winter and the sun's heat is not very warm.

Performance against test plan since the Field Report
At the end of the test phase there is no sign of any abrasions on the fabric and the buckle still works very well. The below freezing temperatures that the buckle was exposed to did not affect it in any way, ie. becoming brittle.
The Hypalon roll top closure works very well in that at no stage did I detect any moisture inside the sack.
The stiffener at the top of the roll top closure provides two functions: a guide as to where the folds should take place and as an edge to the folded material making a good seal. Also there has been no distortion such as buckling of the stiffener through repeated use.
Does the Ultra-Sil have a high tear strength? In view of the fact that I have placed foil food packets into the sack with sharp corners and there has been no damage either by the corners scraping the inside of the fabric nor catching on the edge of the tape seam seal, theUltra-Sil seems to have a high enough tear strength for normal use.
After the wet hike, I placed the wet clothing inside the stuff sack and did not notice any moisture transferring to the outside surface.

Summary
The things that I like are still valid from my initial report.

• The sack is lightweight
•  colourful
• transparent to a degree
• collar rolls down easily
• buckle is easy to open and close
• roll down closure can act as a handle

Reviews > Stuff Sacks > Dry Bags > Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil Dry Sack > Ralph Ditton > Long Term Report