Reviews > Stuff Sacks > Dry Bags > Seal Line Kodiak Window Purge Dry Bags > Owner Review by Eric Frey

SealLine Kodiak Window Purge Dry Bags
By Eric Frey
OWNER REVIEW
January 13, 2007

TESTER INFORMATION

I grew up in a family that loved to backpack and go for weekend excursions to the Oregon Coast and Cascade Mountains. I have spent much of my life in the outdoors, Boy Scouts, Explorers, National Guard Soldier. Currently I do most of my backpacking with my son's Boy Scout Troop. I have explored the Sinai peninsula, hiked in Germany, Spent a winter in Umatilla, Oregon where the low was -26 F (-32.21 C), Climbed Avalanche Peak in Yellowstone National Park, and mostly explore the wilds of Oregon with my family. I am a mid-weight backpacker who prefers comfort to lightweight.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Kodiak Window Line of Bags

Waterproof Level 2: considered watertight withstands quick submersions and
will float if dropped in the water.

MY DESCRIPTION AND THEORY OF USE

My description: The bags are pretty much as advertised; the TPU window is semi-transparent so that you can identify colors and some specific items of clothing through it. The nylon appears to be coated with a silicon coating that improves its water tightness but items of clothing do kind of stick to it. The seams appear to be heat sealed and durable. The base is a black heavy-duty nylon that is abrasion resistant which make placing on the ground to pack it a little more worry free.

How it works: the bags are simple; top of the bag is placed together (like a folded pant leg) and roll it down until resistance is met. If it needs to be floatable, buckle it at this point, or if compression is desired, push down and force air out of the purge valve until the desired compression level is reached. The roll doubles as a handle and next to the buckle is a D-Ring for attaching to gear or securing to a rope.

MY MOTIVATION TO PURCHASE THIS ITEM

My reasons for buying these bags: My oldest son is in the Boy Scouts and since we live in the Pacific Northwest, we tend to find ourselves camping in the rain. After my Ziploc freezer bags failed me on a camping trip to the Columbia River Gorge during a deluge, I decided to get something a bit more durable and dependable. For novices, cold wet clothing, first thing in the morning does not make for a happy hamper. Also I like to compartmentalize my equipment so that if something leaks everything doesn't get ruined, white gas and dish soap aren't something I like wearing.

FIELD USE

Locations where tested: I have used these bags on every trip I have been on for the last year and a half but I will focus on four main trips. Snow camping at Santiam Snow Park in the Cascades, beach camping at Fort Stevens State Park, 10 day trip to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and 2 week annual training (AT) in Redmond, Oregon

Description of locations:
Santiam Snow Park Approx 7000' (2134 m), mountainous, snowy, lowest temp during trip -2 F (-19 C);
Fort Stevens at sea level, avg temp 50 F (10 C), rainy-downpours and drizzle, sandy;
Yellowstone, Canyon Campground, approx 9000' (2743 m), wooded high country, some rain, bear country
Redmond, Oregon high desert 6000' (1829m), low brush, dusty occasional downpours, one major downpour (3" (7.6 cm) rain and hail in under 2 hours).

Description of trip and performance:
Santiam Snow Park: This was a snowshoe trip up into the backcountry of the Cascades; we traveled to a remote area where the Boy Scouts would not be in the way of snowboarders, skiers and folks enjoying the snow. After several grueling hours of climbing hills and encouraging some very cold boys, we set up our camp. I used the bags to store my kitchen gear in one 30L bag, my clothing in another and my night gear and some of my essentials in a 15L bright yellow bag. I was worried that continued exposure to the freezing temperatures might cause the bags to become brittle or cause some structural integrity issues with the seams. Throughout the trip, the bags remained pliable and structurally sound. The quick release buckles were easy to use with my thick gloves on and they only occasionally pinched the gloves into the buckle. I was able to get into and out of my equipment without having to take off my gloves. The large handle made by the roll also made it easy to access my equipment without exposing skin. The bright yellow of the 15L bag made for good visibility in the dark after my headlamp went out and I was able to quickly and easily locate the bag and get out my candle lantern for light.

Fort Stevens State Park: this was a hike into a little used area of the state park reserved for youth groups. The area was a bit muddy and being very close to the beach was very sandy. As it normally does on the Oregon Coast, it rained on us and then we had some spectacular sun breaks. I was very glad to have these bags with me on this trip since many of the boys had wrapped their equipment up in garbage bags and Ziploc bags. The garbage bags were shredded before the end of the trip and could not repel any water from the gear. With the sand, most of the Ziplocs failed to seal properly and several boys ended up with wet clothing. Even with sand on the lining of my bags, they were able to seal easily and I was able to segregate my wet sandy clothes from the dry comfortable clothing (which stayed dry the entire trip). After the trip, the bags had some sand in them for several more trips but eventually it all came out. After I had a bit of success with these bags, I also purchased some for the rest of my family to use during our trip to Yellowstone.

Yellowstone National Park: this was a 10-day family camping trip with my wife, our two sons, and myself, where we base camped in Canyon Campground and went for excursions from there. Our three main concerns were bears, rain, and organization. With the bags having a D-ring if we had needed to we could have used them as a bear bag and hoisted it between two trees, and for cost this was much cheaper than buying bear proof containers. Fortunately, we were able to locate some of the large steel bear proof containers to store our food in so we were not able to test these out. As far as rain went, we had one really good summer rainstorm come through and drenched everything that was not in a sealed container. The tent leaked and the sleeping bags were wet, but the items inside of the SealLine bags were dry. As for the organization inside the tent, these worked perfectly, having the window in them my wife and I could quickly identify whose bag was whose and our sons had their bags color coded, yellow and blue. In addition to the normal uses these bags worked well for shower bags, and laundry bags during our trip.

Finally was the non-standard use trip to Redmond, Oregon where our unit performed Annual Training. When we move our equipment, no one is gentle with it, bags are thrown into trucks, tossed on the ground and generally drug all over the place. This is sagebrush, juniper, and tumbleweed area with lots of dust, especially with armored personnel carriers moving around the area. With the rough handling and general abuse these bags received I was certain I was going to puncture them but the seams stayed sealed, the last millimeter of fabric did start to fray a bit, however with about a centimeter of sealing this does not affect the integrity of the product. I had one bag with my cook set and camp stove in it (I need my coffee) and I was very glad to see that even with a little bit of white gas leaking in the bag nothing escaped. The other issue I was worried about was the purge valve and the fine dust that covers everything out there. The small filter over the purge valve worked very well to keep the bag from sucking up any dust or dust building up in the valve and making it unsealable.

THINGS I LIKE

easy to grab handles
compressable for storage
durable seams
not designed for backpacking but very functional

THINGS I DON'T LIKE

The only suggested improvement would be to add a filter screen to the inside of the bag; we found that when windproof items, or tightly woven fabrics are right next to the purge valve it prevents the air from escaping.
The waterproofing is sticky so stuffing a sleeping bag can get difficult.

SUMMARY

This bag went from one person using it to everyone in the family having at least one bag and being used on every trip we go on. The ease of use and the multiple applications make this a very versatile bag that I would recommend for all campers and backpackers (except the ultra light backpackers). This is a bag where weight is worth the benefit. Two bags weigh about a pound. I would rather carry a pound of dry though than 5 pounds of wet. I plan to take these bags with me for our rafting trip this summer and would recommend them for most water applications except where they would be submerged for long periods.

SIGNATURE

Eric J. Frey

Reviews > Stuff Sacks > Dry Bags > Seal Line Kodiak Window Purge Dry Bags > Owner Review by Eric Frey