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Reviews > Stuff Sacks > Dry Bags > Watchful Eye Designs - Aloksak > Kelli Wise > Long Term ReportWatchful Eye Designs Aloksak - Long Term Report May 26, 2004
Personal biographical information Backpacking background: I've been car camping and hiking for 20 years and sport climbing for 10 years, but am new to backpacking. My backpacking style is lightweight but not ultralight. I am striving for a suitable compromise between safety and comfort. The majority of my hiking experience is in Western Washington so I get a lot of wet weather experience. Field information: Western Washington, coastal, lowlands and alpine hiking and snowshoeing below 3000’ (915 m). Style: Lightweight but not ultralight. Striving for a suitable compromise between safety and comfort.
Product Information
Size:
O.P.Sak: F. 16” x 24” (41 cm x 61 cm)
Measurements: Note: due to the light weight of these bags and 0.1 oz resolution of my scale, I measured in both ounces and grams for greater accuracy. Features: The Aloksaks are certified to be waterproof to 200’, close as easily as a zip lock bag, are flexible and tough. The O.P.Saks are odor proof bags that have the same closure as the Aloksak and are for food and toiletry storage use in bear country.
Long Term Report: The destructive testing has continued on the bag that I used as a wallet. By the end of my Field Report, this bag had over 5 weeks of wear and tear in daily use. Since the abrasion it received in my pocket was not destructive enough to cause a leak, I tried several other tests that I had planned. I put the bag on small, sharp gravel path and stepped on it repeatedly with a hiking boot. I even ground my foot a little to maximize the abuse. No failure. I put my wad of keys in the bag and carried it in the front pocket of my jeans for a few days. There are signs of the keys poking the bag and the plastic is slightly stretched and deformed in places, but it still doesn’t leak. I partially filled the bag with air and stood on it with one foot. The seal held. And finally, I filled the bag with instant oatmeal and added boiling water. The plastic got softer with the hot water and the plastic wanted to stick together a bit, but the bag did not melt. Poor little bag, so much abuse. At the end of all this torture, the bag material itself did not leak although the seal where the bag has been creased did leak a little air. The bag was checked for leaks by filling it with air, sealing it per the instructions, submerging the bag in water and applying pressure to the outside of the bag and checking for bubbles. Without applying pressure, there were no visible leaks. When pressure was applied, the bag seal leaked where it had been folded and creased. For longterm use, I would recommend that the bag not be folded in the same place every time it’s placed in my pocket. I’ve used Bag D as an inflatable pillow. Normal food storage bags have a tendency to pop open when used as a pillow and I was curious to see if the Aloksak would stay closed all night and if it would provide comfort. I filled the bag with air, sealed it per the instructions, and slept with it all night. The bag worked perfectly. The next time I used it, I did adjust the amount of air in the bag; I prefer it only partially inflated. I also tried it with a pair of down mittens in the bag and this provided some nice insulation. When using the bag between my sleeping bag hood and the sleeping pad or hammock, I keep the bag bare. The plastic is just sticky enough that my pillow stays put. When using the bag directly against my skin, I had to cover the bag with some kind of fabric because the plastic against my bare skin was rather unpleasant. So the bag works great as a camp pillow at night. Bag C continues to be used for my first aid kit and Bag B holds my blister kit (moleskin, a couple of bandages, some lamb’s wool, antacids, ibuprofen, plus my daily antihistamine). I keep these in a bright red, lightweight stuff sack near the top of my pack so that they can be identified by my hiking partners. I had tried carrying them without the stuff sack but one of my hiking partners insisted that all first aid kits are in red stuff sacks and she would prefer that I keep with the tradition. These bags accompany me on every backpacking, dayhiking, and snowshoeing trip. If I’m in the backcountry, these two bags are with me. After months of use, the bags show very little wear. When I received the Aloksaks, I placed a book inside one of the Bag D samples, sucked out all of the air, sealed it per the instructions, and set it aside. After 6 months, the bag is still visibly holding the ‘vacuum’ - proof that the plastic is impermeable and that the seal does not leak. I use Bag F to carry all of my dry clothing on trips. This typically consists of an insulated vest, expedition weight bottoms, microfleece pullover, lightweight long sleeve pullover, change of underwear, and spare hiking socks. This bag is large enough to accommodate all of these items with room to spare. I squeeze all of the air out of the bag, seal it, and then cram it into my pack. At night, my dirty hiking clothes are placed in the bag, the bag is sealed, and then the package is left outside my bivy or hammock. Bag D is used for insulated booties and down mittens while hiking and as a pillow at night. As noted in my Field Report, one of the bags had a small pinhole. After my evaluation of the leaking at the pinhole in a dishwasher and washing machine, I have felt comfortable using the bag to carrying either my GPS or cell phone (used only for the drive to the trailhead, never on the trail!). After several more months of use, the hole has not enlarged and I still feel confident that it would keep my gear dry during the rain or even a short dunking in a stream. I would not use it if I were kayaking, I would opt for an undamaged bag. As I continue to use the bag, I will probably patch this pinhole with a piece of tape. Since I store my cell phone in the Aloksak, I wanted to know if I could use the cell phone while it was sealed inside the bag. As a caveat, I have a flip style cell phone. When the phone is stored in Bag A, it cannot be flipped open while in the bag; there simply is not enough room. However, with the phone flipped open, inside Bag A, with the bag sealed per the instructions, The cell phone is useable. I could operate all of the buttons on the phone including turning the phone on and dialing a number. I could hear the party on the other end of the line and they could hear me. The overall volume was lower, but the quality was the same as when the phone was used normally. My only complaint with the Aloksaks has to do with the friction of the plastic. Unlike silnylon, the Aloksaks are not slippery and wriggling them into my pack to fill the little areas perfect for clothing is rather frustrating. I also received a sample of the O.P.Sak. Since this item is being reviewed separately by Backpack Gear Test, I will not go into details of my testing. It does fit into a Garcia bear canister. When I opened the bear canister, I could not smell anything but I could smell my coffee grounds when the O.P.Sak seal was opened. I, of course, have nowhere near the olfactory sensitivity that the typical bear or raccoon does. I did fill the O.P.Sack with catnip, sealed it, and left it out for my cat to explore. It took over 2 days, but she did eventually notice the bag and tore a small hole in the O.P.Sak to get to the catnip. I did not take the time to wash the outside of the bag after handling it, so it is possible that some residue of catnip scent was on the outside of the bag. I found this result to be a little disappointing, but I would like to reiterate that this testing cycle was not intended to be a rigorous test of the O.P.Sak, which is being reviewed by BGT in a separate test series. As a small note, I did test the Aloksak with the catnip test and, while the bag initially was odor proof, the scent of the catnip did permeate the plastic overnight. I performed this test because I know that other hikers will be tempted to use the Aloksak for food storage and I wanted to see for myself whether or not this was wise. It isn’t. An email from Watchful Eye Designs confirmed that the Aloksak material is not odor proof and that the Aloksak should not be relied upon for odor proof storage of food and other scented items. The O.P.Sak should be used for that purpose.
Summary
Likes:
Dislikes: I would like to thank Watchful Eye Designs and Back Pack Gear Test for the opportunity to test the Aloksaks.
Reviews > Stuff Sacks > Dry Bags > Watchful Eye Designs - Aloksak > Kelli Wise > Long Term Report | |||