Water protection

I am going on a small National Geographic Cruise to Alaska and have a question about protecting my Canon DSLR's from water...especially while in the zodiacs or kayaks. I have Tamrac Expedition bags with the additional rain covers and Canon's rain covers. I was thinking a light weight dry sack that would accommodate the camera and a lens might be helpful. What do you think?

Thanks!

Van

We use dry bags for working from boats and float planes, and the Tamrac rain covers work really well for hiking as well as for covering unzipped packs laying on the ground. For rain covers while shooting we're really fond of garbage bags, especially with long lenses. Poke a hole in one corner and use a rubber band or small bungi to affix the bag to the lens hood. Keep the camera pointed down when not in use and knot the back of the bag, and you can keep not only the mechanics, but also the front lens element dry in all but the hardest winds.

BTW- I've attached a photo from last week's bear photography trip, in which our companion is making a "replacement lens hood" from a sheet from a Write in the Rain tablet and a rubber band. She got away without a lens hood, and shooting was hopeless without it, even with the bag. The sheet of waterproof paper worked a treat.

One more point worth emphasizing Van-

Double check the exclusions on your gear insurance policy. A good friend of ours dropped her pack in the process of loading a float plane from a dock. She managed to just barely grab it after it had sunk shoulder deep in the water, but thankfully (she thought) before it went 20 feet to the bottom and required a diver to recover. Everything was soaked, including her 600 f/4, 300 f/2.8 and three bodies.

The repair shop said "Yup, it's all ruined."

When she filed with the insurance company, they refused the claim because she did not have the pack in a dry bag.

I use a dry bag when in a boat, and they fine. If I had really expensive stuff, or routinely went into rough water, I'd go ahead and get a Pelican case.


Kent in SD

Kent...what dry sack do you use? I would like to have a bag that would accommodate my 7D or 5D Mark ll with a 100-400mm lens.

Thanks1

Not sure which one. It's big enough to put my camera & 80-400mm VR in for sure and then some. I got it from Cabelas.com


Kent in SD

I highly recommend the Watershed bags, I use the Chattooga (with the pile liner accessory) to store my 500/4IS when near water. It is plenty large enough for your 100-400 plus body attached.

http://www.nrsweb.com/shop/product.asp?pfid=28902&pdeptid=1632

The bag is awesome, quick to open and to close, and waterproof enough to be fully submerged for a few days,weeks, heck probably years, without leaking.

Pelican boxes can leak on occasion, I had one leak slightly on one of my Grand Canyon kayak trips. Also the typical roll top dry bags, such as the classic Bill's Bag, and those from Cabela's are only waterproof in regards to splashing water, not to being submerged.

Hey Don-

You've really peaked my curiosity. How do those bags manage a watertight seal that's easy and convenient? They sound terrific, but I couldn't glean enough detail from the site you linked.

Thanks for all the great tips! I ending up getting the DryComp Summit Sack by Outdoor Research. I checked many different companies and this one suited my purpose and it's a very lightweight backpack.