rain cover vs. trash bag for pack

This one is subjective — and much depends on where you hike and your own packing style. Some thoughts…

1. If very heavy rain and /or lots of stream crossings and/or canoeing — then I would go for an extra heavy duty "contractors bag". These are 2-mil thick — versus just 1.1 mil for so-called heavy duty yard bags.

2. If regular type showers and no stream crossings — then either bag or cover is fine.

3. If your pack is "one big hole" without external pockets then a cover may be more convenient than a bag. Conversely, if you habitually pack your daytime stuff in external pockets and rarely open up the pack's main compartment — then maybe go for a bag — since convenience won't be affected — and you get better protection.

My pack has an sm. extra compartment in the top, and I plan to keep my tarp there, outside the interior part of the pack that would hold the rest of the contents in a compactor bag. That way it could be accessed w/o opening the bag and exposing any items that need to stay dry until tarp is up. The lid of the pack will house my FAK (in a waterproof bag)and my CCF pad will be outside the pack. Side pockets would hold only items that would not hurt to get wet;fuel bottle, stakes, trowel. I think this set up will work, but wasn't sure if the nylon would hold enough water to add any significant weight. Thanks for your reply.
leigh

Rain covers leak. The water still runs down your back and if you have a pack with a mesh padded back, it is a sponge. I think the cost of an UL pack cover is outrageous.

Ponchos seal the gap. There are hybrid pack covers with hoods that get around some of the leaking back thing.

Trash bags are okay for short trips. Trash compactor bags are really tough and hold up better. Silnylon roll-top bags are a higher tech/cost approach to the same issue. They actually weigh less than a heavy plastic bag. I put my clothes and sleeping bag in sil-nylon roll-tops and dump those in a trash compactor bag. Tent poles and such can ride in the pack, outside the waterproof liner of choice.

I definitely start with a poncho – it keeps me and my pack pretty dry, and warm.

But I am paranoid about my 'dry' gear items too. I cheerfully pay a few extra grams to KNOW they will stay dry.

Cheers

I have used dry bags for my critical insulation instead of a pack liner for three years now. I got sick and tired of shoving small items down into a lined pack only to have them pop right back out at me! Ditching the pack liner has cut at least five minutes of frustration out of the packing up process.

I just switched from silnylon dry bags to cuben fiber dry bags at half the weight. The two silnylon dry bags I used (one for sleeping bag and one for carried clothing) weighed about the same as a trash compactor bag, so the cuben dry bags are definitely lighter! (So is my wallet, unfortunately.) The cuben bags are from Granite Gear and appear pretty stout.

I also use a rain cover (my first piece of cuben fiber gear, which actually was not very expensive) but that's because I use my pack in the tent as a pillow so want to keep the outside fairly dry. I don't depend on the pack cover to keep my gear dry. The time I slipped and fell during a dicey stream ford, the pack cover just collected water. The dry bags, though, did their job–that was my first trip after I bought them!

It's hard to find ones without a "fresh smell" treatment though. Make sure to smell 'em before leaving the store if that's an issue for you. I place them upside-down in my pack, so that any infiltrating water has no-where to catch. They are abrasion-resistant, and rather weight-conscious.

The Safeway brand compactor bags have no smell and are cheap. If you are not in a Safeway area, Do-it-best Hardware bags look similar and offer free shipping to your nearest store.

Get contractor bags if you are worried about smells…