Pack drain holes?

Methinks drain holes are unecessary. If you have one of those new fangled, welded-seams backpack, then I guess you won't have to worry about rain getting in. On the other hand, if you have a traditionally sewn backpack, then I really think the pack's myriad of seams and the thousands of tiny needle holes will "auto solve" the potential of any serious water accumulation. Rain gets in slowly, but drains out adequately.

But every pack is different. If I were you, I would do a rain test before punching drain holes — which can really ruin a pack's resale value (if that's an issue to you).

I think I agree w/ Russell. After a long day in the rain, I've discovered an 1" or more of standing water in the bottom of my pack. This was with a pack cover AND liner. Kind of scary for a down-bag user. Ponchos really show their merit on this point. A lot of old school pack makers included drain holes, but newer UL shops usually don't. Unfortunately I tend to wait until I experience a problem before taking the hot nail to a new pack. Also, I think the water resistance of most pack fabrics is too short-lived to even be considered.

Testing beforehand is always ideal though – good point.

Older packs I've used made of pack cloth and the like drained water well, but packs constructed of coated fabrics tend to hold the water longer. I use a pack liner, so I'm not too worried about this, but I can potentially see an issue.

I just bought a ULA Conduit but haven't had a chance to put it to the test yet. Anyone have feedback on how the Dyneema fabric drains water?

Russell-

As you surmise, coated materials can and will hold water in. Like Ben mentioned, myriad seams help with drainage. My best advice is to focus on measures to prevent water collecting in the pack bag.

From my own experience, torrential rains in combo with a well used pack can result in water collecting in the interior of the packbag. However, a new pack with intact urethane coatings that is properly sealed (as in the rolltop closure on your Conduit) is surprising resistant to water collection.

Short of re-locating all your hiking trips to dry climes I think a packcover or packbag liner (like offered on BPL), would do the trick.

Lastly, if you are set on punching some grommets in the bottom of the pack to insure drainage, let me know. I can set some 3/8" grommets on my press and make sure that it looks sexy…

Brian

Brian,

Thanks for the reply. I live in the Midatlantic and we get a lot of rain, unfortunately I don't have the option of relocating to drier climes for most of my trips. My concerns were related to an experience I had using a pack with coated fabric and a pack cover. Some water did get inside the pack and seemed to hang around for a while. The pack cover was an experiment; normally I use a pack liner exclusively. I'll give the pack a spin (as soon as the east coast thaws out) and see if it warrants taking you up on your offer but its probably not neccessary, I'm just being a little OCD about this!