papp's got a brand new bag

I recently was given two Ocean Racing waterproof bags for my review. One of them was a large duffel bag and the other was a backpack with an extra wetsuit like bag for a laptop computer. At first glance I could tell these bags were of a high quality. The fabric is heavy and feels coated to the touch. Water just beads up and runs off of them! The seams are sealed with rubber and even the zippers are build to protect the contents of the bag form moisture. I was impressed. But then again, I'm easy to please.

So I decided to test them just to see how water proof they were. I had an old 486 laptop lying around collecting dust. It still worked, so I decided to pack it into the laptop storage bag in the backpack and then go swimming. The bag was completely submerged when I dove in the water wearing it. I then swam back to the boat wearing the bag and got out of the water. After drying off I opened up the bag to see how the old computer fared. There was some water in the bag, but only enough to get a couple of paper towels wet. The laptop inside in inner bag was still dry! Not bad!

Considering how much you can spend on a laptop alone not to mention the gear and software to go along with your racing effort I think this type of bag is a small and very valuable investment in comparison.

And the larger duffelbag is great for your foul weather gear and a change of clothes that you want to stay dry no matter what happens on the race course. Although the name of the company that makes these bags is Ocean Racing, I could see a much broader group of people benefit from such a product. Campers, Kayaks, fisherman, hunters, basically anyone who wants to keep their items dry while traveling would appreciate the quality of this luggage. I didn't race the Chi Mac this year, but when I do next year, I'll definitely have my stuff in these bags.