I recently bought a Cabela's waterproof, roll top type bag for my rife in the boat. I like the bag...heavy vinyl/pvc whatever the material is, strong clips, the sling has metal spring clips, made in USA. (It looks a lot like it might be made by Seattle Sports.) I used it last week on an overnight in Kenai Lake.
Decided to test it in the bathtub today. Not terribly impressed. I put my rifle and 12 rounds inside my basic, cordura rifle case with the standard foam padding in it. To my pleasant surprise, it floated! Things were going well. I rolled it over in the water, checked seams for air bubbles coming out to indicate a leak. All was well. THEN...I pushed it to the bottom of the tub, and air started coming out of the corners of the roll top enclosure. I held it under water a couple minutes then let it go and it still floated. I pulled the rifle out and the whole top of the pvc waterproof bag was wet (soaked) all the way to the edge. Pulled the cordura rifle case out, and it too, had wet spots the entire length of it. The rifle itself was still dry, but for how long?
My question is, how waterproof is waterproof? Is this somewhat normal? I expected the pvc waterproof bag to fully sealed and not let any water in at all. Am I expecting too much? Was my test "skewed" because I pushed down on the bag and pinned it underwater?
Thinking I should be returning this for another, but not if what I saw is the typical performance of a "waterproof" "dry bag."
It's this item to which I refer: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabel...h-All+Products
Decided to test it in the bathtub today. Not terribly impressed. I put my rifle and 12 rounds inside my basic, cordura rifle case with the standard foam padding in it. To my pleasant surprise, it floated! Things were going well. I rolled it over in the water, checked seams for air bubbles coming out to indicate a leak. All was well. THEN...I pushed it to the bottom of the tub, and air started coming out of the corners of the roll top enclosure. I held it under water a couple minutes then let it go and it still floated. I pulled the rifle out and the whole top of the pvc waterproof bag was wet (soaked) all the way to the edge. Pulled the cordura rifle case out, and it too, had wet spots the entire length of it. The rifle itself was still dry, but for how long?
My question is, how waterproof is waterproof? Is this somewhat normal? I expected the pvc waterproof bag to fully sealed and not let any water in at all. Am I expecting too much? Was my test "skewed" because I pushed down on the bag and pinned it underwater?
Thinking I should be returning this for another, but not if what I saw is the typical performance of a "waterproof" "dry bag."
It's this item to which I refer: http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabel...h-All+Products
Comment