John Camp
Well-known
I wanted a waterproof bag so I could carry a camera in my boat without worrying about it too much. Camera store bags cost a lot, so I decided to look elsewhere. I had a yellow plastic sailing bag that would have been good, but it was too big, so I went to an outdoor sports store (Gander Mountain out side of St. Paul, Mn.) and found:
-A whole bunch of soft-sided water-tight cooler bags, meant to contain anything from one to four sixpacks of beer or soda. They all have shoulder straps and light padding --- the insulation -- and a slick water-proof lining, and one had a plastic-coated outer nylon shell: $24.99. My D2X fits nicely inside, with a zoom
attached. Would carry 2 Leicas with lenses.
Reel bags, meant to carry fishing reels. These are not only tough nylon bags, but they have padded inserts, like camera bags, and appear to me to be perfect for a Leica and a few lenses. Some have shoulder straps, some just have handles like a lunch box. There were three or four of them, none costing more than about $40.
The gun counter had a number of water-tight hard boxes made of thick plastic, and operated like old fashioned military army cases. They are advertised as being watertight, and if you had some foam inserts to put inside, I expect that they'd also float -- and they come in highly visible colors like International Orange and brilliant yellow.
Basically, the store was full of ballistic-nylon-covered water-resistant bags, and they were very cheap compared to the offerings in camera stores.
Also, I looked at the diaper bags in Target. Cheap and tempting, but not what I needed. I could see that they'd be good for a small Leica outfit, however, and if you keep the "wet-diaper" plastic bag, could could probably even get through a pretty heavy storm...although I didn't check on the size of the plastic bag. Besides, you can a whole box of big Ziplocks that would do the same job, for a lot less...
JC
-A whole bunch of soft-sided water-tight cooler bags, meant to contain anything from one to four sixpacks of beer or soda. They all have shoulder straps and light padding --- the insulation -- and a slick water-proof lining, and one had a plastic-coated outer nylon shell: $24.99. My D2X fits nicely inside, with a zoom
attached. Would carry 2 Leicas with lenses.
Reel bags, meant to carry fishing reels. These are not only tough nylon bags, but they have padded inserts, like camera bags, and appear to me to be perfect for a Leica and a few lenses. Some have shoulder straps, some just have handles like a lunch box. There were three or four of them, none costing more than about $40.
The gun counter had a number of water-tight hard boxes made of thick plastic, and operated like old fashioned military army cases. They are advertised as being watertight, and if you had some foam inserts to put inside, I expect that they'd also float -- and they come in highly visible colors like International Orange and brilliant yellow.
Basically, the store was full of ballistic-nylon-covered water-resistant bags, and they were very cheap compared to the offerings in camera stores.
Also, I looked at the diaper bags in Target. Cheap and tempting, but not what I needed. I could see that they'd be good for a small Leica outfit, however, and if you keep the "wet-diaper" plastic bag, could could probably even get through a pretty heavy storm...although I didn't check on the size of the plastic bag. Besides, you can a whole box of big Ziplocks that would do the same job, for a lot less...
JC
