By Nicole Gull McElroy
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This affordable, reliable dry bag is lightweight and durable. Use it on its own for a day trip, or pack it into a larger bag for a multiday, overnight trip on the water. The warranty, though, covers just five years.
Made with featherlight single-coated polyester fabric and equipped with a compression valve, this dry bag is very easy to use. However, it comes in just three sizes and costs more than similar competitors.
This classic, wallet-friendly roll-top bag dependably keeps its contents dry, though it isn’t great for packing inside larger bags. A cross-body strap allows you to wear it on short hikes or bike rides.
Bigger yet lighter than our top pick, this bag is made with very soft, very durable material. It’s easy to close, and it offers sturdy attachment points for easy toting behind a kayak. It is, however, more expensive than other classic roll-tops on our list.
If a supposedly waterproof dry bag can’t keep the stuff that you’re carrying inside it dry, that’s a real dealbreaker.
Sure, sometimes a leak can result from user error, but a good dry bag makes it hard for you to screw up when sealing it.
A dry bag should be able to withstand sun, rain, and being dragged through the water all day and then lobbed up onto the shore.
Some people need to carry only a lunch; others may plan to camp overnight. That’s why we picked several models that come in multiple sizes.
This affordable, reliable dry bag is lightweight and durable. Use it on its own for a day trip, or pack it into a larger bag for a multiday, overnight trip on the water. The warranty, though, covers just five years.
The Ortlieb Dry-Bag is a classic, reasonably priced roll-top bag that will keep your stuff dry during a full day on the water—even if it’s submerged—or over the course of a rainy camping trip.
The Dry-Bag is easy to open and close and to slide into a larger bag for packing, in part because it’s made from soft, pliable polyester double-coated fabric. With nine sizes to choose from between 5 liters and 109 liters (the biggest range of all the bags we tested), the Dry-Bag is the roll-top dry bag we recommend for weekend warriors and daily adventurers alike. (We tested the 10-liter version.)
The tube-like shape of the bag does make it tricky to open and root through if you need a snack or more sunscreen mid-trip, and the company’s warranty, which promises a replacement should you run into a problem within five years of normal use, isn’t as robust as the coverage on other bags we tested.
Made with featherlight single-coated polyester fabric and equipped with a compression valve, this dry bag is very easy to use. However, it comes in just three sizes and costs more than similar competitors.
The 12-liter Ortlieb Dry-Bag Light Valve is a larger, lighter sibling to our top pick that’s also more expensive. But it offers a compression valve, which could come in handy when you’re carrying bulky items (a sleeping bag, say).
The bag’s material is extremely light and totally waterproof; during our tests it kept everything inside the bag bone-dry. It’s easy to pack, and it makes a great bag-within-a-bag, too, when you’re packing for longer or overnight outings.
The Dry-Bag Light Valve comes in only three sizes, though—we tested the middle one, the 12 L version—and it has the same five-year warranty as our top pick.
This classic, wallet-friendly roll-top bag dependably keeps its contents dry, though it isn’t great for packing inside larger bags. A cross-body strap allows you to wear it on short hikes or bike rides.
The Earth Pak Original Waterproof Dry Bag is our choice for a reliable dry bag on a budget. It comes in three sizes (we tested the 10-liter version) and will hold up on most outdoor adventures, keeping your things dry.
The bag’s PVC fabric is strong and durable. Still, it feels rubbery and doesn’t slide readily into another, larger bag for packing. Earth Pak does offer customers a five-year warranty when you register your bag, which is why this model won out over others at the same price.
The Earth Pak bag comes with a strap that can attach to two of its three D-rings, but we didn’t find the strap comfortable enough to wear over the shoulder or cross-body for any significant length of time.
Bigger yet lighter than our top pick, this bag is made with very soft, very durable material. It’s easy to close, and it offers sturdy attachment points for easy toting behind a kayak. It is, however, more expensive than other classic roll-tops on our list.
The Sea to Summit Big River Dry Bag is one of the softest, most malleable bags we tested, which made it very easy for us to use. Bigger and lighter than our top pick, the 13-liter Sea to Summit bag costs more than most of the bags we tested. It also comes in five other sizes and features fabric loops woven along each side that you can attach to a carabiner or rope.
The bag rolls closed and clasps so handily that it gives you confidence that your items will remain dry while you’re on the water—as ours in fact did. The company provides a lifetime warranty on its bags.
While most of my nearly 25 years in journalism represent a wide range of coverage from breaking news to business to lifestyle and wellness, I spend whatever free time I have outside, mostly on a lake in Maine—kayaking and hiking with my family in summer, skiing and snowshoeing with them in winter. The outdoor gear I value most isn’t always the most expensive or made by the fanciest brand. I rely on what works best over time, the gear that feels intuitive and allows me to be more present and engaged.
For this guide:
If you spend much time in kayaks, rafts, or canoes, you probably already know how useful a roll-top dry bag is: It protects your personal items (, extra clothes, and even food), keeping them sealed and dry. Usually, these bags fit the bag-within-a-bag category, as people often throw them into a larger pack or tote or stow them inside or strap them to the top of a paddleboard or canoe. These bags are also helpful on camping trips, at the beach, or aboard boats for organizing gear, even on a rainy hike.
While outdoor adventures might be the most obvious use for roll-top dry bags, they can also corral dirty laundry while you’re traveling, hold wet attire after swimming, skiing, or surfing, or contain stinky clothes in a gym bag. We’ve even heard of parents using dry bags to carry liquids (breast milk, baby food) to prevent spills in a larger tote bag on car rides or flights—as well as to contain a dirty onesie after an unfortunate diaper incident.
The world of roll-top dry bags is vast: They vary in size from as small as a toiletry case to backpacks fit for a weeklong trip, and they cost anywhere from $12 to $220. After reading reviews on retailer sites, outdoor-enthusiast Facebook groups, and Reddit, and talking to people who use these bags regularly, we decided what size we wanted to test: as close to 10 liters in capacity as possible, plus a few larger, less traditional options.
We didn’t consider any bags with zippers, as they’re harder to repair and replace, and they fall outside of the traditional definition of roll-top dry bags.
After researching 25 bags, we narrowed the field to 15 that we wanted to test. Here’s what we looked for in our testing:
This affordable, reliable dry bag is lightweight and durable. Use it on its own for a day trip, or pack it into a larger bag for a multiday, overnight trip on the water. The warranty, though, covers just five years.
The Ortlieb Dry-Bag hits nearly every note when it comes to what we’re looking for in a classic roll-top dry bag. At just under $30 for the 10-liter version, it’s a great value.
It keeps everything inside bone-dry. And that’s the whole point of a dry bag. After 30 minutes of kayaking and even putting the Dry-Bag through a dozen fully submerged dunks in the pond, we found no sign of moisture or dampness inside the bag.
Securing the opening is simple. At the top of the bag, you’ll find a slap-bracelet-type band that helps delineate where to fold it. You just fold the mouth at least three times and secure the clasp. In our tests there was no fighting against thick or sticky fabric, or second-guessing as to how securely the bag was closed.
The bag is easy to manipulate yet extremely durable. Ortlieb used to call this bag the PD 350, as it’s made with double-coated polyester fabric and weighs 350 grams per square meter (a standard measurement for fabric). The Dry-Bag has some give, and the fabric held up nicely to being dragged repeatedly across sticks and rocks, as well as across my asphalt driveway.
It’s very portable. Multiple attachment points—two plastic D-rings at the top and one flat-lying polyester loop at the base—made the Dry-Bag easy to pull behind a kayak. It weighs 6.7 ounces, heavier than the lightest bag we tested, the Dry-Bag Light Valve, and about the same as the larger Sea to Summit Big River Dry Bag, but lighter than all the rest.
It packs well, and it’s packable too. The interior of the bag is very smooth, allowing items to slide in and out without struggle or friction. The 10-liter bag can easily hold anything you may need for a day at the beach or an afternoon in your kayak; we fit a Turkish towel, a long-sleeve T-shirt, sunglasses, sunscreen, a paperback book, and some snacks. Since the loop at the bottom of the bag sits flush against the base, you can set the bag on the ground and access the top opening without the bag’s teetering as you root through its contents. This bag also slips easily inside another, larger bag for use as a packing cube.
It comes in more sizes than any other bag we tested. You have nine to choose from in all, from 5 liters in capacity to 109 liters.
Made with featherlight single-coated polyester fabric and equipped with a compression valve, this dry bag is very easy to use. However, it comes in just three sizes and costs more than similar competitors.
If our top pick isn’t available, we recommend the Ortlieb Dry-Bag Light Valve, which is lighter and a bit larger than our top pick. It’s also more expensive.
It has a compression valve. The 12-liter version we tested is priced at $40, but it has the added feature of a compression valve, which may be worth the extra cost depending on your needs. Though you don’t have to use the valve, it’s useful if you’re traveling, say, with a sleeping bag that you’re trying to keep dry within a larger backpack. It’s also a good space-saving feature for overnight adventures.
It’s the lightest bag we tested. The bag is so light—2.6 ounces—that you may have a hard time believing that it’s waterproof and as durable as alternatives made from far thicker material. Ortlieb formerly called this bag the PS 10, as the paper-thin material is made from single-coated polyester fabric that weighs 10 grams per square meter. Still, in our tests it held up against sticks, rocks, and asphalt, despite acquiring a few visible scrapes on the fabric’s exterior.
It’s easy to pack and use. In our tests, a Turkish towel, a long-sleeve T-shirt, sunglasses, sunscreen, a paperback book, and some snacks slid in without a problem. This bag has no D-rings on its top, unlike the Ortlieb Dry-Bag and other models we tested; we tied our tow rope to the sturdy fabric loop at the base of the bag.
The thin material makes it easy to close. Two plastic bands line the rim of the opening, serving as a guide for rolling and closing. Though the standard recommendation for closing roll-top bags is to make three rolls before securing the clasp, Ortlieb recommends rolling this bag five or six times. We did, and we found that the towel inside our bag was completely dry at the end of our time on the water.
This classic, wallet-friendly roll-top bag dependably keeps its contents dry, though it isn’t great for packing inside larger bags. A cross-body strap allows you to wear it on short hikes or bike rides.
For the occasional day on the water, the Earth Pak Original Waterproof Dry Bag is a solid choice.
It’s inexpensive, and it’s sturdy and reliable for the price. It comes in three sizes (we tested the 10-liter size; the other versions hold 5 and 20 liters), and it keeps its contents dry, though the material isn’t as soft and light as that of other bags we tested.
It’s reasonably durable. The Earth Pak bag also performed decently in surviving our drag test across asphalt and rock, and it kept everything inside dry while trailing behind a kayak. In terms of weight and material, it falls in the midrange among the bags we tested. The material is a 500-denier PVC fabric. (Denier is a measure of a fabric’s fiber thickness.) It feels smooth and soft, and it’s a bit thicker than the material of some of the other bags we tried.
It has a surprisingly good warranty. It’s almost identical to another bag we tested, the Marchway Floating Waterproof Dry Bag, but because Earth Pak covers it with a five-year warranty for buyers who register, it won out over its near-twin.
It comes with a strap. The bag has multiple attachment points: two D-rings by the clasp and one near the base. It’s the only one of our picks that comes with a cross-body strap that can attach to any of those D-rings.
Bigger yet lighter than our top pick, this bag is made with very soft, very durable material. It’s easy to close, and it offers sturdy attachment points for easy toting behind a kayak. It is, however, more expensive than other classic roll-tops on our list.
The Sea to Summit Big River Dry Bag feels substantial in almost every way: material, durability, and attachment points.
It’s well built and well equipped. The 13-liter size is bigger and lighter, at 6.7 ounces, than our top pick; it’s one of six sizes ranging from 5 to 65 liters. Woven into the bag’s side is a thick fabric band with three loops that are handy for attaching carabiners or rope ties. You’ll also find a small fabric loop at the base of the bag, and one D-ring is attached to each end of the clasp that you use to secure the bag closed after rolling the top.
It performs beautifully. The 420-denier nylon fabric of this bag is soft and sturdy, and in our tests it didn’t resist as we rolled it closed. Our towel, shirt, shades, sunscreen, paperback book, and snacks slid inside without any pulling or catching on the fabric, and this bag would just as easily load into a larger bag, too; the attachment loops on the side are so low-profile, they wouldn’t get in the way at all.
The top of the bag is lined with a rubbery band of material marked with instructions to “roll at least 3 times and clip buckle.” During our tests, the towels inside the bag stayed completely dry, and the nylon fabric handled our drag test brilliantly.
It has a great warranty. Sea to Summit covers the Big River Dry Bag with a lifetime warranty; should any problem arise, the company will replace the bag at any point so long as you have proof of purchase. That promise, per the company’s policy, holds so long as the bag was used under its intended circumstances and does not cover normal wear and tear. Of the 1,000-plus customer reviews we skimmed, we saw no complaints about Sea to Summit bucking its policy.
It’s expensive. The 13-liter size of the Big River Dry Bag—which, it’s true, is a third larger than the 10-liter size of our top pick—costs close to twice as much.
If our budget pick is unavailable: Consider the Marchway Floating Waterproof Dry Bag, which is a near-twin to the Earth Pak Original Waterproof Dry Bag. The Marchway bag comes in five sizes; we tested the 10-liter bag, which typically costs about $17 on Amazon. Made from rip-stop tarpaulin, the bag has a classic tube shape, and it easily protected our supplies for a day on the water (a towel, a book, sunglasses, an extra layer, sunscreen, and snacks), keeping everything dry. The Marchway bag was also durable enough to handle the rocks and asphalt of our drag test. Depending on the size you order, it comes with a crossbody strap (in the 5- and 10-liter options) or backpack straps (on the 20-, 30-, and 40-liter sizes). The main difference between this bag and the Earth Pak model is that Marchway offers no warranty on its bag—that’s why we made the Earth Pak bag our budget pick.
If you’re looking for something to take car camping, to the beach, or even to a rainy sporting event: We recommend the 25-liter Rux Waterproof Bag. It is indeed totally waterproof, it stands up nicely on its own wherever you may place it, and it holds plenty of gear, supplies, and clothing. The bag, made from 840-denier TPU-coated nylon, is both durable and soft. Two tote straps and one crossbody strap make it easy to carry in town or to and from the car. It’d also be an excellent option to throw in the car for spring skiing, surfing, or even mountain biking, to separate and store wet or dirty clothes for the ride home. Rux offers buyers a lifetime guarantee and will repair or replace bags with “defects in material or workmanship” (not general wear and tear), even after extended use. Although this bag does roll closed and has 18 small loops to serve as attachment points, it is a tote bag, and as such, it doesn’t fit the classic roll-top, tube-shaped profile we were looking for in our picks. It’s also pricey, at $150.
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The 25-liter SealLine WideMouth Duffel is shaped like a duffle bag, which makes it refreshingly intuitive to use. We were planning to make it an also-great pick suitable for a car-camping overnight trip or a family day on the water, but we discovered just before publishing this guide that the bag is being discontinued. (As of spring , it appears to still be available on Amazon.)
The Matador Flatpak Dry Bag would make an excellent dirty-laundry bag for suitcase travel, but it isn’t durable enough to stand up to outdoor use. In our tests, the fabric loop on the side of the bag ripped with just one firm tug.
The NRS Bill’s Bag Dry Bag is durable and certainly waterproof, but at 65 liters, it is best suited for a multiday, overnight paddling and camping trip.
The NRS Tuff Sack, a classic roll-top bag, has no compression straps. Also, many reviewers who have been using NRS bags for years complain that the current version of this bag doesn’t stand up to past versions in its durability and how it closes.
The D-ring at the base of the Red Waterproof Roll Top Dry Bag made it tough to place steadily on the bottom of a kayak or the ground, and the pricing ($50, at the time, for the 10-liter version we tested) was steep compared with that of equally functional competitors. (As of spring , the price has dropped to $40, but the D-ring remains. Also, the bag is out of stock in all colors.)
The warranty on the Skog Å Kust DrySåk covers manufacturing defects for just one year. Additionally, the paper we placed inside the exterior pocket of the bag was sopping wet after our on-the-water test.
The Watershed Big Creek is a large backpack-style dry bag that has a lot of straps: backpack, chest, and compression. We found that the vertical tube-like pack was hard to seal, and the opening of the bag wasn’t big enough to make packing a friction-free experience.
Similar to the SealLine WideMouth Duffel, the Watershed Chattooga is horizontally oriented. The opening to the bag, though, is too tight for packing. We also found the bag hard to seal with confidence.
This article was edited by Christine Ryan.
Tuck Fauntleroy, photographer, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, interview , September 13,
David Gruber, marine biologist and scuba diver , text-message interview , September 13,
Lani Love, co-owner and guide, Allagash Canoe Trips, Carrabassett Valley, Maine, interview , September 13,
Jennifer Willoughby, recreational rafter, Eagle, Colorado , interview , September 13,
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SKIP ADVERTISEMENTWhen it comes to tackling single-use plastic bags, it isn’t just plastic shopping bags that we want to be replacing with better, reusable alternatives. Plastic produce bags (the extremely thin, colourless, clear bags we see in the fruit and veg aisles at supermarkets) are just as problematic – difficult to recycle, very difficult to reuse and a huge contributor to litter.
Yet the conversation always seems to be around shopping bags, and the produce bags are left out.
Which is a tragedy! There are just as many solutions for replacing single-use produce bags with reusables as there are for shopping bags. Yet it’s something that isn’t on many people’s radar when they are starting out.
It certainly wasn’t on mine.
Fortunately, it is now. I want to share some of the alternatives to single-use plastic produce bags, the pros and cons of different options, as well as a few things you may like to consider.
This post contains some affiliate links. You can read more about what this means at the end of the post.
There are plenty of options with reusable produce bags. Here’s a few things to consider:
Homemade is always cheaper, and there’s the option to choose the exact size that you need. If you want bags that last and don’t need to be mended continually, an overlocker generally produces better (longer-lasting) results than a regular sewing machine.
The flipside of homemade is needing access to a sewing machine, and knowing how to sew.
If you do know how to sew, produce bags make great gifts.
Second-hand fabric is an option for making reusable produce bags, and ready-made produce bags that used second-hand fabric are also available. Fabric includes old net curtains, tablecloths, sheets and old bedding. Choose a fabric that is machine washable and can go through a hot wash (rather than the handwash cycle).
Although mosquito netting seems ideal for produce bags, most mosquito nets are impregnated with pesticides, so not desirable for use with food.
Different fabrics have different properties. Mesh or net bags are lightweight and see-through, but are rarely made of natural fibres. They’re also not suitable for flour and fine powders.
Cotton cloth is natural but not see-through, and is slightly heavier. (Not all stores have the ability to take off the weight of the bag on the scales, so heavy bags will cost more.) Not being transparent will slow down the checkout operators, so be mindful of using too many of these bags on a busy day.
In practice, it can be useful to have different types for different things.
Personally, I have a combination of homemade and purchased reusable produce bags, and made of different materials.
As much as I recommend making do and using what we have where possible, I also know that sometimes we need shortcuts.
If sewing if definitely not your thing (and you don’t have a relative or friend to persuade to do it for you!) then here are some ready-made solutions.
If you haven’t heard of it or used it before, Etsy is an online marketplace where people who know how to make things sell these things to those of us who do not (or do not have the time). There are plenty of sellers on the platform who make reusable produce bags out of old curtains and tablecloths (as well as sellers who use new fabric, if that’s your preference).
If the second-hand approach appeals to you but you just don’t have the time or inclination, I’d recommend looking on Etsy for reusable produce bags made of upcycled fabric.
There’s no one Etsy seller I recommend, instead I’d suggest browsing and finding the seller that is closest to your home to minimise the packaging and transport footprint.
Some people don’t love the idea of going plastic-free and then buying reusables made of plastic. When I first went plastic-free back in I was the same. But then I looked into it a little more and adjusted my view.
If we stopped using plastic today, and didn’t make anything else made of plastic, there is still a huge amount of plastic already in existence. Legacy plastic, I call it. From a resource perspective, it makes sense to be using this to make resources rather than leaving it somewhere to sit for all eternity.
PET is the plastic that water bottles is made from. It’s hard wearing and durable. The PET plastic bottles can be recycled into a mesh that is used to make reusable produce bags. These bags have a much lower carbon footprint than other “new” bags because they are made from 100% recycled material.
I have a set of Onya bags that I purchased for my first Plastic Free July back in . They may not be as white as they were when I purchased them, but they function as good as new. (Which cannot be said for my biodegradable ones, which have, well, biodegraded and needed some stitching up).
Mesh bags are great for fruit and vegetables, loose salad leaves (the produce can be washed in the bag) and loose bread rolls.
Cotton bags are great for all the things that mesh bags aren’t: powders and flours. I have a set made out of an old bed sheet. The advantage of these is that they can be repaired easily, and composted at the end of their life.
It’s possible to buy new cotton reusable produce bags: I’d recommend looking at your local bulk store as they will often stock them.
I’d always recommend supporting a local brick-and-mortar store where you can, but if this isn’t an option, they can easily be found online.
If you’re further afield here’s a list of independent online plastic-free and zero waste stores.
These reusable produce bags are a fairly new idea, and are designed for bulk store shopping (as opposed to fruit and veg shopping). Whilst reusable produce bags are very easy to transport, they aren’t ideal for storing food.
Onya Life launched these bulk bags in (made of recycled PET, which I talked about above) as a lightweight alternative to glass jars. They can be labelled and are suitable for food storage.
They are not something I’ve used, but I think they are a great alternative for those of us who don’t want to carry huge amounts of glass jars on our shopping trips, or have to decant everything into said glass jars when we get home.
Before rushing out and buying anything new, have a think about what you might already have at home. Many bulk stores accept glass jars for refilling, so consider taking jars rather than bags, if that is practical. A pillowcase makes an excellent cotton bread bag. Laundry bags are a mesh alternative to mesh produce bags – and they are definitely machine washable.
If you do decide to buy something, just be sure that it is something that you will use. Reusables that sit in the back of the cupboard are not a good use of resources!
The best reusables are the ones you use often.
Now I’d love to hear from you! What reusable options do you use? Do you have one preference, or do you use a combination? If you sew, do you have fabric types you recommend and any to avoid? Are there any other alternatives or DIY hacks that you can suggest? Please share you thought in the comments below!
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