Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2000/03/29

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Canoe trips...
From: George Hartzell <hartzell@cs.berkeley.edu>
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 18:16:07 -0800 (PST)

Henry Ambrose writes:
 > [...]
 > Tina,
 > I suggest that you go the Pelican route. Your stuff will get there dry. 
 > 
 > Dry bags are dependable for splashes and maybe a short dunking. For 
 > sitting in water all day I would not trust them.

Just a contrary opinion.  I whitewater kayak w/a large Sundog drybag
on my chest (they have a great harness) carrying my Nikon N90s and an
80-200/2.8 zoom and it stays dry all day.  I've been surfed upside
down in holes w/out having a problem (at least not with the camera).

Sadly, Sundog is defunct.  Here's a pointer to the folks that bought
their designs and are making something similar:

   : Indeed, Sundog folded this past summer. Fortunately, several of their
   : camera bag designs were purchased by Ortlieb, a German company that
   : makes high quality waterproof packs, bike panniers and other
   : equipment.
   : 
   : Ortlieb's No. 2 Aqua Zoom is a padded, waterproof bag that can hold a
   : single lens reflex camera equipped with a zoom or short telephoto
   : lens. D-rings attached to the case let you strap the camera to your
   : body when you don't want it jiggling around. The No. 2 Aqua Zoom is
   : $73. Take a look at it at: http://www.ortlieb.com/espal_hau_p.htm Or,
   : call Ortlieb at 253-833-3939 and they can put in touch with a dealer
   : near you.

I wear either the large or small zoom bag depending on whether I'm
carrying the 80-200 (big) or the 70-300 (smaller) zoom.  I usually
tuck a peice of a camp towel in there to dry my hands off before I
shoot.

It's not much of a web site yet, but for grins, check out some shots
from my recent whitewater kayaking trip to ecuador:

  http://kestrel.alerce.com/ecuador

They're there as momentos of the trip, not because I've pulled out
particularly worthy photographs (enough excuse making).  They're also
just automated conversions from the PhotoCD scans.

There are even some photos of Duane....

Sundog used to make a small square bag that'd be a great fit for an
M, don't know if Ortleib has one or not.

The bags aren't great for constant in and out, but they're more
flexible than pelican boxes and hurt less when they bonk you in the
chin.

g.