Wet! Wet! Wet!
February 19, 2008 by Jayvee Fernandez
Filed under Accessories
We were on an island tour from Batanes to Sabtang. These are the northernmost islands in the Philippines which means that storms and winds are magnified to an absurd level. I’ve heard of some horror stories of the small boats taking in loads of water at given points, but silly me, I went commando with my gadgets – mobile phone and DSLR on hand.
So what basically happened was that we left the dock at a time when the waves were strongest. While it took us 30 $%&%!! minutes to leave port (these are makeshift boats btw) we were pounded upon by huge waves that seeped into the boat. I feared for my camera and mobile phone. The camera and lenses were inside a dry box which a friend volunteered to carry around. The phone was in my pocket and it survived the pangs of evil salt water!
I guess the moral of the story would be to always bring a dry case of some sort. The AquaPac brands are the usual trusted ones but you can also find waterproof and airtight hard cases that go for about $50.00 in your outdoor stores.
I am really not sure about DIY waterproof cases though. Can anyone care to enlighten me on the reliability?
On theme park water rides, we use ziplock baggies to hold our stuff – camera, phones, wallets, etc. They work great, they’re cheap and they don’t take up much space. Oh, and they’re recyclable.
I’m not sure how they would do if our items wound up totally submerged for a length of time … but I can test it out. Sounds like an experiment!
Ziploc bags work pretty well, but if you want real protection, use two pieces of protection like this instructable demonstrates. This is supposedly how Navy SEALS use for their underwater explosives.