Waterproof Case? About This Page:

[Feisty Fairy]

What it the best Waterproof case in your opinion? I am looking at some waterproof case to card ID, KTW cards and a little money maybe a small camera. I want something waterproof. I do plan on scuba diving but for pools and maybe a little swimming for my husband.

[Dave Marx]

I'd love to do a comparative, Consumer Reports-style test. The Pelican-style hard case with rubber gaskets, vs. the flexible Dry Pak-style bags, and other flexible bags with waterproof zippers or over-sized zip locks.

Back in the day, I did a heavy amount of whitewater canoeing. Between keeping personal gear dry, and keeping my Nikon and lenses dry yet readily available... Nothing I used was perfect. Flexible bags got punctured (often, just a pinhole, but that was enough) - I had more than one soggy sleeping bag over the years. The gaskets in hard cases can fail - I destroyed my camera and lenses because I hadn't closed the lid carefully on a gasketed hard case - a piece of string was sandwiched between the lid and lip of the case, holding the gasket open at that point. Even a large piece of grit can be big enough to do that. In those days I looked into acquiring a struggling dry-pack business that was using a novel and very effective closure. The problem was, if the closure wasn't regularly lubricated with a silicone-based "grease," it became near-impossible to open or close. Not ready for prime time.

There have been a lot of advances over the years - the devices are cheaper and more effective than ever. I have a feeling that, used properly/handled with reasonable care, any of them will work well. Choose the one that seems to best fit your needs.