View topic - Canoe pack liner

Thanks a tonne Wilsauceez!! I may start a sewing project this winter!
As pack liners this year I used extra stupid heavy duty large clear plastic bags my wife brought home from work. I don't want to know why their office stocks bags big enough for a body, I just don't want to know, but they worked okay and were free. They do take lots of folding and tucking in. However DIY inexpensive waterproof custom sized bags would be perfect.

another alternative is from Alder Stream Canvas. I live near Jane.
http://alderstream.wcha.org/packs.html

She uses the same seam sealer that I do for my Cooke Tarp,

What about giant Ziplock bags - they are pretty heavy duty?

"Flat" poly bags might do the job. I'm still re-using 12" x 30" 3-Mil clear plastic (poly) bags I purchased at, of all places, a party supplies store many years ago. Plastic bags don't do the job of drybags, but they cost and weigh much less. I can't find them in stores anymore, but I have found them available from industrial supply businesses. "Keypak" is the name of one such business based in London, ON, and Toronto, but I haven't yet ordered from them. 4-Mil will be sturdy enough to last for several trips if containing soft items i.e. sleeping bags and clothes. 5-6 Mil bags would be even better as that thickness is used to ship industrially-produced sharp-edged metal parts, etc. They have bags of all sizes. The problem is they sell in large quantities, i.e. mainly 100 units+, depending on the size of the bag. They might prove, however, to be a low-price, low-weight, shorter-term alternative to a "real" canoe pack liner.

I am a little curious why the need for a pack liner in the first place.
Why not just use a proper canoe pack?

Which is?
Boundary bags do not give complete waterproof protection when submerged. I use a proper canoe pack An Ostrom or a Cooke Custom Sewing. Both should have pack liners
Double dry bagging is the safest method. I use down sleeping bags and never had one wet!

Proper canoe packs, that's funny. My late m-i-l was a very English lady, and everything she approved of she called "proper". Proper shoes, proper chairs, proper gentlemen, proper etiquette, proper cutlery, proper hello's...I love my carefully chosen gear and highly approve of it; I'm gonna start calling it all proper. Just having fun.
I have 4 proper canoe packs, only one of which is waterproof. The 2 traditional canvas ones need liners as does the smaller CCS, but I often use them instead for stuff not H2O sensitive like kitchen kit etc. thus not needing the liners. I dry bag for additional protection in my 115L SealLine pack. Over the top maybe, but I'm more concerned with gear weight than how much plastic bags weigh. On our last trip I dry bagged in a waterproof duffle for tent, tarps, sleeping bags and pads. Peace of mind. I love my waterproof gear, but don't trust it's infallibility.
I'm just kidding about the proper thing, but my m-i-l never did.

I usually hang it off a tree branch its not a necklace...

I like the "removing the tube" idea, but still does not compare.
Its not cheap for what it is... $30, but I think it will last a life time. and it is SO convenient.

Back to the liners....

https://www.gossamergear.com/products/c ... ack-liners
https://mountainlaureldesigns.com/product/pack-liner/
https://www.amazon.com/US-Military-Alic ... B01L4J24YA
http://www.arrowhead-equipment.com/stor ... _Bags.html

I still think you would be happy with the sea to summit but ospray also makes one that slightly bigger 100L they say. https://www.ospreyeurope.com/shop/fi_en ... ck-liner-l

I don't have a proper poncho for my TP. I go cheap, with the TP roll stuffed in a Ziplock bag, and a squirt bottle of hand sanitizer. Waterproofing for pennies. Did i mention I'm cheap?

@Odyssey: nice m-i-l story! Do you not carry a folding shovel? Cheap is new proper .

Thanks everyone for opinions and advise. As far as I can see the only designated pack liners fitting XL canoe packs (aka Duluth #4 size) are USD $5 Duluth clear 6mil polyethylene bag and CAN $50 Ostrom nylon pack liner. Ostrom has a roll-top closer, Duluth does not. Ostrom weighs around 12oz, I don't know Duluth weight, my guess is it is no less than Ostrom.

As a matter of fact I use the bottom part of the Duluth liner (cut to something like 20-25% of its height) as a way to keep my camping gear dry in heavy rain, when sometimes rivers run under the tarp.

Fifty bucks for a liner sounds expensive, but with proper care (there's that p word again) it ought to last a lifetime. Even a heavy duty trash bag with it's opening rolled down several times ought to achieve an IPX rating of "good enough" shouldn't it? Can a DIY webbing with buckles be somehow glued to the old trimmed Duluth liner?

On flatwater trips we use a pair of Ostrom (proper) canoe packs. I put large plastic bags inside them, two in the Wabakimi pack and one in the smaller Algonquin pack. Two of the bags I use were purchased from our local outfitter who no longer sells them. Others are plastic pack liners purchased in New Zealand. They are a common item sold at DOC stores and outfitters. I put clothing and sleeping bags in nylon stuff sacks and then put them in the plastic bags. On whitewater trips we use Sealline waterproof packs.
I consider plastic bags to be better than liners as things slide in easier when jamming them in, they don't have a waterproof skin that grabs and rubs off with use and they are much cheaper.
This is interesting as most people I have met in Canada has considered my use of liners to be novel. I grew up in NZ where it is normal to use a liner. Hence why they are commonly available there.

I do not own and never used a sewing machine. Still I'd be interested to know: how do you waterproof the seems?

Eddy ... for Silnylon I use a blend of 100% clear silycone & odour free or odour reduced minerial spirits. Mix the two to the consistency of runny paste. There are youtube videos for this.

For Silpoly I use Sel Net. This you have to buy. Its 100% silicone, no other incredients. Use can use Sil Net on both Silpoly & Silnylon. However, you can't use the homemade seam sealer on Silpoly (doesn't adhere to the material).

Maybe one day you'll get the bug to sew some gear. I've sewn everything I have except my tent (that may be a project for a later date lol). When you see how much material cost compared to buying things already made you might change your mind about sewing

Is Ostrom still producing their pack liners? It looks like you can still get them at Recreational Barrel Works, but given that he isn't producing packs anymore, is there going to be an end to the pack liners?

I was thinking of picking one up for my CCS Guide pack that I picked up this year, but have been hesitating for some stupid reason.

@Wilsauceez - thanks for the info! One day it might come helpful, considering that -

I have written both to Ostrom and RBW and will report who and what replies.