GoreTex Spray

PDD

Hi Folks,

I was wondering if anyone here has ever used GoreTex in a can or another type of water-repellant spray on a rucksack and how it worked out?

I will be buying a dry-sack and I presume they are all the same but any recommendations would be helpful :-)

Dave

fergalr

I've never used water repellent spray on a rucksack.
I think that maybe if you're worried enough about keeping the contents dry to do something about it, you should probably be taking more effective steps.

Most rucksacks I've had have some degree of water resistance, like, they'll keep stuff dry in a light shower, and as far as I'm aware, a spray can just be used to increase this water resistance slightly (or replenish it if the rucksack is old) - water will still get through in a heavy shower though.

If you are worried about keeping stuff dry in heavier rain, you can get rain proof covers for most rucksacks, that work better. This is a covering like the material used in a non breathable rain trousers, but fitted to your rucksack. I think this is the fairly standard solution to rain proofing your rucksack, and you can get such covers in shops like the great outdoors for around a tenner, from memory.

But if you'll be seriously wet (out in mountains for long time in rain, crossing rivers, swimming, paddling etc) get dry bags and put whatever needs to be dry into the dry bags inside your rucksack.
Lots of people adventure racing just get one high capacity dry bag the size of their rucksack and put everything inside it.

Hope this is some help, and not telling you stuff you already know - not really answering your question.

Alun

You can also buy lightweight waterproof rucksack liners, or the ultimate solution for the terminally stingy (which I use!) a good quality bin bag

dogmatix

Some rucksacks/daysacks have built in rain covers. These are standard raincovers packed away in a small pouch at the bottom or top of the bag which you pull out and over when it rains. Comming with the pack they are usually a much better fit then a seperate rucksack cover. I have a two daysacks with built in raincovers and they are both good.

But as is said above a simple binliner can be just as good and a lot cheaper.

Donny5

I've used the spray-on stuff and wash-in nikwax on a bergen and a couple of daysacks. It works, but you need a helluva lot of it for a daysack, and it only protects against lightish rain, and not for very long. It also only lasts a couple of soakings, and doesn't like being roughed up.
It definately won't help with immersion, being lain on wet ground (especially if you sit on it:( ) or heavy rain.
I found wash-in better than spray,
Donal