Lots of people take cameras in their kayaks down river and so I know I'm not the first to come up with their own little system for keeping it all together and dry, but I quite like what I have working now. It's simple and secure.
Equal to the camera itself, the most important element is my lovely red
Watershed Ocoee Drybag. In my opinion, Watershed is by far the best drybag on the market. It's zip-lock style closure and rugged construction make it one of the only products I would trust to keep my camera or laptop dry. Also, the Ocoee is the smallest bag they make which when closed, rolled, and clipped shut makes a tube shape that fits just perfectly between my legs in my kayak. Recently, I invested in an upgrade to this bag when I got the newly re-deigned padded liner. Another bag in itself, this liner is made to fit whichever size of Watershed you have and can be removed and zippered closed if you wished to use it that way, but in truth, it fits so perfectly into it's waterproof home that it takes some effort to get it in and out.
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| Padded liner with camera, 2 lenses, large and small microfiber towel, pouch for extra battery and film, etc. |
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| Gear loop through center column |
But those are all other people's great ideas that I'm just using. What really dialed my system in for me was how I devised to secure it into my Shiva creek boat. Like most modern creekers, the Shiva has a plastic center column just afore the cockpit rim to which a water bottle can be affixed by a bungee. This bungee cord is kept in place by passing through a little hole made into the center column. I realized that there was just enough room to pass a small bit of cordage through this hole as well... in fact, it's the perfect size to just accommodate the type of cord I used to make my typical Prussic Loops and indeed, that is what I tied to create a gear loop. Using a locking carabiner of course, I can now secure the drybag to this loop using any one of it's six built in attachment points. I prefer to use one on the end as this fits better between my legs. And the best parts are that the water bottle still has it's home (inside the gear loop) and I made the loop just long enough so that the bag can be flipped out onto the front deck, making it much easier to get in and out of the boat without unclipping and removing the bag!
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| Bag can flip up and rest on deck without being unclipped. |
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| Ocoee Watershed fits perfectly and comfortably in the creek boat! |
Ta-Da! A simple, secure and safe system for keeping my gear in my boat. Should my boat and I ever go on our own unexpected whitewater adventures the gear loop is long enough to let the bag safely swing out of the way as I swim past and yet the loop is small enough that there is nothing on which I could get caught on my way out... though I hope I hope I don't end up using this safety feature anytime soon!
