In my ongoing efforts to control my scent phobia, I've been looking into airtight bags for my gear. I just ordered a carbon suit, so I'm particularly interested this year...

In past years, I've used big ziploc bags and when I seal them, I purge the air out first. But a couple days later the bags are puffed up with air......Doesn't sound airtight to me.

SO.......I was at the local Wal Mart today, just killing some time really, and in the camping section I came across some watertight bags....They came 3 to a pack, all 3 different sizes. The smallest was pretty gosh darn small actually, but I guess it would work for socks and undies and such....But I digress.....You stuff clothes in, purge the air, roll the top and clip it shut....Now, after I did that I was of course curious as to whether it's actually AIR tight or not.....So, I squeezed that rascal as hard as I could and didn't notice any air leaking anywhere...

My question is, has anyone here used these bags before, and if so are they airtight? If not, what could be a "scientific" way I could test to see if they are or not? Any thoughts?

Spray some of your wifes perfume in it and close it up . If you can smell it take them back.


Seriously, we ues them on float trips and everything inside stays dry.

That's about as scientific as it gets right there......[8D] But actually that's fairly logical....If the smell comes out, that would also indicate the smell could go IN, yes?

Yes, that's pretty logical but you would be shooting yourself in the foot if you used your hunting clothes



It would almost be worth a try with street clothes. That is, unless you wear scent-lok all the time

Yes, most people refer to those as "dry bags" and they're a necessity for overnight canoe/float trips (see my pics in the "Let's See Your Mugs" thread). They truly are airtight (at least the decent ones are) and should work perfectly to suit your needs.

Thanks, Greg....That's what I thought, but I'm not very well versed in these things....

What would you consider a "decent" one? The ones I got are Ozark Trail or something along those lines...

You know, I borrowed the bags (as well as our canoe we used) from my buddy who's pictured with me on that canoe trip... He's the float-trip expert. If I see him sometime soon, I'll ask him. I would think that most anything from Cabela's would be fine, and possibly from Wal-Mart, too (not so trustworthy there, though.)

The ones we used had magnetic strips that locked together and sealed of the inside, then you rolled the top over onto itself several times and buckled it to the body of the bag. It was airtight and watertight for sure.

I use the dry bags a lot for rafting trips, and the way I test them out is by throwing some newspaper in the bag, sealing it up, and sinking it in my pool over night.

So far I haven't noticed any leaks in mine, and I may consider keeping some of my hunting accessories in them this fall... Thanks for the idea.