Make Your Own Drybags

April-May 1997

This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.

by Tim Mangan

Materials

• Plastic silo chute. This comes in a roll at a farm, garden or hardware store. It is an extremely heavy gauge plastic chute, 19 inches wide. You can buy it by the foot. You will need a minimum of 3-4 feet for a tent bag.

• Plastic pipe. It comes in 6 foot lengths. You will need 2 pieces, each of a different diameter. The small one must fit inside the large one with room to spare. To create a tent bag, for example, the pipes could be 1 inch and 1.5 inches in diameter.

• Wax paper

• Magic marker

• Iron and ironing board

• Brass grommets

• A very understanding wife or significant other.

Procedure

Cut the silo chute to the desired length. For a tent bag this may be 3 or 4 feet. Now what you have is an extremely heavy plastic bag 19 inches wide with no bottom.

To seal the bottom, draw a line with your marker across the silo chute about 1.5 inches from the bottom. Place some newspaper on the ironing board (this keeps you from ruining the ironing board cover and, from personal experience, it will help keep peace in the family.)

Set the iron on "Wool" setting. Fold and crease a piece of wax paper and slip it over the end of the silo chute. This will prevent melted plastic from sticking to the iron. You can see your line through the wax paper.

Slowly iron the 1.5 inch end strip of the silo cover. You will want to put moderate pressure on the iron to insure a good seal. Voila! You have just sealed the end of the tube. Let your project cool on the ironing board before you try to pick it up. This will help prevent puckering.

You can do the same to the sides of your bag and embed grommets in your sealed area.

For closure at the top, cut your plastic pipes to a length of 21 or 22 inches. Take the larger pipe and cut a slit the entire length of the pipe. You will want to run a file or rasp through this slit to take off the sharp edge inside your pipe (otherwise it will cut your dry bag.) Cut a small 'V' indentation at each end of the slit.

Gently close the top of your dry bag and fold it around the small pipe. Slide the large pipe over your folded bag (with the small pipe inside the fold) and you have a water tight seal!

I have made a total of 3 different kinds of closure seals (the other two are more user-friendly but are slightly more complicated to make). I have also made small food storage bags that have a special bottom that allow them to stand up like a grocery bag, and have made small bags for cameras, maps, and first aid kits. If you would like detailed diagrams and patterns of these bags, please e-mail your request to tmangan@itis.com

. P.S. If you don't have access to the materials in your area I could arrange to get them here and ship them to you.