Anyone who’s seen the opening scene of the Return of the King knows what can happen when you go fishing with your best friend. I don’t mean you might find a ring and then proceed to kill your best friend and then morph into the creature known as Gollum.
I’m talking about the part where Deagal hooks a big one and then gets dragged over the side of the boat and into the river.
It’s pretty obvious to most people that fishing is an inherently wet hobby (I’ve never seen a live fish on dry land), but what is not so obvious is the need for a waterproof fishing backpack. It’s easy to think that you’ll be on a boat or on the shore and you’ll be able to find a dry spot for all your gear.
Too often anglers end up damaging or destroying valuable gear because they overlook the simple fact that when you go fishing there is a lot of water around you all the time.
Below are some reasons why you should consider a waterproof fishing backpack.
Electronics
This is the most obvious reason to buy a waterproof fishing backpack, almost everything we use to communicate and keep in contact with people are electronics.
Anymore, no one leaves the house without at least their cell phone just in case they need to take a picture of their food to post to Instagram.
For anglers and hobby fishers, it makes sense to bring along a cell phone in case of an emergency or need to prove it really was “this big” (insert hand motions here).
Though water is one of the most damaging things to phones and despite widespread production, many still don’t use waterproof cases (it’s also alarming that Apple hasn’t yet created a waterproof iPhone).
True there are some phones that are produced as waterproof phones (seriously Apple get it together) but many of these only work up to about three feet and trying to find a phone in three feet of water is like trying to find the last Easter Egg in the new Battlefield.
Most gadgets have electronics component
It’s not only cellphones that are at risk of water damage. Most of the gadgets and tools we use when we go fishing for the day have some sort of electronics in them, from our GPS to our fancy new DSLR our parents got us for graduation but haven’t had time to use.
The point is, there’s very few things in today’s modern world that don’t need some protection due to their electrical composition.
Why water damage phones?
For those wondering, as I did, why exactly water does damage to phones I’ll attempt to give you a basic idea. Essentially your phone has two electrical poles within it, usually connected to the battery or the processor. In impure water (which is most water as it turns out), there are ions made from salt, magnesium, and several other elements. When the two poles are dropped into the water the ions attract to the poles based upon their ionic charge, the positive ions are attracted to the negative pole and the negative ions are attracted to the positive pole. This creates a closed circuit and causes a short within the batter and the processor (assuming a total submersion of the phone). Shorts in any sort of electronics are almost always irreparable and will usually cost a decent amount of money depending on the electronic.
Keep your electronics safe, buy a waterproof fishing backpack.
Dry Clothes
As is true for almost all things in the outdoors, accidents happen and quite often they happen when you least expect them to. Your boat could hit a submerged rock and capsize or you could lose your balance and fall into the river. In any either case, you’re going to be wet from head to toe.
Maybe you were smart and you brought a change of clothes in the truck but what if the truck is two or three miles away and it’s starting to get cold? Now you’re risking hypothermia when you could’ve just gotten a waterproof fishing backpack and stored your dry clothes in there.
An extra set of clothes is important for emergencies and it is just as important to keep those clothes dry should an emergency come about.
In addition to a change of clothes, if you fish from a boat, you can keep insulation layers in the waterproof backpack on board. You can keep any water from the hull of the boat from reaching your dry warm clothes for when the sun starts to set. It will also stay dry should it start to rain or should the boat capsize.
Stay safe and be prepared in case of an accident, buy a waterproof pack.
Just Easier
At the end of the day, having a waterproof pack is just easier and more efficient when you’re out fishing for the day. There’s water all around you a majority of the time and it’s common sense that things are going to get wet or are, at the very least, at a higher risk of getting wet.
Logically, anything you can do to keep from ruining any of your possessions is your best course of action. Having a waterproof pack will save you the headache of having to deal with wet clothes or equipment or damaged electronics.
True you could keep your valuables in your car and save a little bit of money but it’s less efficient and more of a hassle to keep everything at such a distance.
A waterproof backpack can go with you anywhere, stay within arm’s length, and still keep everything dry. No more having to make three or four trips to the car to get everything you need right where you want it. Grab a waterproof fishing backpack, stuff everything you need in it, and take it with you wherever you go.
Have a story about a time a waterproof backpack saved (or could have saved) your day? Tell us about it in the comments section.
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