Aquapac Trailproof Duffel Review

Here we have the TrailProof duffel from Aquapac - a tough waterproof hold-all type bag for use on or near to water, as well as those out and about in adverse weather conditions.

Billed as "heavy loads in wet places" by Aquapac, a brand who pride themselves on "100% waterproof cases", it comes in three sizes - 40l, 70l and 90l - though just the one colour, a highly visible lime green/fluorescent yellow.

The choice of sizes means that it will cater for a variety of needs, be it a smaller bag for a one person day trip, or a larger holdall for several people heading off for a weekend of fun on the lake.

As well as keeping things dry, it's also great at keeping damp clothes and towels from wetting everything else - the inside of your car for example - very useful after the inevitable accidental fall in the water!

I tested the middle size choice, 70l, and found it perfect for myself alone (giving me extra room in case I took a layer off, or picked up things on my travels), and equally as capable for a couple of days of canoeing and camping for me and two friends.

Typically it's cylindrical in shape when filled, but if you need to squeeze those few extra bits and pieces in, it stretches up and out in to a sort of teardrop shape, giving you that much needed bonus room.

I was sceptical at first, having had bad experiences with products that claimed to do similar in the past, but it didn't take long for me to realise the quality of this bag, and what a good job Aquapac have done.

The TrailProof duffels are made from a tough 500D vinyl, which gives the bag its IPX 6 rating (protected against heavy seas/temporary flooding). That test involves water being projected at all angles through a 12.5mm nozzle at a flow rate of 100 litres per minute at a pressure of 100kN/m2 for 3 minutes from a distance of 3 metres.

Which is to say, it's incredibly effective at keeping water in or out! Bearing all this in mind, they are a fairly light bag too, weighing in at about 1kg. To top it off, Aquapac back it with their 5 year warranty, giving you peace of mind for the future.

Having the holdall gave us the freedom to stop worrying that our spare changes of clothes would end up wet, and that we would end up cold - a problem we have all found in the past, even with similar 'waterproof' bags.

The market isn't exactly short of choices on dry duffel bags, with plenty of options available from the likes of Mountain Equipment (£90), The North Face (£100) and Ortlieb (£136) amongst others. That said, the vinyl used here makes the Trailproof range feel a much tougher option than the nylon/polyurethane materials used by some of the other brands, and at £55 the Trailproof range is well priced in comparison too.

The duffel does lack any internal pockets or dividers, so if you want to keepings well separated then it does let you down a little on that front. For me, it isn't a deal breaker though, and it shouldn't put you off buying one.

Not with a bag that performs so well.

Waterproof bags with more functionality tend to cost an arm and a leg - and with a little bit on ingenuity, you can soon sort out ways of keeping things separate when you are packing up the TrailProof duffel for your next adventure.

Aquapac's duffel certainly doesn't disappoint. The bag kept all of its contents bone dry, even when it ended up on and in the lake on a number of occasions. The ingenious three-fold and Velcro seal system really seems to do the trick.