OK, maybe that statement was a little harsh. OR maybe it is COMPLETELY ACCURATE. It might just be a personal preference, but I don’t see why anyone would buy an opaque dry bag when clear ones are available. The clear dry bags work just as well (as far as I can tell) for keeping out water, and most importantly, you can see what is inside without having to open the bag and rummage around in it.

Here are the steps for taking something out of a clear dry bag:

1. Look at the dry bag and verify that what you want is in fact in this particular dry bag. Note that you are only able to do this because it is CLEAR.
2. Open the dry bag.
3. Take out the item. By the way, you already know where in the dry bag it is since you located it in step 1.
4. Rejoice.

Here are the steps for taking something out of an opaque dry bag:

1. Pick a dry bag that you think contains the item you want.
2. Open the dry bag.
3. Stick your hand in the dry bag and rummage around in it, looking for your item.
4. Repeat steps 1-4 when you fail to find the item you’re looking for.
5. Miss seeing the humpback whale that just breached not far away (that everyone else in your group saw) because you were too busy looking for whatever-the-hell you were looking for, which you don’t remember because you are so pissed at having missed the whale.
6. Curse yourself for having not taken this stupid blog post more seriously.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. I don’t have any dry bags that are opaque, except the ones that were unmercifully thrust upon me. Do opaque dry bags have some special magic that I’m not aware of? Do they turn seawater into hot chicken noodle soup if you dance around them and chant? Someone clue me in…

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