In my experience the Hobie drybag lasts about 1 year before the tape holding the buckles to the bag breaks. I have 2 broken bags and my third is showing signs of tape deterioration after only 8 months of use.
The problem is the inferior quality of the tape. It is the thinnest I have seen used in drybag construction.
The main vinyl structure of the bag is lasting well but without the buckles the drybag becomes useless.
This is disappointing as other dry bags I have used last much longer. This drybag is 20 years old and still going strong.
Fortunately a fix is easy using 75cm (29.5”) of 25mm (1”) better quality tape and some contact adhesive.
Rather than buy tape by the metre I found it cheaper to buy ready made 2.5m quick connect straps and just cut the length needed off the end using a hot knife. That way you still have a useable strap.
1-Starting on the Hobie side of the bag lay the new tape alongside the old tape and coat both with the contact adhesive. I positioned the tape so that the ends would meet in the middle of the other side. You don’t need to thread the tape through the buckles just yet.
2-With the contact touch dry press the tapes together.
3-Turn the bag over, thread the tape through the buckles and repeat steps 1+2 ensuring you leave some slack around the buckles and the tape ends meet near the middle.
Your bag should now be as good as new and hopefully give many years of service!
On our camping trips with the Oasis we have found it better to have lots of smaller bags to store inside the kayak. Any bag over 20 litres in size is difficult to fit through the 8” hatch. Very large bags (40-60 litres) are best strapped on the decks.
Properly packed it’s amazing what you can fit inside a kayak!
This what Freya Hoffmeister is carrying on her solo round Australia trip.
http://qajaqunderground.com/
Over 60kgs onboard her Epic sea kayak!
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