Burnsco Waterproof Bag
The Ultimate for Land Based Fishing!
If you've done some land based fishing off the beach or the rocks, you know there is a struggle to find a backpack that is suitable. You either go a smaller schoolbag style where the zips fail in 10 minutes or, invest in a hiking pack where you are forking out plenty of $$$ and have zips seizing and seams eventually failing. While the latter is really comfortable and adjustable, they also have a bunch of pockets that don't really get used, they are normally a fabric material, and quite often they sit for a while until your next mission. Then there is the downside of the berley, bait and fish slime getting through your bag and it then leaking through the seams onto your clothes on your walk out. When you finally get home there is the big clean up. You have to thoroughly scrub the bag, let it dry somewhere where the boss can't see (or smell) it and hope that no mould or salt water stuffs up the seams and zips. It is a real pain in the @$$ and I've lost count of how many bags I've gone through and $$$ I've spent over the last few years trying to find something half decent.
As I am no longer having big walk ins anymore (over 1 hour) I stumbled across the below 'dry bag' as I was down in the shop one day and thought to myself "I reckon this would work quite well". 1 waterproof zip, decent straps, no internal pockets and best of all it was made from PVC!
Check out my thoughts on this bag after almost 12 months of use.
Pros:
Material - Being a relatively thick PVC, it goes without saying and is pretty clear in the video this is very durable. For land based fishing, the PVC is highly beneficial due to the rinsing and cleaning properties. After you get back from your fishing trip and empty your gear out all you need to do is quickly rinse it out, give it a wipe with a rag, and the bag is absolutely clean again. The smell is gone and will not fester like a material pack, making it ready for your next trip.
Fish storage - I found if you took a frozen drink bottle in the bag down to the rocks, you could actually use the backpack as a kill bag. This is fantastic if you are going to be on the rocks for a while as it allows you to keep your catch colder and saves you have to take another cooler bag with you.
Internal storage - This pack says it has a 30L storage which would be right if you are turning the top down 3 turns and using it as a dry bag. However, by not turning the top down you are gaining an extra 5-10L of storage space. This backpack has 2 clips on the side so you are able to clip it shut there instead of twisting the top around. This is a VERY handy feature and well thought out!
Single waterproof zip - While the front is a mesh and water will get in and out of it, the zip actually has a waterproof cover over it, this will prolong the life of the zip and after 12 months has not corroded and it still zips open and shut easily.
Decent straps - As mentioned in the video, the straps are quite decent which suprised me for such a cheap pack, they are wide enough to fit my shoulders with plenty of adjustment still available (I'm 6'2'' and by no means small!). The chest strap is handy for when we leave early morning and I have it loaded with 20kg+ of bait, berley, tackle and clothes, it adds the extra support to my shoulders rather than it pulling me back.
Reflection - There is a neat reflector strip + Burnsco logo on the back of the bag which shines up very bright when a torch is flashed on it. This is great for at night and was hugely beneficial for a mate who was walking behind me. One look up with his head torch and he could spot where I was, even when I was 80 metres in front of him.
Cost - This was an absolute steal, RRP is $89.99 and occasionally it comes up on special. At full retail it is a third of the price I have paid for other packs in the past so a massive tick here.
Cons:
Now I'm not saying this bag is perfect, but it is pretty damn close! While this pack is comfortable enough, if you are doing a walk in over 45 minutes then you may want to consider a hiking backpack, purely because you can adjust the straps and customise the fit to suit you, plus they usually have extra padding. This will increase the overall comfort on those longer walks.
Waist strap - If you are a bigger person then the waist strap may not fit you, even with the adjustment out to the fullest. I.e - if I have had a pie or 2 in the morning or a couple of brown lemonades and I'm a bit bloated then the strap does not fit, or it pushes too much on my gut and I'm uncomfortable. Most of the time I do not worry about it and just leave it off anyway.
Pockets - To me this is a pro as I dont want lots of unused pockets, however if you are a person who likes a few extra internal pockets to store your sunnies, keys, etc then this does not have any. It only has the single external pocket.
Overall, I am extremely happy with this backpack, for what I am using it for (sub 30 minute walks with 20kg+ weight in), it has lasted really well for the last 12 months I have had it and I firmly believe I will get another 2-4 years out of it no trouble at all. This is more than I have got out of any other pack. The price is unbelievably cheap for what you are getting and the benefits of this one over others are pretty self explanatory. For me this a 5 stars out of 5 product and I would 100% recommend it to anyone!
