North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine October 2017 | Page 30

SUBMERSIBLE
DUFFLE
FROM YETI
IS THE NEW PANGA
WORTH THE PRICE?
BY GREG THOMAS
If anyone should be price conscious, it’s me.
That’s because my two daughters are in the
thick of it with sports, and soon I’ll be the one
forking it out for their first vehicles and, short-
ly after, college tuitions. Single father + two
daughters with hopes to attend UCLA + single
income equals all sorts of trouble.
That’s why the sticker price for Yeti’s new
Panga submersible duffel is so hard to swal-
low—it retails between $300 and $400 depend-
ing on size, meaning 50, 75 or 100-liter models.
However, if you spend a lot of time on the
water, whether kayaking, whitewater rafting, pad-
dling your SUP or kayak, or fishing from a Water-
master, a full-size raft, a hardboat, or a jetsled, a
waterproof bag of some sort is essential. And not
just because you want to keep your extra socks
dry—keeping gear dry, including matches and
lighters, extra clothing, even sleeping bags, can
be a matter of survival. Think 70-mile long floats
down a remote Alaskan river, or even a five-day
march down Montana’s Smith River in April, when
rain, sleet, snow and a hard-driving upstream
wind may turn this typically tame adventure into
30
a logistical and dangerous nightmare.
In addition, it’s safe to say we’ve become
a plugged-in society and that our tech devic-
es—right or wrong—now rule us. Consequently,
most of us pack multiple devices on our trips,
including cell phones, GPS units, solar charging
stations, and battery packs, none of which car-
ry insignificant price tags. Which means a sin-
gle exposure to water could cost us, literally,
thousands. Finally, some of us try to say that
our experiences outdoors are part of our job de-
scriptions (my friends still aren’t buying it) and
we take our laptops and photography and video
equipment into the field. A single lens for my
digital DSLR camera could cost a few thousand
dollars. My full setup might be worth $20,000.
So, when considering how to protect our
equipment, and how we might survive if luck
flies south, maybe price point shouldn’t be our
top concern, especially for enthusiasts. If that’s
the case the Yeti Panga might be the right bag
for you.
Here’s the dirt: As mentioned, the Panga is
available in three sizes, each promising to be
airtight while offering full submergibility. The
zipper is the key to this functionality and Yeti
incorporates a Hydrolok zipper and U-Dock to
provide this. Basically, the zipper is the water
barrier and it clicks into the U-Dock station. You