There’s a great difference between riding in the rain because you want to, for fun, and riding in the rain because you have to. With the former, it’s probably a short spin where you can leave your belongings somewhere safe and dry. With the latter, you most likely need to take some things with you. And, in our line of work, we encounter the latter quite often. Having a safe and secure way of keeping your worldly possessions dry on the go offers precious peace of mind – riding in the wet is challenging enough without having to worry about whether your phone will still be working at the end of the trip.
Serving this purpose for me over the last year or so has been the Sea To Summit Ultra-Sil Nano Daypack. In essence, it’s a small bag made from siliconised nylon fabric that takes the shape of a soft backpack. It has just one single large compartment (18 litres) that’s closed by a zipper, and once that’s done, it’s designed to be water resistant. This means that it will hold up against rainfall, but is not designed to be submerged in water.
The manufacturer says that it’s designed to hold up to 4kg, despite it weighing just 30gms. You see bar tacks at the spots where the shoulder straps attach to the main bag, which support this claim. But practically, it’s quite unadvisable to carry that sort of weight in this bag, because the shoulder straps are quite thin – in terms of width, and especially in terms of thickness. This means that they dig into your shoulders quite a bit when the bag is loaded up. It's less of a problem when you’re wearing the bag over a riding jacket, but if you’re going to wear it over casual clothing, you better pack light.
Perhaps the biggest highlight of the Daypack is just how compact it is when packed up. Once you scrunch it up and stuff it into its pouch, it’s about the size of an egg. And that means you can quite literally carry it in your pocket, poised for the heavens to open. Once used, though, it’s best to let it dry out before you stuff it into the pouch again.
As for its primary purpose of keeping things dry under rainfall, it does it perfectly well, and I never had any instance of water seeping in from anywhere. The zipper has also stayed smooth and free over my time with it so far, and overall, there is a feeling of quality with this product. And that’s just as well, because it certainly isn’t cheap, at Rs 3,709. If all you’re after is a way to keep your phone and wallet dry, there are more cost effective ways. If you have more belongings (and especially if they’re valuable), then this Daypack presents a neat solution.
Gavin Rodrigues
Dinshaw Magol
Rishaad Mody
