Transporting Photography Equipment while Kayaking and Canyoning

You decided to take your photography equipment (or at least part of it) with on the river or into the canyon. In general depending on your budget and the use there are the following possibilities:

Throw away cameras

For your first tries it might be easiest and best to buy a waterproof throw away camera. The photos will probably get not to bad with good weather and some luck and at least good enough as proof of your heroic actions. With some daring you can even take some photos from your perspective. But sooner or later you will come across the borders of this approach and start thinking about some more advanced techniques.

Ewa Marine Bag

The next thing coming to your mind is probably a waterproof plastic bag with a looking glass for your camera. This is available from Ewa Marine. They are meant to be a rain protection and should enable snorkeling as well. So the purpose is clear. Its okay for wet condition but you would better not let your camera go for a swim in class III. They tend to start leaking pretty early and offer no other protection for your equipment. But except with professional solutions there is no way to get nearer to your object and therefore they are worth considering. Should you use a TTL camera and a bigger lens be prepared to pay a LOT.

Drybag

If you are not going for heavy white water and it is therefore unlikely for your equipment to go for a swim and dive over rocks and waterfalls and you are just thinking about a water resistant way to transport your camera a drybag might be your solution. A few different companies (Ortlieb, Grabner...) offer waterproof drybags with a rolling closing mechanism. In one of this bags your camera is safe from rain and even a minor swim should be alright. Some clothes or a towel in the bag give the equipment a good additional protection and nothing can keep you from a tour in a remote part of a lake or river.

The barrel solution

A cheap, multi purpose solution are plastic barrels. You get them in watersports or kayak supply shops. They are quite lightweighted and still strong. Some of them even work as a camping seat. They are quite bulky so that you might be able to get it into your rodeoboat ... but then no place for you will be left. In any case you should put some cloth around the equipment to protect it while bouncing around in the box.

Camera bags

Nowadays you can even get special waterproof camera bags. The are better than normal drybags and definitely worth considering. Instead of buying a normal camera bag you might as well buy a waterproof one ... it rains nearly everywhere sometimes. I just now about the bags from Ortlieb and Zözer, but I am sure there are others around. They are not cheap but think about it...

Ammunition Box

The absolute heavy duty solution for little money needs some work from yourself, but you can be sure to owe a special solution with a private touch. The idea is simple. Every army has to transport ammunition around in wet conditions. And from western movies everybody knows that wet gunpowder doesn't work. Therefore you can buy ammunition boxes in every army supplies shop. Quite cheap as well. They sure are heavy but they are heavy duty and waterproof!!! Should you consider to adopt such an ammo box as your camera box read on, otherwise you can go back up to the menu .

Tips for the shopping

You can get the boxes in every army shop and in some other outdoor supply shops as well. An maybe you could even ask in military base. The price will be about 10US$.

Tests for waterproofness

Either you put some heavy stones in the box and drown it in the pool or you partly fill it with water and play barmixer. In any case you should be able to find out if the box leaks...

Cleaning

Before you start painting the box you should sandpaper it to get rid of the rust. The better your job is now, the less problems you will have with paint and rust later

Painting

I can advise you to use anti-corrosion paints to increase the lifespan of your box. White paint might be a good idea to avoid overheating of the interior.

Interior Design

Get a foam which does not soak up the water (closed pores) and cut it to suit your equipement. You can get foams like you need when buying a new stereo or computer. Or you just ask in one of these shops and ask for some spare. You won't need much anyway. Afterwards you just have to glue all the foam pads together. And don't forget to use the right glue. The wrong one might attack the foam and destroy it.

Finetuning

Just a few additional ideas: What about a comfortable grip, causing not as much noise as the original one? Or some extra space for a few rolls of film? Or an additional lens? And a battery and a cleaning set? Or a nametag? Or some private stickers? Or a belt for carrying? You see there are many ways to make it your private box.

Additions

If you want to have something even more extreme you could think about a viewing window and a box for your camcorder. Ask in a dive shop ... there are plenty of opportunities.

Extremes

A friend from the internet uses boxes for 20mm rockets as a battery box to be able to recharge his small akkus for the video equipment on expeditions. But it all adds up to more than 40kg and is a bit too much for a kayak. But with a raft it is not a problem and it gives him enough power for 20 hours of video and it works as a picnic table as well ...

Pelican Case

As similar solution as the ammo box can be bought under the pelican case brand name. It is a very durable plastic box in all sorts of sizes and colors. These boxes are lighter than ammo boxes and you don't have any rust problems either (not that you do with ammo boxes). All these advantages have to be paid for though ... and not too little.

Waterproof Camera Cases

The most professional solution is sure not the cheapest one but it enables you to make pictures not possible with any other equipment. You can even make a waterproof camera case yourself but still then you will end up spending lots of money. Ask divers for their knowledge. These solutions are not suitable for kayaks. But for canyoning they are really good (although a bit on the heavy side). In any case you will be able to take shots worth publishing and a lot of hard work is waiting for you. But then you will be more of a camera man than a boater ...