The 5 Best Roll-Top Dry Bags of 2025

When you’re planning a watery adventure—be it kayaking, canoeing, or even just camping in dicey weather—a roll-top dry bag should be at the top of your gear list.

After testing 15 dry bags, we’re confident that the Ortlieb Dry-Bag is the most dependable, moderately priced, durable, and easy to use of the lot. It closes readily, packs well into other, larger bags, and comes in more sizes than any other bag we tested.

Top pick

This affordable, reliable dry bag is lightweight and durable. Use it on its own for a day trip, or pack it into a larger bag for a multiday, overnight trip on the water. The warranty, though, covers just five years.

The Ortlieb Dry-Bag is a classic, reasonably priced roll-top bag that will keep your stuff dry during a full day on the water—even if it’s submerged—or over the course of a rainy camping trip.

The Dry-Bag is easy to open and close and to slide into a larger bag for packing, in part because it’s made from soft, pliable polyester double-coated fabric. With nine sizes to choose from between 5 liters and 109 liters (the biggest range of all the bags we tested), the Dry-Bag is the roll-top dry bag we recommend for weekend warriors and daily adventurers alike. (We tested the 10-liter version.)

The tube-like shape of the bag does make it tricky to open and root through if you need a snack or more sunscreen mid-trip, and the company’s warranty, which promises a replacement should you run into a problem within five years of normal use, isn’t as robust as the coverage on other bags we tested.

Runner-up

Made with featherlight single-coated polyester fabric and equipped with a compression valve, this dry bag is very easy to use. However, it comes in just three sizes and costs more than similar competitors.

The 12-liter Ortlieb Dry-Bag Light Valve is a larger, lighter sibling to our top pick that’s also more expensive. But it offers a compression valve, which could come in handy when you’re carrying bulky items (a sleeping bag, say).

The bag’s material is extremely light and totally waterproof; during our tests it kept everything inside the bag bone-dry. It’s easy to pack, and it makes a great bag-within-a-bag, too, when you’re packing for longer or overnight outings.

The Dry-Bag Light Valve comes in only three sizes, though—we tested the middle one, the 12 L version—and it has the same five-year warranty as our top pick.

Budget pick

This classic, wallet-friendly roll-top bag dependably keeps its contents dry, though it isn’t great for packing inside larger bags. A cross-body strap allows you to wear it on short hikes or bike rides.

The Earth Pak Original Waterproof Dry Bag is our choice for a reliable dry bag on a budget. It comes in three sizes (we tested the 10-liter version) and will hold up on most outdoor adventures, keeping your things dry.

The bag’s PVC fabric is strong and durable. Still, it feels rubbery and doesn’t slide readily into another, larger bag for packing. Earth Pak does offer customers a five-year warranty when you register your bag, which is why this model won out over others at the same price.

The Earth Pak bag comes with a strap that can attach to two of its three D-rings, but we didn’t find the strap comfortable enough to wear over the shoulder or cross-body for any significant length of time.

Upgrade pick

Bigger yet lighter than our top pick, this bag is made with very soft, very durable material. It’s easy to close, and it offers sturdy attachment points for easy toting behind a kayak. It is, however, more expensive than other classic roll-tops on our list.

The Sea to Summit Big River Dry Bag is one of the softest, most malleable bags we tested, which made it very easy for us to use. Bigger and lighter than our top pick, the 13-liter Sea to Summit bag costs more than most of the bags we tested. It also comes in five other sizes and features fabric loops woven along each side that you can attach to a carabiner or rope.

The bag rolls closed and clasps so handily that it gives you confidence that your items will remain dry while you’re on the water—as ours in fact did. The company provides a lifetime warranty on its bags.