Yeti鈥檚 Panga waterproof duffels have become a favorite among boaters, fishermen, and anyone who spends a lot of time around water or in foul weather. The tubular gear haulers are made out of thick, laminated nylon that鈥檚 virtually impossible to rip or tear, and they鈥檙e sealed with zippers that live聽up to their聽waterproof billing.
Recently聽the company announced it was adding a backpack to the Panga line. We got our hands on the new ($300), which, true to its heritage, is just about as protective as you could want.
The 28-liter pack is made of the same super-durable nylon as the duffels, with hefty nylon daisy-chain lash points on the front,聽carry handles on the top and both sides, and the same waterproof zipper that鈥檚 on all of Yeti鈥檚 duffels and soft coolers. Because of聽an unfortunate drought here in New Mexico, we haven鈥檛 had the chance to test the backpack鈥檚 waterproofness in the wild, but we did perform a home test, stuffing a towel in the pack and submerging it under water for four minutes. The towel came out bone dry.
The pack鈥檚 design is simple: just one cavernous main compartment with a small zippered mesh pocket and a laptop sleeve inside. Without padded straps or a supportive hipbelt, the Panga doesn鈥檛 ride as well as a technical hiking pack, but for its intended use (fishing, boating, or generally toting around when the weather is nasty), it does the job. It swallows a lot of gear, and the long zipper means you won鈥檛 be struggling to hold the pack open to see what鈥檚 inside.
Thanks to the burly material, the pack holds its shape, stands upright, and won鈥檛 flop when partially filled. Alas, this also means it doesn鈥檛 compress well when聽you need to shove it into tight spaces. If you鈥檙e on a long kayaking trip and want to maximize hull space, you鈥檙e better off with a traditional drybag. But if you鈥檝e got space to spare聽and are more concerned with comfortable all-day carry鈥攕ay, for a day of fly-fishing or sailing鈥攖he Panga Backpack is a promising choice.