We'd recommend these (clockwise from top left): The air-tight and submersible Colorado Duffel, the Seattle Sports Medium Navigator, the West Marine Explorer Dry Bag (made by Seattle Sports), the Seal Line (Cascade Designs) Zip Duffle 40, the Seal Line Dry Case and the Watershed Large Pouch.

Wet boats are fine as long as you can keep your towels, your lunch and your loose electronics dry on the way out and back. One of our editors never could, and after a couple of summers of dampened enthusiasm from the wife, he began a comprehensive quest to find a true dry bag, a bag that could withstand frequent runs to the beach, overnight excursions and the occasional summer downpour. Here’s what we came up with.

What We Tested

We started our research by scanning the three major boating catalogs, West Marine, BoatU.S. and Defender Industries, where we read about bags claimed to be “Dry as the Desert,” “Tough as Steel…