Loc'd-In Freshness

Dear Ziploc,

You probably don't receive a lot of letters thanking you for your plastic Ziploc bag, but then, you probably don't have a lot of customers who use it as a digital camera case on a class IV whitewater rafting trip. On previous rafting trips, I've never been able to take pictures on the river, because everyone is guaranteed to get completely soaked, so no one is crazy enough to carry a real camera on them. But this Saturday I did a day trip down the middle fork of the American River, and I badly wanted to take pictures. So after taking some shots of the group prior to launch, I packed my camera in one of your bags, ensured the seal was tight, and stuffed it in the pocket of my board shorts.


Hubert, Daniel and I with our guide Robin, who suggested I leave my camera behind

Your bag was put to the test immediately. I was situated at the front right of the raft alongside my friend Hubert, and the camera was in my right pocket, so it took the brunt of every wave of every frigid rapid we hit. Early on, we went through a raging tunnel chute, our most difficult class IV rapid of the day, and it gave me the first chance to test my camera. Would it still be dry? The pictures tell the story:


Leading into the tunnel chute rapid


Looking back at the rapid running into the tunnel chute


Safely out the other end, both me and my camera

Thrilled that the bag had done the trick, I repacked my camera as we once again approached turbulent water. A couple of rapids later, a jarring bump into a rock knocked me completely out of the raft, dunking me and my camera into the river. I was able to grab a ring on the side of the raft and get quickly dragged back in by my friend Daniel, thankfully unhurt, but I was anxious to reach another lull in the river to check on the camera. It's one thing to subject it to the rapids, but to dunk it under water completely... We finally hit a long, calm stretch that allowed me to test it out:


Looking back at yet another class IV, and the camera's still taking beautiful shots


Unlike me, Hubert is taking a voluntary dip in the calm waters

My camera had yet another adventure just a little while later. The third raft in our group yelled ahead to us asking if anyone had dropped a camera. Couldn't be me, mine is in my pock...oh crap! It had somehow slipped out (too bad my pocket was Velcro instead of Ziploc), but with a little bit of air in the bag, it managed to float to the trailing raft. Thank goodness they saw it! And it was floating, so the seal was obviously intact. We had a break coming up to get the rafts through an unpassable (for our skill level) rapid, so I was once again able to take the camera out of the bag and test it out. Amazingly, still no problems:


The rafts were sent through the unpassable rapid empty, with one of the guides waiting to jump into them on the other end and guide them to shore to let us back in for the rest of the trip


Hubert and I waiting for the rafts to pass through

So after enduring nine class IV rapids and two falls into the river, my camera was still in perfect working order, which is more than I can say for myself. I'm slightly dehydrated, a little burned, and exhausted, but I had a great time, and I have the pictures to prove it. You can see the rest of them in my photo album. Thanks for making them possible!


After what I put it through, I never thought the camera would make it to see the end of the trip

If I can trust my digital camera in your bags, I can certainly trust my leftovers in them. Consider me a believer.

Sincerely,
Chang Kim, Satisfied Customer and Ziploc Fan for Life