A Durable, No-Nonsense Waterproof Sling Pack for My Fly Fishing and Camera Gear.

I needed a slingpack that had enough room to carry a long camera lens, a camera, and fly fishing gear. And it had to be industrial-strength waterproof.

I needed a waterproof sling pack that was big enough to hold my FUJIFILM XF 150-600mm Lens, plus additional fly fishing gear. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

It's rare that I go fishing without camera equipment. It's not enough to write the stories; I have to capture them in images. On any trip, on any given cast, a fish of a lifetime could be caught, or when I least expect it, a beautiful scene can unfold in front of me. Nature has a way of sneaking up on you, and I have to be ready to capture the shot when it happens.

My Donation to the Fishing Gods

Water and camera gear are not a good mix. I've donated a lot of equipment to the waterborne fishing gods over the years, including a backpack full of lenses ruined by saltwater while I was focused on bailing out a sinking boat.

Keeping my camera gear high and dry while hooked up to a striped bass on the Brewster flats in Cape Cod. | Photo by Geof Garth

Waterproof Backpack

Lesson learned: I needed a waterproof backpack. A sling style would be ideal, allowing me easy access to my camera gear without needing to remove the pack. A quick rotation of the pack on my body allows me to position it on my chest to easily change out lenses or batteries. A requirement that made my search for a waterproof slingpack more challenging was that the pack needed to be roomy enough to carry a 150-600mm long lens. This lens proved to be too long for most waterproof packs on the market.

The BOTE Highwater Slingpack

BOTE, the maker of stand-up paddleboards, had the solution. The BOTE Highwater Slingpack. It is a slingpack that is on the larger side in comparison to most on the market. It's designed for SUP boarders to have a waterproof way to carry their gear, phone, camera, lunch, clothes, and whatever else they need for a full day on the water.

For me, I can carry my long lens plus fly boxes, jacket, water bottle, and food. Its size gives me a lot of options depending on the type of fly fishing I'm doing. My saltwater trips require different items than most of my freshwater outings.

Thank you for the dance. | Photo by Chris Kokorda

A Heck of a Way to Test for Waterproofness

The BOTE Highwater Slingpack isn't kinda waterproof. It is industrial-strength, submersible waterproof. A downpour is a warm-up for this pack. It is meant to be used near the water and in the water. I learned this firsthand on the Brewster flats in Cape Cod.

I was making my way to shore after wade fishing the flats, and I miscalculated the speed of the tide coming in. I had 25 yards to go to get to the beach and found myself on the wrong side of a deep trough. I wasn't paying attention, and the tide had come in from the sides to fill it up.

Between me and the shore was 25 yards of deep water that I had to swim. My BOTE Highwater slingpack was filled with camera gear and fly boxes. | Photo by Geof Garth

Where I was standing, the water was up to my waist, and where I had to go, the water was over my head. I opened the zipper to my BOTE sling pack just a little and blew some air into it to fill it up like a balloon. I closed the zipper, double-checked to ensure it was sealed, and started forward hopping on the tips of my toes until I ran out of bottom.

The Slingpack Does Double-Duty

I swung the slingpack around to my front and used it as a flotation device. My camera and long lens, plus fly boxes, were inside, but the pack still provided buoyancy.

A Pleasant Day for a Swim

It wasn't a bad swim, actually; the water was nice and cool after the sun had beaten down on me for most of the day. I tried to ignore the little voice in my head that kept repeating, "You know, this water is deep enough for a big shark to swim in." Cape Cod is known for its Great White population.

I made it to shore. My fishing buddy and I had a good laugh, and back at the car, we toasted our bad judgment with two cold beers. Then I toasted my BOTE sling pack. Everything inside was bone dry, and I now had a waterproof pack I could count on in extreme conditions. KB

"The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” - Herbert Hoover

The gear reviewed in this article was provided to me at no cost for the purpose of evaluation. The views and assessments presented are my own.