Plano Waterproof Stowaway (3400 Series)

I’ve been using these for years. They are the most reliable phone cases for use on ocean going boats that I have found. I have recovered one of these that was lost overboard & the phone inside didn’t have a drop of water on it. Eventually the latches on these break, but it takes a while for that to happen. I have had one of these go flying across a cabin while sailing through tropical storm conditions & take the impact in stride. These are good cases. And the price is right.

Have several of these and all have performed for years without issue. Watertight and great to store small items when out snowmobiling or hiking.

I bought this because I was putting together a camping/outdoor bag and didn’t really know how I wanted to lay it out. I knew for sure that I wanted a few things (fire starting kit, a few camp supplies) to be waterproof, and I saw this box for a reasonable price so I bought it to try. I’m glad I did.

In the past, gallon Ziploc bags have been my go-to for keeping things dry. They work well, they’re inexpensive, and they’re not rigid so you can tuck them into irregular little pockets of space inside a bag. They have their place.

But for a fire starting kit, I wanted something really durable, buoyant in water, and rigid enough so that my equipment wouldn’t get damaged by a tumble. Fire can quickly become critical if something goes wrong on a hike or camping trip so I needed my kit to be clean, dry and undamaged when the time came to use it.

This kit holds a couple of boxes of matches, a butane lighter, a small Fresnel lens (way better than a magnifying glass for starting fires), a piece of fatwood, and a few cotton balls soaked in candle wax and sealed in small Ziploc bag. If I have this kit, I can get a fire going anywhere that there’s fuel. (And yes, I keep a backup butane lighter in my pocket in case this kit gets lost, but I really hope it doesn’t come to that.)

I liked this box so much that I bought another and use it for a small last-ditch repair kit. It holds duct tape, 550 cord, a new single-edge razor blade, and a small, unopened tube of cyanoacrylate glue. The tape has been removed from its roll and wound around a small, flat plastic sheet so it will fit inside this box. The razor blade is taped to the lid so I can always find it. I may add a couple of sewing needles, some thread, and some fishing line to this kit as I still have some room in the case.

I’ve also used this case to keep my cellphone and car keys dry when I wade in rivers and lakes. It works really well for that, though you have to be careful how you put the keys in so that they don’t scratch your phone’s screen. There’s enough room to include my driver’s license and credit card as well, but it’s small enough that it will fit in a (large) pocket. Yeah, it feels bulky, but my keys, phone, and cards are my most critical gear (can’t get home without them) and I like to keep them on my person instead of in my bag.

The clasps on this box are somewhat hard to close. This is a requirement for keeping it waterproof– all that pressure is needed to keep it tightly sealed– but if you have small or weak hands (or if you’re injured or in shock), you may find it difficult to use. On the other hand, it is VERY waterproof. I tested it by closing only the center clasp, leaving the other two undone, and dunking it underwater. Even with only the center clasp holding the lid shut, this box remained waterproof in a foot or so of water. It probably wouldn’t work if the larger clasp came undone but I like that there’s some redundancy built into the case.

If you camp or hike, a box like this will probably have a dozen different uses. For the price, it’s a good idea to pick one up and spend some time thinking about how to use it to keep some critical gear safe. This summer I’ll be wading in some lakes and rivers, and I’ll be using one of these boxes to keep my stuff dry.

This case is great. When I got it, I played around with it seeing how it worked. Very tight clips holy the lid down which has a piece of good rubber inside. It is seriously water tight.

I decided to do a couple tests

So, putting a piece of toilet paper inside(which would look obviously wet if it leaked) I clamped all three sides down and just ran water over the case in the kitchen sink. Water not only rolled off pretty well, but no leak yet. I filled the sink and submerged it for 60 seconds. Absolutely no leaks. So, the product with all three clips in place works perfectly.

So, I got curious and decided to unfasten just one of the smaller side clips. Submerged for 60 seconds again and the box did not leak. I decided to unfasten the other side clip, so only the long middle clip was in place. Submerged for another 60 seconds and still no leak. I even experimented with bumping it around and turning it upside down. Nothing. So, I put the two side clips up and pulled the middle one down. You can guess it; no leak. I’m actually impressed. So, if you dropped it and (somehow) one of the clips popped open, your gear would still be safe from water.

Pros:

Clips are made of hard plastic – no rust!
Case itself is the consistency of good quality Tupperware.
They make a satisfying (and very loud) click when they are put into place. It made my roommate jump it was so loud.
Rubber in the lid is of good quality.
USA Made – I generally only mention this if it’s a good product. This is fantastic
Did not leak under any of my tests

Cons:
The clips are hard to get into place sometimes and can be challenging to open
Limited space – There are these hard plastic ridges in the lid (probably reinforcement) that go down half a centimeter.
Slight flaws in the plastic, but more cosmetic than anything
If water DOES get behind the rubber ring, good luck getting it out.

The box is very well designed and well constructed. Unfortunately the inside dimensions are not in the product description and it’s a little too small for the main thing that I need to carry around safely. I’ll still use it for other items but now I need to shop for something bigger and hope that the inside dimensions increase by the same amount as the outside.

It seems like both the inside dimensions and the outside dimensions are important, and both should be listed. I clearly guessed wrong about what the dimensions meant (not the first time, unfortunately) but the dimensions that matter to me aren’t listed at all. Maybe I’ll learn my lesson this time. Hopefully my error will help others to get it right the first time.

es más grande de lo que esperaba, bastante resistente, a prueba de agua, ideal para hacer un kit de edc, y sobre todo a un precio bastante accesible

dopo due anni in barca sono ancora nuovi come il primo giorno…. assurdi… li straconsiglio