Best Dry Boxes for Kayaking

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Some gear needs armor as well as a seal. Keys, a camera body, sunglasses, a VHF radio and a phone all survive better in a rigid box than in soft fabric that gets sat on. Dry boxes vary in gasket quality, latch strength, whether they include a pressure relief valve for altitude changes, and how they mount, since a box left loose in the cockpit becomes a projectile in surf. We weighed seal integrity after repeated opening, latch security, interior padding and whether the box still floats when loaded. Casual paddlers can use a small box for keys and a phone in the day hatch. Photographers and anglers should choose a padded, mountable case with a valve. For anything critical, treat the box as one layer and back it with a dry bag, since gaskets fail once they get gritty.