Just finished four days in the Grand Canyon. (cool place, look it up.) Two pieces of gear failure -- neither catastrophic, fortunately. Any similar experiences, or substitute gear recs?
1. Sea to Summit dry bag. (Edit: brand name). I used this to compress and keep dry my down quilt. I had a small water bag leak and the quilt inside the dry bag got wet. I assumed I hadn't rolled the top properly, but no: water penetrated directly through the side of the dry bag. My hiking buddy said: yeah, those bags never work, the only ones that work are the heavy ones kayakers use. (!) Has this been other people's experience? Any brand of dry bag brand that is light, works for compression, and actually lives up to its name?
2. Durston Iceline Trekking Poles. First half hour of the trip, on an unmaintained trail down into the Canyon. Left foot slipped on some scree, caught my weight mostly with my right knee, was thankfully not injured, but somehow my left pole broke at the lower juncture. at this juncture the poles do not slide together, but rather connect through a narrower (.25" or so) insertion piece that snaps in. In this case it simply snapped off. So, unfixable on the trail. Really didn't seem like it was much of a fall/slide -- I was very surprised it broke. Has anyone else had this issue with the Iceline poles? I like them otherwise, but this connector seems like a weak point in the design. Alternatively: other recs for lightweight trek poles? Although TBH I did fine with only one, and in fact kind of preferred that on many if not most stretches of the Canyon trails, which usually have steep uphill and downhill sides. Anyone regularly hike with a single pole?
Thanks!