The Soggy Trunk Problem: A Bulex Mesh Duffle Story

The cargo area of my old 4Runner used to smell like a bait bucket by Sunday night. Not because I kept bait back there. Because every piece of dive gear I owned came home sitting in its own water.

I am 61, retired after 33 years as a marine electrician, and I dive out of Tavernier most weekends. About 400 logged dives, mostly 20 to 60 feet, plus a handful of night charters each year. For years I hauled my gear in a plastic tote and an old mesh bag that finally split at the seam. About 18 months ago I replaced both with a Bulex mesh duffle. That one change fixed a problem I had been working around since I started diving at 47.

The problem was not sand or mud. It was clean salt water. A wetsuit holds water in the neoprene. Boots hold water in the sole. Fins hold water in the foot pockets. When you drop all of that into a plastic tote, the tote does what a bucket does. It keeps the water in. By the time I got home, the gear had been soaking in its own rinse for an hour. The brass on my old detector, the zippers on my boots, and the inside of the 4Runner all paid for that.

What I wanted was not a dry bag. I know what a dry bag is for. I wanted a bag that would let the water out and let air move through. The Bulex mesh duffle is 37 inches long, 15 inches wide and 15 inches high, with 136 liters of space and two side zipper pockets. The body is polypropylene mesh. The listing says it is not water resistant, and that is accurate. It does not keep water out. It drains.

I bought it with the rest of a new kit about 18 months ago. It has been on roughly 90 dives since, from shore entries at the limestone ledges to charter trips on the outer reef. It carries my fins, boots, gloves, mask, wetsuit, dive light and the detector, which rides wrapped in a towel. The bag has a zipper closure, a nylon shoulder strap and handles. Bulex rates it to carry 60 pounds. I have not weighed my load, but a wet wetsuit and a pair of long fins are not light, and the strap has held.

It is not water resistant. That is the reason my 4Runner stopped holding a puddle after every dive.

The first change I noticed was on the boat. On a charter, wet gear comes off on deck. With the old tote, I had a puddle around my feet and a bag I had to empty and wipe out at the dock. With the Bulex bag, the water runs out as I load it. The deck gets wet, which it was going to do anyway. The bag does not hold a pool inside. The two side pockets take gloves and a mask, and the main compartment takes the rest.

At home, the bag goes on the clothesline under the carport. I open the zipper, spread the mesh a little, and let the sea breeze do the rest. The bag is soft, so it does not stand up on its own. That is a tradeoff. A soft bag packs into the 4Runner easier than a hard tote, but it will not protect a fragile item from a fall. It is not a suitcase and it has no wheels. I do not check it on a plane. It rides in the back of the 4Runner and on charter boats, which is all I need.

The polypropylene mesh has held up to salt water and sun. After 18 months I see no split seams and no rot in the strap. I rinse the bag with fresh water at the same time I rinse my boots and wetsuit, then hang it. The zipper still runs. The side pockets still close. That sounds like a low bar. After a few seasons of salt, a low bar is the one that matters.

The bag also solved a smaller problem. My old setup was a tote plus a mesh bag. The tote held the heavy items and the mesh bag held whatever fit. I was always moving gear from one to the other. The Bulex bag is 37 inches long, so the fins go in without being folded double. The boots go in beside them. The wetsuit goes on top. One bag comes out of the 4Runner, and one bag goes back in.

There are things it does not do. It is not water resistant, so it will not keep rain off your gear in the back of a vehicle. It has no structure, so it will not stand open while you load it one-handed. The shoulder strap is nylon and the shell is soft. If you want a bag that seals, this is the wrong bag. If you want a bag that lets wet gear drain and dry, this is the right shape and the right material.

What I'd Tell You If We Were Sitting at My Kitchen Table

I would tell you to check the rules where you dive and to rinse your gear before you hang it. I would tell you not to buy a dry bag for gear that comes out of the water wet. A dry bag has a job on a kayak or a small boat. For a duffle that rides in a 4Runner and sits on a charter deck, you want mesh and a zipper that opens wide. The Bulex bag is that, and it is not more than that. It will not make you a better diver. It will keep your trunk from turning into a swamp. At 61, with about 400 dives behind me, I care about the swamp.