Ferry travel gear reviewed: what holds up and what does not

What to take away

What holds up, by name

Grundens builds PVC and polyurethane foul weather gear for commercial fishermen. The Clipper 116 jacket and bib are the reference point. Welded seams, a thick PVC coating, no laminate to delaminate, and a finish you can hose down.

They are heavy and they do not breathe, and for a two-hour ferry crossing in rain that trade is worth it. Sold direct and through marine chandlers, roughly $100 to $180 per piece. Verdict: holds up.

Helly Hansen sits at the other end. The Moss and Seven J jackets use a coated polyurethane face over a knit backer, which survives salt better than a bonded membrane and still moves.

The Moss jacket typically runs $100 to $150, is widely stocked, and its zips are replaceable. Verdict: holds up. The coating wears at the cuffs first, which is a slow failure rather than a sudden one.

Gill and Musto both build sailing foulies with taped seams and corrosion-resistant hardware. Gill's OS3 range and Musto's BR1 jacket are the ones to look at. Both typically run $200 to $400, more than a general outdoor shell, and both are repairable through the maker. Verdict: holds up, and cost is the failure rather than the build.

Extremities and Sealskinz make the gloves that work here. Neoprene or coated knit, sized to leave room for a liner, because a glove that fits bare hands is useless on a February crossing.

Sealskinz builds a waterproof knit glove with a membrane inside. Extremities builds neoprene and fleece-lined pairs for cold, wet work. Order one size up, expect $40 to $70 a pair. Verdict: holds up when it fits over a liner, and fails when it is snug enough to cut circulation.

Pelican and YETI cases are the answer for phones and cameras on an open deck. Pelican's 1060 and 1085 Micro cases use a gasket and a latch, not a zip.

YETI's Panga duffel uses a waterproof zipper and a thick shell, and the LoadOut bucket does the same job larger. Both rinse clean and both float. Verdict: holds up, with bulk as the cost, at roughly $30 to $40 for the small Pelican and around $300 for a 50-liter Panga.

Ortlieb dry bags are the packable option. The PD350 and PS490 fabrics are welded, not sewn, so there is no stitch line to wick salt into. Roll the top three times and the closure holds through spray. Verdict: holds up, with no failure found short of a puncture, at roughly $30 to $60 depending on volume.

What does not hold up

Cotton canvas duffels soak, sag and mildew, and the bag gets heavier every hour on deck. Salt strips the wax off a waxed cotton jacket and the cloth underneath holds water. Verdict: fails over a season of salt crossings.

Filson's Tin Cloth is a good coat on a farm. On a wet deck the wax needs redoing after every trip, and wet cloth is heavy on a moving deck.

Bonded membrane shells from general outdoor brands. They are not bad jackets. They are jackets whose weakest layer is the one salt and heat attack first. The delamination is not repairable, so they fail at the point where they cannot be fixed.

Zip-top "waterproof" phone pouches. The zip is the failure point, at the seal rather than the fabric. A Pelican 1060 typically sells for $25 to $40, about what the pouch costs. Verdict: fails.

Unsealed power banks and camera batteries. Cold drains them and salt corrodes the contacts. A spare in an inside pocket costs nothing and saves the day. Verdict: fails slowly, then all at once on a cold deck.

Retractable lanyards and thin carabiners. They jam with salt grit and the gate springs rust. A stainless screwgate is the fix, such as the 316 stainless marine snap hooks Wichard makes. Verdict: the thin ones fail within a season.

Why salt is the test

NOAA explains that ocean salt comes primarily from rocks on land and openings in the seafloor. Rainwater is slightly acidic and erodes rock, and streams carry the dissolved ions to the sea. Hydrothermal vents add more.

That salt lands on your gear as dissolved mineral. It stays, absorbs moisture from the air, and keeps working on metal long after you are home.

Why the water is colder than the dock

NOAA explains that cold water has a higher density than warm water. Cold, salty water sinks below the warmer surface layer and drives the circulation pattern known as the global conveyor belt.

For a passenger, wind crossing cold water arrives cold, whatever the air temperature reads ashore. The dock is not the test. The open deck is.

How each item fails

How to judge the next purchase

Ask whether it rinses, whether it repairs, whether it works in gloves, and whether you can carry it for thirty minutes. Those four questions eliminate more bad buys than any score.

Then pack against a real trip. Our ferry packing list covers the items, and our ferry trip mistakes guide covers what gear cannot fix.

Common questions

Does expensive gear survive salt better?

Not reliably. Serviceability beats price. A cheap item you can rinse and repair outlasts an expensive sealed one that cannot be opened.

How soon should I rinse things?

The same day. Salt keeps drawing moisture from the air, so leaving it until you get home is leaving it too long.

Are hard cases worth the bulk?

For anything electronic on an open deck, yes. The bigger risk is spray on lenses and screens, not immersion, and a gasket handles both.

Do I need marine-specific gear?

For a scheduled ferry, rarely. Ordinary outdoor kit that rinses and repairs is usually enough, which is why the keepers above are a short list.