For the past few weeks, I've been anxiously waiting for my iPad to get spilled on by my almost-5 year old. Sippy cups, aluminum cans, paper cups full of juice ... I've tried them all, but no luck. So I took matters into my own hand and dropped my iPad 2 into the kitchen sink filled with water. And it survived.
Okay, I guess I should now share the other key bit of information: my iPad was tucked safely inside the aLoksak. I still held my breath as I dunked the sealed iPad into the water. The company states in its literature that they had it certified (by the Scuba School International) by testing the container at a depth of 200 feet for two weeks with no leaks. What I like best is it's reusable; you can unseal the bag, remove the iPad, and then put it back in again with no loss of seal.
I've seen waterproof cases for the iPad sell for over $30, but a 3-pack for $8.99 is a much better value to me, especially given that it works great. (There is a $15.00 minimum order, however.)
The sensitivity of the touchscreen didn't change at all -- when sealed tightly, there were no issues with dragging my finger across the surface of the bag to swipe the screen or open an app. A buddy asked whether a 1-gallon freezer bag would work the same way, and I tried it. It does work, but the zip-seal at the top just doesn't give me the same warm/fuzzy feeling inside that the seal on the aLoksak provides. (And the brand name written across the freezer bag in white letters is a bit annoying.)
I did take my iPad on vacation last summer, and there were many days I was at the pool and beach with wet kids and adults running all around. I'm glad nothing bad happened to my tablet, but I'm now dead set on taking the aLoksak with me this year; not only will it protect against water, but it'll keep sand out of the number of small openings as well.
In addition to the tablet-size bag, Loksak also provided me with a smart phone bag. I placed my Android phone inside the bag for a few days to test, and it worked just as I suspected -- there was no loss of sensitivity on the touch screen and a ten minute dunk in the kitchen sink showed no signs of leaks. The card for the smaller bag said it would protect against water, humidity, sand, and snow, and here in Atlanta I've not seen any condensation build up in the bag after the cold mornings change over to warm afternoons.
I'm not planning on keeping my iPad or my Android phone in the bags on a permanent basis, but I have folded them up and tucked them safely away in one of my iPad case's many pockets. The bags are a much safer solution than a generic sandwich/freezer bag -- the seal on these bags has a unique design that's hard to explain until you examine it closely, but trust me... I would never have dunked either device if I'd had one ounce of doubt. The bags are also a much better economic option than the waterproof hard cases that you likely won't use that often (unless you spend a large amount of time in the water for your job and would like to have your tablet or smart phone with you constantly).
I'd like to thank the folks at Loksak for providing me with the two test bags at CES a few weeks back -- the seals on both bags are still working great after many openings and closings, and I'm sold on the bags. And by the way, the also offer a variety of other bags that serve different functions; the Shieldsak sounds interesting with its promise of being able to block RF signals and the Opsak for blocking odors such as food brought along during camping trips. You can find more details on the aLoksak and all the other bags at loksak.com.
