(R.I.P. 12/11/09)

I don’t blame you, Nikon Field Jacket FJ-CP1, for what happened in the water at the beach in Goa.

You were never the same after we took you canyoning in Manali and lost our footing on the waterfall and smashed you up against the cliff face as we dangled from a rope and harness.

We could barely see through you to see the screen after that terrible scratch, and you kept fogging up on the kayaking clinic in Pokhara and rafting trip on the Sun Kosi River in Nepal so we had to keep opening and closing you. So we knew you were on your way out.

You did good, little waterproof housing. You did good.

As you can see, this little guy made it through a lot with us, and battled on til the end. He died in Ray’s pocket as we frolicked, oblivious, in the waves of beautiful Goa. Even though he took the camera with him (as that’s the nature of the beast when it comes to a waterproof housing that leaked), there are no hard feelings. Not only had this waterproof housing made it through the watery perils so far of this trip, but it had also survived a week-long cruise in the Caribbean – snorkeling, jetskiing, and the like – and more in the year before the trip. Not to mention extreme climate changes (from an overnight at the top of the frigid Himalayas to the sweltering heat of southern India), and the general abuse of a couple backpacking through Asia who is prone to take some 20,000 pictures in 5 months (literally!) of all the amazing colors, camels, elephants, stupas, temples, Dalai Lamas, and more.

So even though, in the end, it suffered that eventual definitive leak and cost us our backup/water/beachproof camera, I would most certainly buy it again and bring it on the trip. It was easy to use, extremely strong, had a red floaty thing so you could drop or throw it in the water without worry that it would sink, a wriststrap, and maintained all functionality of the camera, including the flash, video and zoom functions.

Perhaps the only drawback to it, besides the obvious, was that it was only rated to go 10 feet deep – which meant we still had to buy a disposable camera for the Caribbean scuba dive. So if you’re an avid diver, you might as well invest in either a real underwater camera or another kind of housing. For anyone else, and certainly for anyone going on a backpacking trip to Asia, I would recommend this or a reasonably similar model.

Bring or don’t bring: BRING

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