That depends on what you are trying to protect and how wet the trip is likely to get. A pack liner is the broad, simple answer for keeping the main contents of your pack drier. Dry bags are more useful when you want separate waterproof organisation inside the pack. Offtrack’s hiking and wet-weather guidance points to both approaches, including the practical habit of packing clothes in dry bags within your pack and using pack liners as part of staying dry in bad conditions.

Usually, yes. Water-resistant fabrics and rain covers help, but they do not solve every wet-weather problem. A liner protects the contents from moisture getting in over time, from sustained rain, and from damp transfer inside the pack. Offtrack’s own advice around wet conditions leans toward protecting the gear inside the pack, not just the outside of it, which is exactly where a liner earns its place.

Multi-day hikes, wet tracks, canoe-supported trips, school camps, and any trip where spare clothing or your sleeping setup has to stay dry move pack liners much higher up the list. Offtrack’s broader research on hiking and outdoor education repeatedly centres on matching accessories to trip conditions, duration, and group needs. In that context, liners are less of a “nice extra” and more of a simple insurance policy against a miserable wet pack.

They make sense for both, but for different reasons. A regular hiker might use a liner as part of a proper trail system. A casual camper or traveller may just want to keep spare clothes, documents, or electronics better organised and better protected inside a pack or duffel. Offtrack’s pack and bag positioning is broad by design. Their own hiking research describes the range as covering everything from heavy haulers and duffels through to lightweight day packs and travel use, which suggests the accessories in this section are supporting more than one type of customer.

Reliability and repeatability matter more. Offtrack’s customer base includes schools, outdoor education programs, and group leaders, and their Gear List service exists to match equipment to a specific trip and budget. That matters here because liners and pack accessories often become more relevant when multiple people need to keep gear protected in variable conditions without overcomplicating the setup.

No, and that would cut against Offtrack’s own product philosophy anyway. Their broader positioning is that no one brand is best at everything, and recommendations should be made by application rather than by label. In this category, the better question is whether you need full-pack protection, internal organisation, lightweight packing, or more robust waterproof separation.