The small waterproof bag that finally makes my swim days easy

I started swimming to push back against years of letting my body coast. After weeks of psyching myself up I finally got to the pool a handful of times, started to enjoy it, and decided to actually keep going. The first thing that stopped me was the bag.

On weekdays I take a backpack with my laptop to the office, and I’m not comfortable tossing a wet towel or swimsuit in there with it. I also didn’t like the idea of clean underwear and lotion rolling around loose between work files. But carrying a second dedicated gym bag means showing up with two bags every morning.

I tried a small waterproof pouch first, but it was so small that once the swimsuit went in there was no room for anything else. After looking around some more I landed on this 8L wash bag.

The bag measures about 28.5 × 15 × 19.5 cm, which is exactly the kind of size that disappears inside a backpack. It says Made in China on the label, but the stitching and zippers feel clean, and the padded bottom keeps the shape intact even when it’s only half-full.

The whole reason I picked this bag is the TPU pocket on the front. It’s small, but fully waterproof — a dripping swimsuit goes in there and nothing leaks through to the main compartment. It won’t swallow a soaked towel along with the suit, but for one person doing a pool stop on the way home, it’s exactly right.

The inside has several small mesh pockets, which makes it easy to keep shampoo, lotion and a razor in their own spots instead of digging through a single pile. The main compartment is deep enough to fit a folding hair dryer.

Even with the swimsuit packed, there’s still a little room left in the main compartment. The body is nylon, so the other pockets handle a slightly damp towel without complaining.

Once it’s loaded up, the wash bag slides straight into my backpack. It’s marketed as a travel toiletry bag, but it fits the “pool on the way to or from work” use case even better. The biggest difference now is that the bag is always packed and ready, so on a day I feel like swimming I just leave. The only thing left is to actually swim more often.