Outdoorline Nylofume Pack Liner Review

Overview

The Nylofume Pack Liner is about as unglamorous as gear gets: it’s a clear plastic bag you stuff inside your backpack before loading everything else in. Outdoorline’s version follows the same formula that’s made Nylofume a fixture in ultralight kits for over a decade — a thin nylon polymer film liner, sold in a 4-pack, that lines the inside of your pack to keep the contents dry regardless of what your pack’s fabric or rain cover is doing. It’s aimed at thru-hikers and weight-conscious backpackers who’d rather trust one lightweight liner than a stack of individual dry bags or a pack cover that leaves your back panel exposed.

Key Specs

Spec	Detail
Brand	Outdoorline
Material	Nylon Polymer Film
Flat Size	51 cm x 91 cm (20” x 36”)
Weight	26.0 g (per bag)
Sold As	Pack of 4
Closure	Twist, fold-over, or roll-top
Color	Clear/transparent

Performance

Nylofume’s backstory is a little odd for a piece of backpacking gear — these bags were originally made to protect food and medicine during home fumigations, and the ultralight community more or less adopted them wholesale once word got around. The material itself is thinner and crinklier than a contractor bag, but reviewers consistently find it holds up better. One long-term Trailspace reviewer weighed a fresh bag at 26g on his scale, compared to the whopping 129g for the generic contractor bags he had been using, and after logging over 30 nights on trail using a single bag, the only damage came from an at-home mishap rather than trail abuse — the only real damage to the integrity of the bag happened while it was empty and at home, picked up while pinched between two other pieces of gear. He patched it with clear packing tape and kept using it without issue.

That durability story shows up again and again. A Garage Grown Gear writer who logs around 100 nights outside a year reported typically going through two Nylofumes a year in use, which averages around 100 nights outside — pretty impressive durability for a bag that weighs less than an ounce. Litesmith customer reviews echo this: one hiker said their bag was still keeping things dry after 10 days and nights on the Appalachian Trail with rain every day, holding all their clothes and sleeping gear in a 50-liter pack. Another logged six extra days of AT hiking on a bag after patching a zipper-inflicted tear with duct tape and reported it tore a hole with the backpack zipper, patched it with duct tape, and used that same bag for six more days of AT hiking a few weeks later — they work great.

Waterproofing itself seems to be a non-issue as long as the bag stays intact — it’s genuinely a sealed nylon film, not a laminate that can wet out. The closure is simple: fold over or roll down the top a few times and then roll down the top of your backpack. That’s it. No zippers, no roll-top buckles to fail.

The one recurring complaint is noise. One reviewer complained about the crinkly noise, like a potato chip bag, though it did quiet down with use. If you’re hiking with a group or trying to be stealthy setting up camp near other tents, that crinkle is noticeable for the first few uses. Vendors also note that not all Nylofume is created equal — one Litesmith reviewer who’d tried other sellers’ bags said other vendors’ nylofume bags proved significantly less strong and louder than the ones they were used to, so sourcing matters if you’re picky about material feel.

On lifespan expectations, sellers are refreshingly candid that this isn’t a forever product. ULA suggests you can expect a Nylofume liner to last multiple short trips or a month or two of regular use with care, while LiteAF recommends replacing it every 1200 miles or so. Given the weight and price, that’s an easy trade to make — you’re not lugging a heavy, bombproof dry bag; you’re carrying disposable insurance and replacing it when it starts to look tired.

One more perk worth calling out: the odor-barrier property. Because these bags were designed to seal in fumigation gases, they double as a decent smell barrier for food storage in a pinch — the nylon film also acts as an odor resistant barrier to help keep food and clothing protected from critters at night. It’s not a substitute for a proper bear canister or odor-proof bag system, but it’s a nice bonus for a product you’re already carrying.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Extremely light — 26g is a rounding error compared to most dry bags or pack covers
• Genuinely waterproof as long as the film stays unpunctured
• Clear material makes it easy to see contents without digging
• Cheap enough to treat as a consumable and replace every trip or two
• Doubles as a mild odor barrier for food/smellables
• 4-pack means you’ve got spares built in, or can dedicate separate liners to gear vs. food

Cons:

• Crinkly/noisy when new (softens somewhat with use)
• No gusset — it’s a straight-seam bag, so bulky items pack in less efficiently than in a shaped dry bag
• Punctures from zippers, buckles, or trekking pole tips are the main failure point
• Not reusable indefinitely — expect to replace every 1-3 months of regular use or roughly 1,200 miles
• Sizing is one-size — you may need scissors to trim it down for smaller packs

Who Should Buy This

This is close to a default buy for anyone carrying a non-waterproof pack — which is nearly everyone not running a dedicated dry-bag-style pack. It’s especially well suited to thru-hikers and long-distance section hikers who are tired of babysitting a trash compactor bag and want something purpose-cut for a pack’s dimensions. If your pack is under about 50L, one liner comfortably swallows your whole load; larger packs might want two, one for sleep system and one for clothes/food, which the 4-pack conveniently sets you up for.

Verdict

For 26 grams and a few dollars, the Nylofume liner solves the “will my stuff get wet” problem more reliably than a pack cover and more cheaply than a full dry-bag system. It’s not indestructible, and the crinkle takes some getting used to, but the durability reports from multi-day and thru-hike use are consistent enough that I’d call it one of the best value-per-gram items you can put in a pack. I’d rate it 8.5/10 — buy the 4-pack, keep a spare, and don’t expect it to last forever.