Best Fireproof and Waterproof Document Bag
You could get a fireproof safe bag or a waterproof outdoor dry bag. But the ideal solution for protecting your sensitive records is a fireproof and waterproof document bag. Even if you have a fireproof safe, using one of these gives you peace of mind and the ability to quickly grab all of your documents if you need to go. Unfortunately, there are a huge number of brands and types of bags to pick from.
This is where we come in. We’ve researched the best document bags, tested them, and now the results are in: the overall best, a budget option, and an upgrade pick. If you need to protect valuable documents, one of our suggestions will help safeguard them.
Contents (Jump to a Section)
In this latest update of the best document bags, more pictures and testing data have been added. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Disclosure»
Best Document Bag
DocSafe
Well-designed, Versatile, and Reliable
With integrated organizational pouches and a rigid shape, this bag is ideal for grab-and-go sensitive document protection.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
When it comes to organization, this bag blows the others out of the water. It’s ‘good enough’ to protect the documents. You can find heavier-weight bags that protect up to 4000°F, but you are unlikely to encounter such high temperatures in a house fire.
Specifications
- Materials: Double-layered silicone-coated fiberglass
- Protection: Fireproof, Heat Resistant (2000°F), Waterproof
- Features: Card, passport, and document organizers, 3-digit code lock
- Size: 10″ W x 14″ L x 4″ D
- Weight: 1.2 pounds
With pockets inside for cards, passports, and other small documents, this thing is the ultimate grab-and-go bag when you need to evacuate.
With thoughtful design and excellent document protection, it’s easy to see why the DocSafe Document Bag tops the rest.
Budget Document Pouch
Boeciog
Inexpensive, Effective, and Lightweight
This zippered bank pouch offers reliable fire and water protection at a price that won’t burn your wallet.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
These little fiberglass zippered bank bags have been around a while and are good for stashing in a safe. The improvement over the years has been the addition of the silicone coating, which adds some water resistance to the bag. The FR insulation protects documents from heat and not just fire, which is important if you don’t want your documents turning into char cloth.
Specifications
- Materials: Silicone-coated fiberglass, FR cotton insulation
- Protection: Fireproof, Heat Resistant (2000°F), Waterproof
- Features: Zipper closure, snap fold
- Size: 11″ W x 15″ L
- Weight: 11.3 ounces
Many times, house fires come hand-in-hand with water damage from putting the fire out or plumbing issues. This bag helps cover all of the bases and is inexpensive enough to get multiples of when you need more document protection or organization.
If you need a starter or budget document bag, a Boeciog Fireproof Document Pouch is what you’re looking for.
Upgrade Fireproof Bag
BuilTuff Duffel
Large, Versatile, and Dependable
Two cubic feet of waterproof and fireproof document storage is more than enough room for any size family to carry sensitive documents.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
Take your whole fireproof safe with you with this enormous fireproof/waterproof duffel. You should be able to fit all of your documents in this thing and plenty more! If you have a lot of hardcopy survival guides, you may want this duffel to transfer them from a safe to a bug out vehicle.
Specifications
- Materials: Double-layered silicone-coated fiberglass
- Protection: Fireproof, Heat Resistant (2000°F), Waterproof
- Features: Shoulder strap, three exterior pockets
- Size: 12″ W x 24″ L x 12″ H
- Weight: 2.6 pounds
It’s not the most practical solution if you don’t have a lot of documents and gear that need protecting, or have a bug out plan with less carrying capacity.
With the largest capacity available, this BuilTuff Fireproof/Waterproof Duffel will fit pretty much anything.
Comparison Table
| Document Bag | Recommendation | Price* | Size | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DocSafe | Best Overall | $27 | 10″ x 14″ x 4″ | 1.2 lbs |
| Boeciog | Best for Budgets | $13 | 11″ x 15″ x 0.5″ | 11.3 oz |
| BuilTuff Duffle | Best for Many Documents | $40 | 12″ x 12″ x 24″ | 2.6 lbs |
The Bags We Compared
Our research narrowed the field down to a few brands and types of bags, pouches, and duffels that we compared: DocSafe, The Good Stuff, BuilTuff, VEVOR, Sentry Safe, Brimstone, and more.
You can see our full list of review criteria below in the What to Look For section, with an explanation for each.
We considered a wide range of bags made of different materials. There are various levels of fire, heat, and water resistance depending on the material construction. We did not consider electronic protection, as we have a whole review on Faraday bags, and if you are anything like us, you simply keep those separate or inside your document bag.
We’re always looking for new and better gear, so if you have a document bag that has proven its effectiveness, let us know in the comments. We review most of our tested gear annually so we can try to get it in the next roundup and see if it will beat out our top picks.
What to Look For
The best document bags have a few features to look for:
- Value
- Flame & Heat Resistance
- Water Resistance
- Size & Capacity
- Versatility
When you get the right blend of these, you can find the perfect portable protection for your documents and papers. Below, we break down what each of these features means for the bags that truly set themselves apart.
Value: Cost vs. Benefit
The amount of money you spend on something like a document bag shouldn’t blow out your entire budget. There is a wide range of prices, but they are all significantly cheaper than a safe.
You never want to spend too much money on one resource, even when it comes to safety and security. It’s better to diversify your spending to make sure you are covered for a wide range of scenarios.
Flame & Heat Resistance
Even if you are keeping your document bag in a fireproof safe, fire and heat resistance are important. We like to double up, following the two is one, one is none rule.
You can find document bags that run the range of 1000-4000°F ratings, and house fires can typically reach about 1300°F. Less than that may work if you always have your documents with you in a go-bag, but 2000°F seems to be the sweet spot.
Water Resistance
Coating the fiberglass fabric components with a silicon treatment and adding tight zippers make most document bags water-resistant. While they won’t last long if you sink them to the bottom of a deep pond, they will make it through inclement weather, sprinklers, fire hoses, and temporary flooding.
Size & Capacity
Fireproof bags go all the way down to passport and phone size, and all the way up to our duffel upgrade pick.
The capacity of the document bag should just be for the documents you have on hand. It’s unlikely that you’ll pick up more large documents in an emergency, so unless your family is growing quickly, most people’s critical documents are relatively static.
Versatility
Organization is one of the key versatility features a document bag can bring to the table. Extra pouches, pockets, and carrying methods can all improve the usefulness of the bag.
Do Fireproof Waterproof Bags Work?
They work, but they have some fine print. Most fireproof bags stipulate that you should not have them near an open flame for very long. The bags, just like fireproof safes, are meant to buy time by protecting the contents from heat.
The waterproofness is the same way- the contents are not going to survive getting submerged deep underwater.
Cliff (The Urban Prepper) does a pretty good breakdown of the limitations of fireproof document bags:
Who Needs a Document Bag?
A document bag is one of the necessary pieces of equipment in several kits. But while we list it out in several checklists, it’s the same kit. You simply take it with you. In a bug out or evacuation situation, you aren’t going to leave your sensitive documents behind- so you grab the pre-organized bag from your safe and add it to your mobile kit.
We consider a fireproof/waterproof document bag essential for your:
Your emergency plan should review who is responsible for grabbing it when you go mobile and add it to another kit:
You can even use fireproof bags for other gear since they provide protection and organization. We keep a bit of ammo in some of our extras.
How We Review Products: We research thoroughly before selecting the best products to review. We have vast prepping and survival experience and bring in outside experts when needed. Hours on end are spent testing gear in stressful conditions and using specialized testing gear to verify claims. We assign performance criteria and impartially rate each tested item. Learn more about how we test.
Sources & References
All of our experience and the testing we do to determine the best document bag are useless without listing our research sources and references. We leaned on these for the book knowledge that we paired with our hands-on testing and practical survival experience:
Malek, E., et al. (2017). Heat resistance research and surface analysis of fireproof textiles with titanium silicide coating. Procedia Structural Integrity. Volume 5. Pages 508 – 515. (Source)
Miedzińska, D., et al. (2021). Influence of Ti-Si-N Nanocomposite Coating on Heat Radiation Resistance of Fireproof Fabrics. Materials. Volume 14. Issue 13. Page 3493. (Source)
Seredina, M., et al. (2001). Characteristics of Fireproofing and Combustion of Multicomponent Fibre Systems. Fibre Chemistry. Volume 3. Pages 445 – 448. (Source)
Conclusion
Don’t just organize your documents, protect them! A safe is always a good solution, but it doesn’t solve mobility issues if you need to evacuate or bug out. A reliable fireproof and waterproof document bag fits the bill and will make transporting your documents much easier during an emergency.
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