Item question regarding Bags of Holding

[Greenfield]

The ubiquitous Bag of Holding and its cousin the Handy Haversack are such useful items that it's pretty much a given in most campaigns that several (if not all) PCs in a party will have at least one.

Our group is engaged in an underwater adventure at the moment, which poses some real problems with this item.

You see, a cubic foot of water is a shade under 8 gallons, which means it weighs a shade under 64 pounds. (Weight varies with salt content.)

The smallest Bag weighs 15 lbs, empty or not, will hold 30 cubic feet, or up to 250 lbs of weight.
The others scale up, weighing in at 25 lbs, 70 cubic feet and 500 lb limit, and so on up to 60 lbs, 250 cubic feet and 1500 lb capacity.

It doesn't take a math genius to see the problem here. Every one of those items will overload, weight wise, if filled with water.

A bare four cubic feet of water will top the 250 lb limit of the smaller bag, for example.

So is immersion in water the automatic destruction of a Bag of Holding, and the loss of all your gear?

The rules say that a living thing placed inside will suffocate after 10 minutes, which implies an airtight closure. Is the bag safe under water if left closed? Is the inside somehow protected from unwanted entry, even when opened?

I know that there aren't any hard and fast answers in the rules. I'm just trying to stimulate some thoughtful discussion.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I would say that the BoH and the HH are magically airtight.

 

[Oryan77]

I would treat it like a magical portal or a gate. It can be open without materials being sucked in. That's pretty much what these items are anyway. Portable portals to another plane.

 

[Vegepygmy]

I concur with Dannyalcatraz and Oryan77. It's magic; no need to overthink it.

 

[delericho]

I would certainly agree that when closed they are magically airtight (and watertight, for that matter).

When open... well, it would depend on how cruel I'm feeling. Though I would tend towards them being safe against unconscious entry. (That is, water can't get in by itself, but if your enemy gets hold of your bag of holding, he's free to fill it with spiders.)

 

[Scorpio616]

If air can flow in, water can too. Play it the same way for either medium.

 

[Gilladian]

I would personally have it be safe if unopened, but I would have it flood if they don't take precautions to prevent water from rushing in. But I would have no problem if a DM ruled that the water would not enter.

 

[Kobold Stew]

Cool question.

Given magic, I'd suggest the following.

* The bag is watertight, and will only let water in if opened. It's accessing an inter dimensional space, and so there are no pressures, no gravity. Normally, you in and find the item you want, your hand doesn't actually search 30 cubic meters of space.
* If opened underwater incorrectly, it can overload and drown everything. It can't be foolproof (or, properly, villain proof).
* But it can also be opened correctly underwater. What's correctly? Upside down, of course. You tip the back so the opening is in the bottom and untie it. The 30 cubic feet of air stay in, because air won't push down underwater. Stuff won't fall out (there's no gravity in an inter dimensional space, since you can reach for the item you want easily under normal conditions).

So -- open it upside down, reach for your object, and close it up. It also means that the bag can be used as a diving bell of sorts, with 30 cubic feet of breathable air (though without visibility). Someone brave without swimming ability could even jump in and be carried for a short while, but would be unable to open the bag from the inside. So you need to trust your friends. I'd prefer just to use it as a diving helmet, and be pulled by someone who could see where I was going.

 

[jonesy]

What's correctly? Upside down, of course. You tip the back so the opening is in the bottom and untie it. The 30 cubic feet of air stay in, because air won't push down underwater. Stuff won't fall out (there's no gravity in an inter dimensional space, since you can reach for the item you want easily under normal conditions).

That's a very clever answer to a magic vs realism problem, I do have to say.

 

[N'raac]

I Like Kobold Stew's approach. I would probably also rule that, if opened underwater, water rushes in to fill it to capacity, but will not overload it.