Review: The ESV Waterproof Bible – New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs

I love the idea of being able to take my Bible anywhere, but I hate the idea of something bad happening to it. When I heard about the Waterproof Bible, I thought it could be the answer to those concerns.

First Impressions:

The Bible itself is completely waterproof and really durable. As in, the pages do not tear easily – at all. It’s a nice size to be able to toss it in my purse and bag. It’s lightweight, and it’s a good size for my hands. The font size is small, but easy to read.

The Tests:

Obviously, upon receipt of the Waterproof Bible, we needed to test it out. I have to say that it felt extremely odd purposefully getting the Bible dirty and wet. It felt even more weird to test out the durability of the pages, but I’m happy to say that the pages do not rip even when the pages are treated roughly.

More than likely, you won’t normally drop your Bible in a muddy puddle or get mud all over it, but it does happen. In fact, I’ve had it happen to me before. It was NOT a good thing. With this Bible, it really wasn’t a big deal. To prove the point, I went beyond the normal drop in a muddy puddle and actually smeared mud all over it. D had already gotten some grease on the pages when he was looking at it. (That is how things are at our house. There are fingerprints pretty much everywhere on a regular basis due to him always working on bikes and vehicles.)

After the Waterproof Bible was dirty, I just sprayed it off with a garden hose since I was already outside. The dirt just slid off the cover of the Bible. I then decided to see how well the Bible floated in a large bowl of water (pictured below). Can you see it floating? I took this opportunity to also wash off the greasy fingerprints which came off quite easily – much easier than they come off the walls.

You may be wondering how well the Bible does after it gets wet. Does it mold? Does it dry out quickly? Does it dry out completely? Can I highlight and underline as usual? We haven’t had any issues with mold. Depending on how wet the Bible gets, it may take a bit longer to dry. I’ve found that standing it up on end (like shown in the first picture) on a towel allows for quicker, more complete drying. We tried drying it completely flat (with all pages closed) and on end. It actually dried completely both ways, but it dried much faster when up on end. And finally, yes, you can highlight and underline as normal.

With all of this coolness, you may be wondering if there are any negatives. The small print font is pretty much the only negative that I could see. Although the font is small, it is crisp and clear on the synthetic, waterproof pages.

Final Thoughts:

When I first saw this Bible, my first thoughts were that it would be perfect for D to take when he’s out in the field or on deployments. He wouldn’t have to worry about the Bible being damaged by the elements or by being tossed in his pack. I love that. They even have a camouflage version of this edition and the full Bible. I know that D would enjoy having the entire Bible in this waterproof format.

After using it for some time, I can see that this Bible would be great for kids and adults alike. Parents would have to worry as much about the kids accidentally ripping and dropping the Bible. Parents wouldn’t have to be concerned about it getting harmed by taking it to the beach, in the bath, out in the rain, or pretty much anywhere.

The Waterproof Bible – New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs is currently available in ESV, KJV, NIV, NKJV, and NLT for $24.95. The complete Bible (Old and New Testament) is available for $39.95 or $44.95 (depending on color choice). Imprint personalization is also available for the Waterproof Bible for an additional cost.