What the standard defines
The IP code is two digits after the letters IP, and it is one of the few real published standards on this site. The first digit describes protection against solid bodies and dust; the second describes protection against water.
The corpus prints it on two shelves: IP65 on one underwater camera, IP68 on another, and IP-marked housings on portable sounders.
The degrees are defined by the standard, and the test conditions belong to it. This site does not reprint them — they are the standards body’s to publish, and they are revised on its schedule.
What it does not promise
It does not promise a depth unless the maker states one separately.
It does not say which part was tested. On a camera with a screen on a cable, the marking frequently describes the topside box; the head that actually goes in the water may carry a different claim or none.
It does not address corrosion, which is what salt water does, and which no IP figure covers.
It does not cover the point where the cable enters the housing, the battery door or the charging port after two seasons of opening — which is where these products actually let water in.
And it is a declaration by the maker, not a test result published product by product.
Where it shows up on this site
On the fish finder, underwater camera and bite alarm shelves, as the only ingress claim available. It is read alongside the figures that actually decide the purchase: cable length and screen brightness on a camera, depth range and the presence of GPS on a sounder, and weather sealing with the volume and sensitivity settings on an alarm.
On the scale shelf it turns up rarely, and its absence is worth noting on a device used in rain.
How it is read here
A page prints the IP figure exactly as the maker printed it, names which part the maker says it applies to, and records that as unpublished where the maker does not say. It does not translate a code into a depth, and it never describes a product as waterproof on the strength of two digits.
The questions that keep coming back
Does IP68 mean I can drop it in the lake?
It means the maker declares a degree of protection against water ingress under the conditions the code defines. Those conditions are in the standard, not in the listing, and a depth the maker has not stated is a depth nobody has claimed.
Which part of a camera does the rating cover?
Whatever the maker tested, and that is the trap on this shelf: on a screen-on-a-cable camera, an IP figure often describes the topside unit rather than the camera head. A listing that does not say which has left the important half out.
Is IP65 worse than IP68?
The second digit is a higher degree of water protection, so for immersion IP68 claims more. For a bite alarm sitting in rain all night, IP65 may be entirely sufficient — the question is which exposure the product actually meets.
Does the code cover salt water?
No. It addresses ingress, not corrosion, and salt attacks contacts and screws whether or not water gets in. That is why a stainless grade is a separate claim on the boat holder shelf.
Last reviewed 22 September 2026