Sorry to see all the rancor and a little bit of silliness again but I suppose it comes with the territory. Sady, I have come to expect it.
So...accidents and mistakes happen and equipment gets compromised- it happens to the best of us. My experience is that most cameras can stand a bit of inclement weather and/or extreme conditions, however, if you are constantly working in "hostile" conditions, some of y'all may want into special winterizing, and/or tropical conditions which include special lubricants, weather sealing, etc. There are special underwater housings!
Obviously, you don't need to be an electronics engineer or an aerospace scientist to understand that water, salt, extreme heat, and humidity do not mix well with electronics. Nor does sand, grit, dirt, airborne particles, and other such perils are welcomed in the mechanical aspects of your cameras. So..if you are gonna go out in any of these environments you must understand the tolerances as per temperature and moisture and the extent to which your present is seal against some or any of these potentially harmful invaders.
From my "press" days, I quickly learned, usually from bad experiences, to take simple precautions for unexpected weather or environmental conditions. So, my kit contains a rain poncho (for me and the cameras), plastic bags and plenty of rags.
I covered parts of two Olympic Games, up here in Canada, and the nice folks at Nikon, who made available a pool of equipment like 1200mm lenses for us poorer pros, gifted me with the yellow bag shown in the attached image. It goes wherever I go out-of-doors and on construction and industrial assignments and has saved my cameras' skin many times. The polyethylene bags and rubber bands work fine for additional protection. Non of this is tantamount to "Mil-Spec" or the use of an underwater housing or other specialized protectional hardware.
Common sense folks- All of this prevention and cure is great but it ain't gonna help you in a tsunami, a hurricane, or if you drop your gear into the sea, quicksand, down a well, or if you carry it through a mudslide- or if it is exposed to extreme heat, humidity or freezing cold and sustains damage or malfunctions. If any of that happens, don't write about it but immediately get it to an honest, reputable and authorized repair service and find out whether the repair is possible or economically sound. Even if it still works, an examination is in order.
Most of the photographic equipment we purchase through normal sources and use is NOT "MIL-SPEC". My actual military experience is with aerial cameras and other specialized surveillance and cartographic gear. Most of that stuff is custom manufactured or especially and extremely reinforced and ruggedized and even so, some of it fails in extreme circumstances. Back in the day (the 1960s), the U.S. Armed Services adopted the Bessler Topcon as its official 35mm general usage combat camera. Seems it was mechanically superior and more moisture/water resistant than its competitors. It won over the Nikon and others and was in service into the 1980s. A Navy photographer I worked with told me the salt air finally got into his Topcon kit and he was on his third camera. Ain't nothin' that's indestructible!
So folks...be nice to each other. Unless you are goi into extreme environments, plastic bags are rubber bands will do- you don't need the kind plastic they use to insulate walls or wrap homes in before the install the siding- It's too heavy and not flexible enough to conform to the gear.
Another little tip- If you take you larger flash gear on location, apply a little WD-40, with a Q-tip, to the male a female connector that runs from the power pack to the lamp head or monolight. The "WD" stands for "Water Displacement" and this will prevent moisture from causing problems. Obviously, don't use that kinda gear in the rain- if it starts raining, turn it off, cover it up and get it out of there. Shoe mount Speedlights can benefit for that treatment as well if they are gonna be used for flash fill in damp out-of-doors locations- apply the WD-40 to the foot VERY SPARINGLY and then wipe it off. Never use WD-40 on a camera!
And y'all- if you hurt yourselves, feel especially ill, or accidentally expose yourself to something toxic, do not post your symptoms or issues on UHH- please see a doctor! I know that a few of y'all say nasty things, but I don't want to read about your untimely demise in the papers!
Attached- the Topcon- a "tank" of a camera. The don't make 'em dat way anymore!