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NRS Dry Bags: The Legacy Lives On

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The history of boating is in many ways a story of resourcefulness. Early rafters and paddlers, lacking purpose-built gear for their sports, often built their own equipment or adapted items to meet their needs. The first dry bags NRS carried are a perfect example; they were military surplus delousing bags that boaters had discovered did a pretty good job of keeping stuff dry.

Longtime NRS customer Mike Beiser has spent a lifetime outside, and much of it sharing the outdoors with others. From a stint with the National Parks Service in the late 1970s, to his 32 years as the University of Idaho’s Outdoor Program Director, he has taught countless people how to roll, how to row, and how to pack for a trip down the river. He was also one of the earliest product testers for NRS and attended product development meetings with our founder, Bill Parks. Bill would provide the pizza and beer, and guys like Mike would deliver the beta. Like a lot of early boaters, Mike’s first dry bag was a delousing bag.

But as the delousing bag supply began to dry up, NRS founder Bill Parks knew he would have to find another solution. Resourceful boater that he was, he decided to build them himself. He purchased some heavy-duty truck tarp material at a discount, found an outfit in Seattle that could weld it, and in 1977 the original NRS Bill’s Bag—the first purpose-built dry bag for boaters—was born. The Bill’s Bag has remained a bestselling NRS item ever since and has become an iconic piece of river gear around the world.

NRS product development has grown significantly more sophisticated since those early days, and yet some things never change. We’re still resourceful, still working to solve problems and build gear that enhances experiences on the water. And we’re still buying pizza and beer for boaters and gear heads to get their input on how to make things better. Our friend Mike is retired now, but like the battered Bill’s Bag he has carried on trips all over the world, he is still going strong and still looking forward to the next adventure. For 2017, we’ve updated all of our dry bags for your next adventure with improved construction, hardware and aesthetics. We’ve added several new models to our traditional range of outfitter-grade bags, and we’ve made the legendary Bill’s Bag better than ever.


Bill’s Bag
Pack up your sleeping bag, plus clothes and supplies for a weekend or a week, and head out to the river.  Since 1977, outfitters, guides and weekend warriors have relied on Bill’s Bags to keep their overnight gear dry—trip after trip, year after year.

Expedition Driduffel
With room for all the clothes you’ll need for a weekend, a week or a month, the Expedition Dry Duffel makes quick work of the daily pack-and-re-pack routine. A TIZIP® MasterSeal waterproof zipper seals out water and makes opening and closing the bag a breeze.

High Roll Duffel
NRS Driduffels deliver the same rugged dependability as our legendary Bill’s Bags, but in an duffel-style design that makes packing your gear, and finding it later, easy.

Ether Hydrolock
Ether Hydrolock dry sacks add an extra layer of security and convenience to our do-it-all Ether dry bag series. A clear urethane window makes it easy to find items inside the bag, and our exclusive HydroLock seal ensures 100% waterproof protection in a submersion.

Ether
Ether dry sacks bridge the gap between heavy-duty and ultra-light dry bags, giving you a lightweight but durable solution for keeping gear and clothing dry outdoors.

MightyLight
The ultra lightweight MightyLight dry sack makes the perfect ditty bag for protecting and organizing clothing and gear inside a hatch, dry box or another bag. Whether for the roll of paper towels in your kitchen kit, the dainty bits in your overnight bag, or the snacks in your day hatch, the Mighty Lite protects without taking up valuable space, or too much of your budget.

Tuff Sack
Drop your gear in the bag, fold down the watertight closure and forget about it. Professional outfitters around the globe rely on NRS Tuff Sacks to keep gear dry all season long, season after season.

Dri-Stow
Digging around in your dry bag for your headlamp or fresh skivvies too often means yanking out everything you packed so carefully at home. Dri-Stow bags keep your everyday items safe and accessible to help make your adventures a little more convenient.