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Outdoor Products Roll-Top Dry Sacks Review

Outdoor Products Roll Top Dry Sacks Review

Outdoor Products Roll-Top Dry Sacks are reasonably priced dry-bag style stuff sacks that are good for organizing and packing hiking, backpacking, and camping gear in a backpack. Priced at $15 for a 3-pack, they’re an absolute steal compared to name-brand roll-top stuff sacks from Sea-to-Summit, Outdoor Research, or REI. Each 3-pack includes a 10.6L, 4.1L, and 2.1L roll-top stuff sack, suitable for packing and compressing a three-season sleeping bag, sleeping clothes, and a first-aid kit or whatever else matches your needs.

Specs at a Glance

  • Material: Polyurethane-coated ripstop polyester
  • Seam-taped: Yes
  • Dimensions:
  • Yellow – 10.6L – 1.3 oz (36 g) – 21.5″ x 10.5″ (54.8cm x 26.8cm)
  • Blue – 4.1L – 0.9 oz (24 g) – 15.1″ x 9.2″ (38.6cm x 23.5cm)
  • Red – 2.1L – 0.8 (22 g) – 12.7″ x 7.5″ (32.3cm x 19.3 cm)

These roll-top dry sacks are made with PU-coated ripstop polyester and are seam-taped and color-coded so you can shrink the volume your gear takes up when packing a backpack. I first bought these Outdoor Products stuff sacks about 10 years ago and I’ve hiked thousands of miles with them in that time. I have a 20-degree sleeping bag in this green stuff sack (below), which I bought in that original batch, and it’s still in perfect condition. In fact, it’s lasted longer Sea-to-Summit Ultra-Sil or the Hyperlite Mountain Gear Roll-Top stuff sacks I’ve also used even though they cost many times more.

I’ve been using the green stuff sack for the past 10 years to store my sleeping bags.
I’ve been using the green stuff sack for the past 10 years to store my sleeping bags.

While these Outdoor Products stuff sacks are seam-taped, they’re not the kind of roll-top dry sacks that you can submerge in water. You can’t do that with most of the roll-top stuff sacks sold for hiking and backpacking, either. The seam tape is not designed to take the pressure of full submersion. They’re really intended for color-coded organization and lightweight compression instead.

That’s not to say that these Outdoor Products stuff sacks won’t help keep your gear dry, but most hikers line their backpacks with a plastic bag or a waterproof pack liner as a main line of defense against rain or a burst hydration reservoir, which more than adequate If you are packrafting or canoeing and you want a “real” dry bag to keep your gear dry in the event of submersion, your best bet is a lightweight dry sack from Sealine, which is specifically designed for immersion. They’re heavier, but bombproof.

Recommendation

The price of backpacking gear has gotten pretty outrageous these days with individual roll-top stuff sacks selling for $25 or more. While these Outdoor Products Dry Sacks lack the cachet of the ultralight stuff sacks or packing pods, they’re durably made and perfectly suitable for hiking, backpacking, or camping. Available in sets of three, they’re a good option if you want to save money without breaking the bank.

See Also:

Disclosure: The author purchased this product with his own funds.

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8 comments

  1. I agree, been using them for years. In a pinch, I have used them as a “bucket” when dowsing a back country camp fire. Just filled it at the river, rolled it close loosely, and it stayed full for an hour while I relaxed by the fire and then extinguished the fire safely.

  2. I’ve been using the red bag (2.1L) as a food bag for short overnight backpacking trips for about 5 years now. It is still good shape, although I’ve had to use tenacious tape to cover a couple of very small holes that developed. Probably caused by the long-handled metal spork I used to carry in it. :)

  3. Thanks for this review Philip. I have seen these bags on Amazon and always wondered what they were like. Appreciate your honest opinion and glad to see they are on sale. Bought from your link.

  4. Love these. Yellow is my (summer) sleeping bag, another yellow is my drybag for clothes. Red is my (weekend) food bag and Blue is my ‘ditty’ bag. And inside a trash compactor bag. Fits in my pack without having to compression stuff sack the sleeping bag.

  5. I first bought a 3-pack of these 2 years ago from one of the big box stores and they have been of very high value. No rips or leaks and I haver certainty but babied them.

  6. I’ve used these sacks for number of years now, but NOT if I need to keep the contents dry. The stitching has held together just fine, but the urethane coating wears off impressively quick, or the seam tape peals off in places. Siil-nylon or dyneema is the only fabric I trust for dry sacks when keeping dry is imperative. These Outdoor Products sacks are great, however, for everything else.

    • You can’t seam tape silnylon, so you’re in for a bad surprise – one side needs to be coated with polyurethane for it to work. In addition, give Ron Bell a shout at MLD. He’ll tell you that his Dyneema dry bags aren’t designed to be waterproof.

  7. Been using these bags for almost two decades. Finally had to deal seal the green one which entirely lost its seam tape. All the other bags are still fine.

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