Hammock Gear DCF Roll-Top Dry Bag

The DCF roll-top dry bag from Hammock Gear is an ultralight waterproof storage bag that could have many uses, at a weight and price that beats its competitors.

This is a review of the Hammock Gear Dyneema fiber (formerly called cuben fiber, now called DCF) roll-top dry bag, size medium (8.5L). Hammock Gear (“HG” for short) makes quilts, tarps, and backpacking accessories. Much of their gear uses DCF. Although the word “hammock” is in their name, HG has products for both hammock and ground use. I am not connected to Hammock Gear in any way, and I purchased the product at retail price directly from the manufacturer.

I wanted a dry bag to use for bear hang on trips of a few days/nights in length. I had been using a silnylon bag but wanted to shave a bit of weight so was looking at DCF options that do not break the bank. The roll-top dry bag from HG checked all my boxes.

The HG dry bag is made from 0.8 oz/sq yd DCF. This material has great tear strength and won’t stretch. It has a standard dry bag design of a velcro closure across the bag opening and a clip to hold the rolled top secure. DCF fabric is waterproof, so with the roll-top and factory-taped seams, this bag is waterproof against all but being submerged. Workmanship is excellent, and this bag has held up well over multiple multi-night trips.

The roll-top dry bag design was essential for me—if my food is going to hang all night in the rain, it needs to be in a dry bag.

The size I got is medium, which has flat dimensions of 10.5x18.5” and a volume of 8.5 liters. This is a good size for storing one quilt or for several days’ worth of food. HG also offers a smaller 2.2 liter and large 14 liter sizes.

I comparison-shopped for other DCF roll-tops, and what I found is that other manufacturers were equal or a few grams heavier in weight while costing more for a comparable volume/size. When I bought this HG bag, the manufacturer’s claimed weight was 0.53 oz, and that is accurate on my scale. Note, however, that since I bought it, HG has changed the construction so that now it uses a slightly thicker fabric and bigger buckles so weighs a little more.

I have found that I like this bag so much for its ultralight weight, volume, strength, and waterproofness that on longer trips where I’m taking my bear canister, which frees up this bag, I use it as my ditty bag to sit on top on the inside of my pack.

Background

Have used it on multiple backpacking trips, used in multiple different ways.