# Dry Box recommendations?



## baetisdan (Jun 7, 2010)

I'll be looking for a new dry box for next season. Are they all aluminum now? We do a lot of desert rivers and the top gets so hot!

Can anybody recommend a good box for a 16ft raft?


----------



## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

I bought a "shoebox lid" style drybox this spring. Put it in the bathtub upside down and it leaked like crazy. I returned it for the other style "box on box" or whatever it's called and it did NOT leak in the bathtub. I got this 2nd one from RecreTec, and while the little cable that holds it open failed immediately, so far the box seems solid. How does an aluminum box get hot with a paco pad (or other) over it?


----------



## melissawd (Apr 20, 2005)

I have this yellow plastic dry box/kitchen box. It's totaly water proof. I live at 10K feet and have to use the burp valve on the side to get the lid open at the first camp! I think its lighter than the aluminum boxes - not positive. Anyhow, I got it thru NRS I think - maybe 6 yrs ago. It's very thick plastic and seems really durable - but I have not particuarly abused it (no wraps, surfs or flips with it yet). there happens to be a picture of one in a 14' NRS that is for sale in the classified section. the price on the NRS is $4700. You can sort of see it in the pics. Anyway, it may not be as large a dry box as you may be able to carry on a 16'er. Assuming you want to carry a bunch of stuff in it. It's like the standard size and holds all my kitchen stuff. Whatever. Don't know if you can still get them, but I think its a great box and I would carry a down sleeping bag in it if for some reason I needed to, and never worry it would get wet in the Grand! Good Luck.
M


----------



## Randaddy (Jun 8, 2007)

I have used the Frontier Play ($200 on eBay), flipped, and had no problems. They are very affordable. That said, the next one I buy will have tabs for hanging on the frame and be made by Partner Steel or Recretec or Down River (or Clavey, etc... lots of companies making these well). 

Don't buy plastic for your main dry box, buy aluminum, make sure it fits well, and use 3 straps. When I flipped one of my strap buckles actually broke from the force. If I had only used 2 straps we would have spent 10 more days with no kitchen!


----------



## melissawd (Apr 20, 2005)

Randaddy,
Have you seen the box I described in person? I think you could drop it off a 25' cliff and it would survive...seriously. its way sturdy. I've accidentally dropped it off the boat when the boat is on the trailer and the box full of stuff -onto concrete - twice - no damage.


----------



## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

I am very happy with my dry box from Partner Steel. They custom made it to my specs, and it has the tabs for hanging on the frame that Randaddy refers to. Partner cross braces their lids, so it's very sturdy for standing on if needed. The lid won't "oil can" like some. I am, however very envious of my river buddy who has Recretec frames on all his rafts & Cats, with the lock-in Recretec dry boxes. He can get into his boxes on the fly without having to undo any straps. Sweet !!!!
I also have an old yellow York box 200 that I used to use as my dry box. Nice box, but kind of small to really be useful as a primary drybox. We do use the smaller York box (with the handles) on every trip as our lunch box. We pack it each morning with the lunch supplies and strap it to the siderails of the raft / Cat. It's easy to grab at lunchtime, and everything needed is inside (food, handwipes, cutting board & knife, garbage bags). You can't find York boxes anymore though...... bummer.
KJ


----------



## rwhyman (May 23, 2005)

melissawd said:


> I have this yellow plastic dry box/kitchen box. It's totaly water proof. I live at 10K feet and have to use the burp valve on the side to get the lid open at the first camp! I think its lighter than the aluminum boxes - not positive. Anyhow, I got it thru NRS I think - maybe 6 yrs ago. It's very thick plastic and seems really durable - but I have not particuarly abused it (no wraps, surfs or flips with it yet). there happens to be a picture of one in a 14' NRS that is for sale in the classified section. the price on the NRS is $4700. You can sort of see it in the pics. Anyway, it may not be as large a dry box as you may be able to carry on a 16'er. Assuming you want to carry a bunch of stuff in it. It's like the standard size and holds all my kitchen stuff. Whatever. Don't know if you can still get them, but I think its a great box and I would carry a down sleeping bag in it if for some reason I needed to, and never worry it would get wet in the Grand! Good Luck.
> M


I have that box, also, and it is a NRS box, but they have been discontinued. What I heard, and it might be a rumor, was that if you sit on them repeatedly, the lid will warp and then the seal will not seat properly and then leak. I don't let anyone sit on mine and it has worked well as my kitchen box. It's more water tight than my DRE dry box which always leaks on big water runs.


----------



## lhowemt (Apr 5, 2007)

cataraftgirl said:


> I am very happy with my dry box from Partner Steel. They custom made it to my specs, and it has the tabs for hanging on the frame that Randaddy refers to. Partner cross braces their lids, so it's very sturdy for standing on if needed.


Dang, that sounds bomber! One thing to think about with the tabs is if you plan to use the box for anything other than your raft. Then the tabs will suck, be in the way, bang knees, etc. I use mine on my cat also, so don't have tabs since the rigging isn't "hanging" it. 

Rand- good tip about the straps, very important. We've only use 2, but then have a paco strapped over the top also. But those paco straps probably aren't going to hold it in if one of the main straps fail. Next year - 3rd loop strap on top.

I just ordered one of these little guys, to use as a raft 2ndary drybox and a cat primary drybox (when not bringing the big aluminum one). Just another container in the quiver.

Cascade Outfitters Whitewater Rafting Equipment: Mojave Dry Box - 15.75T x 13D x 22L


----------



## melissawd (Apr 20, 2005)

RWHYMAN,
I bet you are right - I don't sit on mine either - its covered by a deck.
M


----------



## wildh2onriver (Jul 21, 2009)

Cutting a hole through the dry box tabs large enough to allow a strap to attach to the frame will secure the box similar to the Recretec.



cataraftgirl said:


> I am very happy with my dry box from Partner Steel. They custom made it to my specs, and it has the tabs for hanging on the frame that Randaddy refers to. Partner cross braces their lids, so it's very sturdy for standing on if needed. The lid won't "oil can" like some. I am, however very envious of my river buddy who has Recretec frames on all his rafts & Cats, with the lock-in Recretec dry boxes. He can get into his boxes on the fly without having to undo any straps. Sweet !!!!
> I also have an old yellow York box 200 that I used to use as my dry box. Nice box, but kind of small to really be useful as a primary drybox. We do use the smaller York box (with the handles) on every trip as our lunch box. We pack it each morning with the lunch supplies and strap it to the siderails of the raft / Cat. It's easy to grab at lunchtime, and everything needed is inside (food, handwipes, cutting board & knife, garbage bags). You can't find York boxes anymore though...... bummer.
> KJ


----------



## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

I have a friend who says I should strap it in by the handles on the ends. That way I can get into it without unstrapping. But I'm a bit leery of that, especially after the above post about strap failure in a thrashing. Maybe slots in the tabs plus straps on the handles ????? Undoing the straps isn't that bad, if it keeps my dry box in place during a beat down.
KJ


----------



## Robin (May 21, 2007)

I also have the plastic yellow dry box from NRS, that I bought six yrs ago, & I love it. No sharp corners, it's light, doesn't burn my skin when I sit/stand on it & I do that when ever I want on a river trip; hard to imagine it could warp unless it was near plastic melting temps outside- thankfully I've never been on a river trip that hot, but I'll head the warning. I use if for a kitchen box strapped to the back of a cat/in a raft and haven't had any water issues- never been tested in a flip or wrap, plenty of soaks from big waves.

Before I bought mine from NRS I did a little on-line research & found that the box was made by a company that makes boxes for the military, figuring that would be good enough for me I bought it. I just looked at the box and it's not tagged w/ any logo from who ever made it so I can't tell you where else you could get one but I googled plastic military boxes and came up with this web site that has boxes that look very similar and have the same features.

If you want to check it out go to: Deployable Systems - Home
Click on 'Standard Single-Lid cases', then from the L hand menu click on 'transport cases'. Navigate the rest on your own.


----------



## cataraftgirl (Jun 5, 2009)

I think the warping thing may be referring to the York 200 box. When I bought mine, a friend who used this box told me to be careful about sitting/standing on the box because it would warp the lip and ruin the seal.


----------



## wildh2onriver (Jul 21, 2009)

They came in both yellow and a white/grey and NRS discontinued carrying this product because of warping/leaking when people sat or stood on them. The York boxes were even flimsier.

Personally, I like both of these products and recognize their limitations--don't put weight on them...



Robin said:


> I also have the plastic yellow dry box from NRS, that I bought six yrs ago, & I love it. No sharp corners, it's light, doesn't burn my skin when I sit/stand on it & I do that when ever I want on a river trip; hard to imagine it could warp unless it was near plastic melting temps outside- thankfully I've never been on a river trip that hot, but I'll head the warning. I use if for a kitchen box strapped to the back of a cat/in a raft and haven't had any water issues- never been tested in a flip or wrap, plenty of soaks from big waves.
> 
> Before I bought mine from NRS I did a little on-line research & found that the box was made by a company that makes boxes for the military, figuring that would be good enough for me I bought it. I just looked at the box and it's not tagged w/ any logo from who ever made it so I can't tell you where else you could get one but I googled plastic military boxes and came up with this web site that has boxes that look very similar and have the same features.
> 
> ...


----------



## raftus (Jul 20, 2005)

I have a frontier play drybox. No leaks so far. The latches are of middling quality and the top of the box doesn't align fully with the main box. That said so far it has been completely watertight - which I can't say for a lot of dry boxes including those from major manufactures. The price is also right, and there are sometimes deals on them and on their captains boxes that make them super attractive. 

As to the top getting hot in the sun - glue white closed cell foam on the top if you don't want to cover it with a paco pad. 

Rigging by the handles...you can use two straps per handle for redundancy or use one strap per handle and a loop strap across the middle so you only have to undo one strap to get into the drybox.


----------



## RecreTec (Feb 22, 2009)

*Dry box cable failure*

Hey!! Timmy here from RecreTec. Sorry to hear the cable failed, we made a poor choice in changing the cables and they did NOT hold up! Give a call with box size and cable length. I will send you a new heavy duty cable and the water proof rivets to replace at no charge!
sorry again!! Timmy


lhowemt said:


> I bought a "shoebox lid" style drybox this spring. Put it in the bathtub upside down and it leaked like crazy. I returned it for the other style "box on box" or whatever it's called and it did NOT leak in the bathtub. I got this 2nd one from RecreTec, and while the little cable that holds it open failed immediately, so far the box seems solid. How does an aluminum box get hot with a paco pad (or other) over it?


----------



## RecreTec (Feb 22, 2009)

*Straps in handles*

Hey there, we milling machine cut slots in the tabs as a custom feature for those who prefer to strap there boxes in through the tabs. We also have a latch in handle system that allows a latch to be put on your frame and holds the boxes in by the special handles.


cataraftgirl said:


> I have a friend who says I should strap it in by the handles on the ends. That way I can get into it without unstrapping. But I'm a bit leery of that, especially after the above post about strap failure in a thrashing. Maybe slots in the tabs plus straps on the handles ????? Undoing the straps isn't that bad, if it keeps my dry box in place during a beat down.
> KJ


----------



## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)

Madcatr uses webbing instead of cable for the lid, it don't break


----------



## BoilermakerU (Mar 13, 2009)

Robin said:


> If you want to check it out go to: Deployable Systems - Home
> Click on 'Standard Single-Lid cases', then from the L hand menu click on 'transport cases'. Navigate the rest on your own.


Some interesting cases there. I might give one a try instead of the typical aluminum dry box. I like the idea of rounded corners, less weight, etc. The pricing seems to be pretty comparable too.

The only downside would be not being able to get it as a kitchen box, which is what I'd do if I bought an aluminum dry box.


----------



## shappattack (Jul 17, 2008)

These could possibly be the cheapest and best aluminum dry boxes around. I have a medium one, and have seen a few others out there on boats as well, about $150 total for shipping depending on where you live.

Medical Transport Chest, U.S. G.I. Aluminum Medical Transport Chest [134801] - $79.95 :: Colemans Military Surplus LLC - Your one-stop surplus store with Army/Navy products for hunting gear, camping gear, emergency products, and survival products


----------



## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

I ordered these chests for the reasons mentioned in shappatack's post.

They just did not work out for me. I just could not get the snaps to work well for me on the medium. Large box I got has the snaps in what is the middle sides of the box when box is closed. My opinion for what it is worth, the medium should work better on a raft than the large.

I think they could work for folks, just be sure you check them out before you buy. Shipping cost was a big surprise.


----------



## Whoapiglet (Aug 23, 2010)

*fat max drybox*

I use this as a drybox- $35 at homedepot, water tight in a bathtub, and super tough. I also have the smaller 23: one as a captains box. ($20 at wally world)

Amazon.com: Stanley 028001L 28-Inch Structural Foam Toolbox: Home Improvement


Its too small for a main drybox on my 14.3 hyside, (7 ft wide) but on my little boat Its perfect. 

plus no shipping, and get it today was a big plus (and returns are easy if it doesn't work for you)

Ed


----------

