How It Works
Moisture is almost inescapable. I get stuck on the range in rain and snow several times a year, and I’m generally sweating directly onto my firearms if I’m shooting in the summer heat anyway. Just the moisture in the air around you can be enough to do damage, and most gun cases are basically moisture traps in humid environments. Enter Bone-Dri’s rust prevention gun cases.
“There are great cases out there, I’m not discounting that in any capacity, but there’s nothing that actually does anything other than what we offer,” said Bone-Dri founder Elliot Harris in an interview with Guns.com. “What we created is essentially a moisture net. It actually works on the same principle as a commercial dehumidifier without any need for electricity. It’s also indefinitely reusable.”
Bone-Dri cases us a patented material called Absorbits, which is essentially a sandwich of durable moisture-wicking nylon and superabsorbent desiccant packets. The result is an enclosed environment that actively strips moisture away from a firearm’s exterior and interior. The design is also self-drying for continued use, or you could pull out a handy hair dryer to speed up the process.
“You could be out in the middle of the ocean with no electricity or in the middle of a desert and this will replicate a commercial dehumidifier,” Harris added. “Even if you don’t have any ability to dry it, if you leave it in the sun, because the material is black, it will heat from the sun itself and then it works in reverse because it’s moisture-wicking nylon. It goes both ways.”
Harris has even sent his gun cases out for hard testing in the hands of notorious gear-breakers like law enforcement SWAT teams and the Navy SEALs. For those of us with a less tactical lifestyle, it’s worth pointing out the cases are also going on the road with some of America’s top competition shooters.
“Bone-Dri is an official sponsor for the U.S. Olympic shooting team, which uses the bags for international travel,” said Harris. “It removes the variable of atmospheric humidity. When you go from Paris to India to the middle of nowhere Dakar, it’s a variable they genuinely care about, and that’s been a tremendous success for us.”
Dual Rifle Case Specs
I’m a fan of dual rifle cases, and Bone-Dri’s take on that style of bag is more generous with optics space than most of my other go-to options. It measures a respectable 46.67x13x5 inches with three magazine/accessory pouches, a large general pouch, and a divided dual rifle compartment.
The bag does expand quite a bit if you’re stuffing it with extra gear. I personally carried it out to the range with two scoped rifles, nine AR magazines, spotting monocular, shooting bag, and plenty of ammo. The total weight passed 30 pounds with room to spare.
Bone-Dri uses 800D PVC nylon, which is a very rugged material that can run more than $20 a yard if you were wondering about the build quality. Internal padding is generous, and the interior has a rigid frame with Velcro straps for securing your guns. There are two large, tapered shoulder straps that measure 3 to 3.5 inches wide and 0.5 inches thick with a chest clip so you can carry it like a backpack.
On that note, I particularly appreciate the attention to strength put into the design. The bag features heavy-duty, lockable zippers made of titanium, multiple cinch straps and clips, and reinforced anchor points with heavy stitching.
Here’s a summary of the basic specs:
- Length: 46.67 inches
- Internal Height: 13 inches
- Internal Width: 5 inches
- Weight: 11.16 pounds
- Material: 800D PVC nylon
The Absorbits material and robust construction does come with some added weight. With the shoulder straps and internal divider, the case came in at 11.16 pounds on my scale. I could immediately feel the difference in weight when I compared it to one of my other go-to dual rifle cases.
I’d be tempted to say the bag is almost over-engineered. However, it’s also meant to be a lifetime purchase that’s backed up by Bone-Dri’s lifetime warranty that boldly claims, “love it, or return it.” According to Harris, returns are incredibly rare.
While I don’t recommend abusing your personal firearms gear, the bag is drag-tested and water-resistant. It’s also designed to fold completely flat so you can use it as a shooting mat if you are lying prone on the ground.
Other features include MOLLE on both ends, a top and front carry handle, D-ring attachment points, removable internal gun rug/divider, two front zipper pockets, and a Velcro panel.
Shotgun Sleeve Specs
Bone-Dri’s long shotgun sleeve is made from the same 800D PVC nylon with similarly reinforced stitching. Unlike the dual rifle case, there are no zippers. Since there’s no rigid fabric liner like on the dual rifle case, this removes any chance of a zipper scratching against the stock of your firearm. It also makes the case more suitable for wet environments.
Zippers tend to suffer in the muddy conditions you find during things like waterfowl hunts. Grit gets into the zipper, and it’s not exactly ideal for water resistance. Bone-Dri’s fold-and-strap system does away with all that and keeps the bag water resistant with minimal openings. Bone-Dri also added two loops for that rear strap – unlike my personal go-to hunting shotgun sleeve – and it makes the bag much easier to use and secure.
The rear flap folds over to close the sleeve, and a Velcro liner seals the slit that’s along the back top of the case. There’s a Velcro strap that doubles over this flap through two loops to seal the rear if you want to make it watertight. I really like this design, and I’ve carried a similar one for my hunting shotgun over the last several hunts.
Here’s a summary of the basic specs:
- Length: 56 or 60 inches
- Height: 9.5 inches
- Weight: 3.5 pounds
-
Material: 800D PVC nylon
This sleeve is certainly fit for more than just shotguns. I have a lot of vintage firearms that require long cases and are very prone to rust. The Bone-Dri sleeve comes in at 56 inches long with the water flap folded and 60 inches if you leave it unfolded. To put that in perspective, my ridiculously long 55-inch 1793 India-pattern Brown Bess musket fits with room to spare.
It also expands to fit various scoped rifles I’ve tested. It might be a bit narrow if you are trying to tote around a scoped AR-style rifle or a similar gun with raised optics, but my scoped bolt rifles have fit into the case just fine so far.
Other features include a Velcro ammo pocket, carry handle, sling, internal padding, Velcro patch panel, and a front loop for hanging the bag up. It’s also backed by Bone-Dri’s lifetime warranty. Once again, the build quality comes at the cost of added weight, with the shotgun sleeve coming in at 3.5 pounds with the sling attached.
Moisture & Durability Testing
Now we can get to the real question. Do these bags really work like portable dehumidifiers for wet guns? In summary, yes, but here are my test results anyway.
First, I took my current personal dual gun case and the Bone-Dri dual rifle case outside, stuffed some guns into them, and covered them with snow. Now, the Bone-Dri instructions tell you to simply wipe the guns down quickly before putting them into the case. That seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. I didn’t. I just shook the snow off and put the very wet guns back into the cases. Then I waited 24 hours.
(NOTE: Don't do this! Please, please don't do this to guns. It's firearms abuse, and it makes me sad just looking back at these pictures with regret and shame.)
Test #1: Dual Rifle Case
Here’s how it turned out for the two dual rifle cases:
I absolutely hated this test. All I could think about was how dumb this was to do to my guns while I waited to reopen the gun cases. My first major observation when I opened the Bone-Dri case was that it was, shockingly, dry. There was no moisture on the gun or inside the receiver, which is what I would normally expect.
There were a few spots of minor corrosion on the AK that cleaned up easily. That’s impressive given the gun was soaked when I put it in the case. I didn’t follow the instructions to wipe the gun down, and I abusively covered it in water for an entire day. Yet, it came out so dry that a wet leaf that snuck into the case during my testing was also completely dried out.
Now, if someone ever tells you AKs are some class of indestructible rifles that require no maintenance, ask them to do this with one of their personal AKs. I like my Zastava M70, but that metal is hardly rust-proof. The same goes for my ARs, and it showed here.
My personal dual rifle case fared horribly with my AR, which was already a gun that’s less prone to rust in my experience. The inside of the case had a visible water stain, and there was standing water still on the gun. I think the pictures speak for themselves.
Test #2: Shotgun Sleeve
To mimic rain, I took one of my hunting shotguns and covered it from the buttstock to the choke with water. I also worked the pump several times to make sure the action bars got some moist love as well. I then stuffed the gun into the Bone-Dri sleeve overnight.
Here’s how the test went:
I think the pictures speak for themselves again. The gun went in wet, and it came out dry. Among my hunting buddies, it’s a running joke that gun owners will obsessively clean their rifles and handguns after every range visit. But their shotguns go out into the field, get shot a bunch, and get put away uncleaned until the next hunting trip.
In my experience, that’s basically true. So, a shotgun case like this is something I fully intend to use going forward.
Pros & Cons
Here’s my short list of the pros and cons for Bone-Dri’s gun cases:
Pros:
- Rust-prevention Absorbits technology works well
- Lots of space for longer guns
- Works with lubricants
- Very strong material and construction
- Lifetime warranty
- Rechargeable drying capacity
- Lots of extras like pockets and attachment points
- Great zippers/straps
Cons:
- Heavier than most other designs
-
Limited to black color options
Final Thoughts
While they’re hardly the cheapest gun cases on the market, the Bone-Dri options are still surprisingly affordable for the quality of the material and the capabilities for rust prevention. I’ve owned similarly priced cases that were hardly the same value.
If you see your firearm as an investment, this is a great option to help keep that investment’s value over time. The Absorbits tech seems to work like a charm. That’s no excuse for abusing your gun, but moisture isn’t going away as a problem for firearms any time soon.
