Nite Ize’s TRU-Zip is the best innovation I’ve found in the entire outdoor industry in at least the past 5 years. Yep, that’s a seriously bold statement. And I stand behind it.

In fact, if we gave out Carryology awards at OR winter shows this would have won the “Best Carry Innovation” award… AND the “Best In Show” award. No joke.

Look, just to clarify, I do love YKK zippers. I’ve probably used the equivalent length of their zippers on products I’ve designed to reach the moon. I’m sure I’ll use them again. But this TRU-Zip… I suspect we’ll start seeing this zipper everywhere in the next few years.

And honestly, I’ve already heard rumors of some very (very) big players in the industry that are interested in using the patented design for their own products. Watch. This. Space.

So what’s all this hype about? Nite Ize – the brand you’re probably familiar with for making small accessories for your outdoor adventures (such as carabiners, everyday carry items, small LED lights for camping, and other clever gadgets) – have created a waterproof (yes, water PROOF) zipper without teeth or coils. Truly the very first easy to use and slide, coil-less, toothless waterproof, dustproof, and airtight zipper for real world hard use.

They’ve been prototyping and perfecting this beauty for the past 4 years, thanks to knowledge gained specifically from the development of their other products, such as their extruded Gear Ties. And it’s a total game changer. See you later ‘water-resistant’ zippers!

Can you personally get your hands on some of these, like right now? Well, kinda. They’ve created a 6-piece collection of RF-welded waterproof organizers for travel, which all utilize their new zipper. They’re calling the collection the RunOff Waterproof collection, which includes; a small wallet sized pouch, a pocket size pouch, another slightly larger pouch with a 3D gusset, a Dopp kit, a small packing cube, and a large packing cube. Not only are they great looking and easy to use, they’re actually lightweight too. Oh, and they’re strong. Really strong.

Rumor has it, Mr. Dana Gleason himself walked by their booth, was impressed, and stood on one of the airtight packing cubes… and the zipper didn’t pop. Hearing this, I had to give it a try as well and experienced the same zero failure result. First test – total pass.

Now, here’s where I’m going to leave you hanging. Technically, you and I both hanging. I could write about each one of these products in great detail… but I won’t. Not yet anyway. Because the incredible folks at Nite Ize have agreed to send over a complete set of these beauties over for a proper test. We’re very excited to go hands on with these, get them wet, get them dirty, and get some miles on them.

Stay tuned!