About Us: The Cousins Behind Dirtbag Hydration

We’re Mike and Nathaniel — cousins, athletes, and the two guys who somehow decided to start a hydration company. Honestly, we have no business starting a business. Seriously, who invited us?

Dirtbag started the way most good ideas do: out of frustration, a little desperation, and a lot of cousin banter. Mike was logging 70-mile weeks, finally fueling right, but burning through gels and powders faster than his wallet could keep up. He ended up on a Reddit forum trying to DIY a high-carb mix. It worked. He was stoked. He told Natty. Natty said, “We should actually sell this.” Mike laughed. He didn’t.

At the same time, Nathaniel was getting tired of how expensive everything in the endurance world had become. Skiing, biking, hiking — all felt like they were reserved for athletes with brand-new skis, fresh kits, and shiny Tacomas every year. That wasn’t us, and it wasn’t most of the athletes we knew.

A few years back, Nathaniel started fueling with high-carb mixes on ski tours. He learned two things:
⚡ how insanely good it feels to fuel right
⚡ how ridiculous it is to pay $5 a serving for sugar and salt

We couldn’t let that slide. So Dirtbag Hydration was born: simple, legit, affordable fuel for the every-athlete.

Outside of Dirtbag, Mike’s a therapist who works with athletes and non-athletes alike, a lifelong runner turned marathoner and ultramarathoner, and a pizza enthusiast (shoutout Pizzeria Lui’s). Nathaniel is the guy who dreams of BOGOs, loves a Costco hotdog more than most people love their families, and lives for days in the mountains.

At the end of the day, we just wanted to make fueling accessible — and give ourselves permission to take powder days off without getting fired.