From Cannons to Cordura

I left the Army after a decade in 2016 with a plan to become a chef. I moved to Atlanta for culinary school and soon started working for one of the best restaurant groups in town. At the end of 2019 I finished my degree and my plan seemed to be working out fine. Little did I know what 2020 would bring to the restaurant industry.

By March I would be one of the first Americans laid off due to the pandemic. I suddenly had a bunch of free-time on my hands and the new demand for face masks reminded me that my mother had given me her old sewing machine when she upgraded. I dusted it off, watched a few YouTube videos and I was churning out masks for my friends in no time. Over the next few months the sewing machine would come in and out of the closet regularly for various projects.

While I was in the Army, I was what some would call a “Geardo” (gear + weirdo). I was never quite satisfied with the gear that the Army issued me and would upgrade any chance I had. One of the most important pieces of any kit is the bag that you carry it in. What good is that $120 titanium bottle opener if you can’t find it? Needless to say, I’ve owned more bags, backpacks, and duffels than I can count. And I’ve used them, in the real world, for both business and pleasure.

Naturally, it was only a matter of time before my new hobby of sewing and my obsession with gear sent me down the path of making my own bags for everyday use. I started simple, but once I was making some pretty neat bags, friends started asking to buy them. Then strangers started asking. Now I’m doing it full-time.

My goal is to produce innovative, good-looking, and practical bags from the toughest and most durable fabrics and with the best hardware available. They are all handmade, by me, in my workshop in Atlanta, Georgia.

One last thing, I named my company after Naray, Afghanistan. From the land, to the people that live on it, everything about Naray is tough and enduring. I want Naray Bag Co. and the bags that I make to be the same.

-Fraley