About Dirty Oar Dice

Every good story starts with a terrible hobby idea. Mine started with mead. Well, kinda.

Back in 2020, stuck at home like everyone else, I needed something to do with my hands that wasn't doomscrolling. So I started brewing mead in my kitchen and called it Dirty Oar Meadery, because nothing says "Viking approved beverage" quite like a name that sounds slightly unhygienic. It stuck.

What you may not know is that the real story starts a few years earlier. Back in 2016, my wife and I decided to remodel our kitchen ourselves, and I went down a rabbit hole learning about epoxy resin countertops. So naturally, I made my own, and fell in love with resin. Fell in love enough that I started an epoxy countertop business in 2017. We did well. Made some great designs, met wonderful people, and helped folks give their kitchens and bathrooms a facelift without breaking the bank.

Then March 2020 hit, lockdowns began, and the countertop business came to a halt. I had gallons of resin sitting in the garage and not much to do with it. The mead was already a passive hobby by then, so I started quietly making dice too,... just for fun, just for my own MTG life counters. I'd served in the U.S. Army as a forward observer, and after years of calling in coordinates instead of making things, there was something deeply satisfying about pouring resin, watching colors swirl together, and ending up with something I'd actually made with my own two hands.

The mead stayed a hobby. The dice didn't.

In 2025, I finally took the leap and started selling what I'd been quietly perfecting for years, and the Dirty Oar name came with me. It just made sense, my brand has always leaned Viking: raiders, longships, things forged rather than mass-produced. Never mind that I was Army, not Navy or Marines… a dirty oar still gets you where you're going.

Every set that leaves my workshop is hand poured, hand inked, and checked over before it goes anywhere near your gaming table. No two are exactly alike, and that's the point,....these aren't dice rolling off some overseas assembly line by the thousands. They're made by one person, in small batches, because that's the only way I know how to do it.

Whether you're rolling with advantage, tracking your commander's loyalty, or just want dice that feel as legendary as your campaign… welcome aboard. Glad to have you in the longship.

— Bryan L., founder and only employee