The issue of how to dry a drysuit comes up often, and there are various approaches that are recommended. Everything from hanging, turning inside out, commercially made hangers (some with fans) to electric boot dryers rigged to take on a full drysuit.
Other folks prefer to take on the challenge themselves with a Home Depot credit card, a box saw, and a half-hour of spare time!
Here's my version of a home-made Drysuit Dryer. (I made it three years ago, but just decided to snap some pictures today.) Total cost: about $20 for PVC pipe, a DC fan, and a 12v adapter...
Everything is glued except for the two long "leg" pieces, which simply pop in/out of place. This makes putting the suit on the dryer quite easy as you can simply slide these two pieces into the suit and then mount the suit onto the rest of the dryer.
The fan is a DC brushless* "high flow" type from Radio Shack, coupled to a 12v DC adapter, attached to the "open" end of one of the feet of the dryer:
The fan is set to blow IN to the dryer. With the entire unit sealed, the only way for the air to move is up into the feet and out through the holes drilled into the ends of the leg pieces:
The air then travels down the legs, torso, and out through the open zipper carrying moisture out of the suit.
The fan is nearly silent, but moves a surprising amount of air. I set it up "blowing in" instead of "sucking out" to avoid pulling moist air through the fan. The front parts of the base are a bit longer than needed, as I over-estimated the potential for the thing to tip with a suit on it. The base is heavy enough to prevent tipping without the need for the added length.
I find that this dryer will dry my DUI TLS-350 Trilam drysuit overnight, even if it's completely wet from a good rinsing. (Which I do pretty often since it's so easy to dry it now!)
* It's important to use a DC motor, ideally brushless, to avoid creation of ozone which will do a number on your suit's seals. AC fans and/or heat are to be avoided for sure!
Other folks prefer to take on the challenge themselves with a Home Depot credit card, a box saw, and a half-hour of spare time!
Here's my version of a home-made Drysuit Dryer. (I made it three years ago, but just decided to snap some pictures today.) Total cost: about $20 for PVC pipe, a DC fan, and a 12v adapter...
Everything is glued except for the two long "leg" pieces, which simply pop in/out of place. This makes putting the suit on the dryer quite easy as you can simply slide these two pieces into the suit and then mount the suit onto the rest of the dryer.
The fan is a DC brushless* "high flow" type from Radio Shack, coupled to a 12v DC adapter, attached to the "open" end of one of the feet of the dryer:
The fan is set to blow IN to the dryer. With the entire unit sealed, the only way for the air to move is up into the feet and out through the holes drilled into the ends of the leg pieces:
The air then travels down the legs, torso, and out through the open zipper carrying moisture out of the suit.
The fan is nearly silent, but moves a surprising amount of air. I set it up "blowing in" instead of "sucking out" to avoid pulling moist air through the fan. The front parts of the base are a bit longer than needed, as I over-estimated the potential for the thing to tip with a suit on it. The base is heavy enough to prevent tipping without the need for the added length.
I find that this dryer will dry my DUI TLS-350 Trilam drysuit overnight, even if it's completely wet from a good rinsing. (Which I do pretty often since it's so easy to dry it now!)
* It's important to use a DC motor, ideally brushless, to avoid creation of ozone which will do a number on your suit's seals. AC fans and/or heat are to be avoided for sure!
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