Wet suits, dry suits and motel rooms

[boulderjohn]

OK, I am quite bummed about the fact that I drove for two days for a week of diving, and after 5 days I find myself sitting in my motel room with a bad head cold. Lacking anything constructive to do, I thought I would look for solutions to an age-old problem:

You are ready to hang up your dry suit and undergarments overnight while staying in a motel. You find some dinky little rack not far enough off the ground. Or maybe its a small closet with (once again) a low hanging clothes bar. What do you do?

In my present case, my diving companion and I are in a room (a suite, no less) with a tiny closet with two doors that open out into the room. Each door is barely over a foot wide. The clothes bar is at chin level, and the entire interior width of the closet is just over 2 feet. Our solution was to go to a nearby hardware store and buy a 4 foot length of PVC pipe and a stack of plastic hangers. We opened the doors and laid the PVC pipe across the tops of the doors. We hang our dry suits in the center portion. The pipe sticks out about a foot on each side, and there we hang our undergarments, wings, etc.

I am wondering what others have done to solve this problem? Anyone have any ingenious ideas?

 

[Scott]

Great idea John!

I seldom travel with a dry suit but I have had issues with wetsuits drying.

Last time I stopped at Walmart and purchased a couple of these to hang on the bathroom door.

 

[sayuncle]

I generally just bring a few hangers along and hang them on the shower rod.

 

[claymore]

I keep seeing the small fan in the garage and thinking I should throw that in the car to dryout suits and under garments on dive trips but keep forgetting. I probably should put ii in the gear container now so I don't forget again.

 

[tkdgodess]

Buzz the front desk and ask for more hangers... Hang stuff from anything high... Curtain rods, shower rod, bathroom door frames, interior doors. Drape drysuit over a chair, as long as its dry on the inside.

 

[kelemvor]

I usually hang them from the shower curtain rod. Most hotels I've been in use a sturdy rod bolted into the wall rather than the wimpy kind you have at most homes. Wash them in the shower, then hang them overnight. I bring my strong wetsuit hangers with me on trips.

If it's a location I drove to, then I also bring a dehumidifier with me which goes in the bathroom. Dries things out nicely overnight.

 

[tracydr]

I keep seeing the small fan in the garage and thinking I should throw that in the car to dryout suits and under garments on dive trips but keep forgetting. I probably should put ii in the gear container now so I don't forget again.

We always travel with a small fan because my husband needs it to sleep. It comes in handy sometimes.
We have usually used the balcony, deck or patio outside our room, if possible, for drying. We hang on the chairs, balcony rail,etc. I only remember one time where we needed to dry all our gear in a hurry and it wouldn't fit on a small lanai, that we had to dry inside the room. In that case, we had stuff scattered all over the living room of the condo. We've never had a theft problem or complaints, knock on wood. We do tend to pick condos or, on Catalina, we go to a smaller, old hotel, the McRae. I think most hotels in dive areas are pretty understanding about outside drying.
John, I like your idea. What about an adjustable hanging pole, the kind made for the back seat of pickup trucks, and hang in the tub or shower with clothes hangers? Or, a piece of cave line strung across an area of the room as a clothes line?

---------- Post added November 22nd, 2013 at 09:12 AM ----------

Buzz the front desk and ask for more hangers... Hang stuff from anything high... Curtain rods, shower rod, bathroom door frames, interior doors. Drape drysuit over a chair, as long as its dry on the inside.

Unless they have those obnoxious hangers that are permanently attached to the rod in the closet. I hate those!

---------- Post added November 22nd, 2013 at 09:13 AM ----------

I usually hang them from the shower curtain rod. Most hotels I've been in use a sturdy rod bolted into the wall rather than the wimpy kind you have at most homes. Wash them in the shower, then hang them overnight. I bring my strong wetsuit hangers with me on trips.

If it's a location I drove to, then I also bring a dehumidifier with me which goes in the bathroom. Dries things out nicely overnight.

Love the dehumidifier idea. Especially since we're not used to the humidity of most dive locations. I've also used the rod in showers.