After I went diving last weekend, I hosed off my wetsuit and hung it on the fence to dry. In this hot Florida sun, it dried in about 30 minutes, and I believe the sun killed any bacteria hiding in the neoprene. I don't have a drysuit, though, so I don't have any experience drying them. Consequently, I was pleased to learn about Dave Dalton's snappy drysuit dryer. Of course, Dave Dalton is a tinkerer. You might not have to go to this much trouble to dry your drysuit, but if you like fooling around in the garage, then this kind of project might appeal to you.
In short, Dave assembled a PVC rack for drying his drysuit. According to Dave, "it gets the feet totally dry in short order and keeps the whole suit smelling springtime fresh!" I sorta doubt the second clause in that statement but what the heck. Dave used a Torin Dual Blower, 20 feet of PVC pipe, a couple fittings, and a can of all-purpose PVC cement. The whole project set him back a measly $30. Atlantic Underwater has a complete write-up and several good photos to help you build your own.
[Via Calvin Tang]
1. Dry suit dryers aren't necessary in my opinion, a membrane shell drysuit dries pretty quick even in the shade. I usually hang mine on a drysuit hanger under the eve of my house.
This would work out nice for flooded dry gloves, which take up to a week to dry.
Posted at 2:02PM on Jun 1st 2006 by Bill Reals