I know well the “hang your wetsuit on the mirror” trick. I’m not a huge fan of the saltwater running down the side of my van. Has anyone got tricks up their sleeve?
I’m thinking about making a special locker on the back of my van with a circulation fan and zeolite desiccant. People are having pretty good success using to dry 3D print filament, and some of the more energy efficient dishwashers are using it now for the drying cycle. I think I can get some parts from a scrapped dishwasher to try it. I’m reaching out here because I don’t have any friends crazy enough to jump into this project with me - if anyone here knows something about this shoot me a line. Right now I’m just going with whatever I can learn online. I honestly can’t believe I’m the first one to try something like this but haven’t found anything else.
Airhanger looks cool but I built a 110v home version with a hanger, zip ties and a small leftover fan. Dries my 4/3 overnight. Maybe consider diy if you have a nearby powered usb port and aren’t in a huge rush. Maybe a fan like this:
I bought the 230v version of one of these but stopped using it after the seam tape started coming off one of my suits. It might have been an issue with the suit but it could also be a result of repeated heat cycles affecting the tape glue.
Boot dryers!!! There are many different types. Multi fan speed with or without heat.
Mine has 4 hoses out the bottom of the unit. It hangs above and I can put the hoses down the wetsuit neck, 2 down arms and 2 in the torso. Works fantastic. Other types could work well too that are meant to flip boots upside down on plastic posts you could use to go up in the bottom of the legs.
I mounted two of these on my rear door hinges. There are many variations of them so pay attention to how they fold and if they are hinged horizontally.
I use a changing mat under the wetsuit when hanging inside the van off ceiling points but try to dry as much as possible outside from the rear door hangers
wetsuit hanger (wide) on Amazon for cheap and it def helps. If u drape your suit over something at the waist, squeeze water out sleeves every hour to expedite drying. Also, lay suit flat on towel, roll it up and dance on it for a min to squeeze out moisture initially.
My 2016 Sprinter had two large holes in the hinges. I added a hole in the base plate of the bracket to match the existing hole spacing and used short pieces of 3/4” aluminum plate as backing washers (second photo). Newer Sprinters don’t have the same hinge holes but they can be drilled easily. A friend bolted one to the rear ladder on his Transit van, so that’s another option. .
I never did this but think it would work. Get a old used black rocket box and rig a rack inside about midway from top to bottom to lay wettie on. Might need some clothes pins or similar to hold suit in place. Cut some holes in the front, back and bottom of box for ventilation. This would act as a solar convection oven when driving and still an oven when parked if it is sunny. Probably better in warmish climates. Mount on roof like you would normally mount a rocket box.
yeah, awesome idea. I think I could mount one of those vertically on the back of the van, and still get some airflow top to bottom if the holes are cut in the right places. That way the wetsuit can hang free with air on all sides
