The amount of support gear has grown recently. What's the best way to store PFDs and wetsuits? On hangers in a vented area? Trying to use as little space as possible.
Edited by ctcataman on Jul 06, 2017 - 09:03 PM.
I would say yes. I would hang things up so they can have some air circulating through and around them and this should allow them to dry out faster.
With neoprene you may also want to make sure to dry the inside too by turning the suit inside out, or it may stay wet a very long time and smell even better than..............fill in the blank.
local sail shop owner said this to me recently (when i told him how my 5 year old ronstan spraytop "exploded" in my dryer) - treat this gear like a garment and it will last a long time, store it in your trunk and it will die quickly
I keep my pfd attached to my tramp for my 5 mile drive home on sunday and it gets a good hosing down with the boat, then air dry, then hung up in the garage until friday
rise and repeat
MN3
I have 5 different wetsuits, from 2mm shorties, to Farmer john, & an expensive 5mm semi-dry with hood, (toasty warm in 5C water) by Cressi.
We use them every day early & late in the season here in Canada.
The good ones are to expensive to murder.
As said, the inside can stay wet. They need to fit snug to be effective, & so they generally get turned inside out when peeling them off. If it's a 2pc, hang each piece separate, on a "thick" plastic hangar. I always give them a swoosh in the lake before hanging, you can sweat quite a bit in them. If I'm going to be hanging around for a bit, I hang them outside on the dock, they dry quite quickly there. If not hang them inside, but not touching each other. I never hang them in a closet, Satans Spawn breeds there with wet things. I have an 8' dowel under the shelf we store unused sails on. All wetsuits get hung there awaiting use.
If you have to use a closet, leave the door open. Another option is a small block attached to the ceiling, you only need to be 6" off the wall. Hoist & tie off.
Prevention is worth a ton of cure. If the neoprene goes skunky, it's really hard to get it all out.
Edited by Edchris177 on Jul 08, 2017 - 06:16 PM.
E C Hilliard
Nacra 5.7
Bombardier Invitation
Moving air is life, and folding a suit and stuffing it into a drawer is death.
I use a scrap of rope, two chunks of 2" PVC, and a 45-degree fitting to make a burly hangar that prevents folds and keeps air inside the suit.
Randii