Surfing Product Reviews

The Hangair Wetsuit Drying System seemed like an awesome idea the first time we saw it online and we had to have one. During the winter we often have a hard time drying suits before the next session. We had tried everything including rotating the suit inside-out and outside-in, keeping it near a heater, trying to squeeze water out, etc. The best solution is to hang it up in a building (such as work) that has an HVAC system going 24/7. That’s not always convenient and still has problems with a 4/3 with the Fireskin lining. The Hangair’s goal is to stop all of that. It does it with an extra wide hanger to spread the suit open and a fan which circulates air inside the suit. It sounded like the perfect solution. Would it be?

The short answer is yes, the Hangair works as advertised, and in the “high” mode can cut a wetsuits drying time to a 1/3.

The Test
We experimented with the Hangair in a controlled environment with both a 3/2 wetsuit, and a 4/3 wetsuit with the fleece “Fireskin” lining. The hangair has both a low and a high setting. The low setting is when you’d like to speed your drying time yet not have the loud noise of a fan going. This setting we found almost not worth it, because it didn’t dry the suit incredibly faster and yet the noise was enough to be bothersome. The high mode, however, is a no holds barred suit drying machine. This mode is pretty loud however, you’d want to put the this in your garage or patio as I could hear the Hangair from 30 feet away in this mode. However the results were impressive. It managed in 8 hours what would of taken 24 hours without the Hangair. The aforementioned 4/3 with the fleece lining used to take 24 hours to get dry on the outside, then flipping it inside out for another 12-24 hours before it was like putting on a dry suit. However with the Hangair, the suit was bone dry within an 8 hour work day. The 3/2 Elasto was even quicker obviously and the Hangair could easily dry your suit out between a dawn patrol and an evening glass off. The manufacturer claims that if you can keep it in the shade outside with a bit of breeze your drying times will be even quicker, drying a fullsuit in 2 hours. We weren’t able to test it outdoors so we can’t confirm that but we did try placing a box fan a few away from the wetsuit while it was drying. The results were even more impressive with our 4/3 that we wore for a dawn patrol getting dry by lunchtime.

Note on Safety
At first we thought the unit had 120V straight into the Hangair and were worried about the implications of someone getting shocked if they got a little too friendly with water. We contacted the manufacturer with these safety concerns and they corrected our mistaken impressions. The wall plug is actually a DC adapter meaning anything after the plug is running at 12V DC, so you are safe from getting some high voltage AC running through you. The manufacturer also provided details on their safety testings (which, without going in details, involved lots of water) which completely alleviated our concerns. However, remember to always approach any electrical device with a good deal of respect.

Bummers
Did we mention noise? It’s loud. There is no way around that though, it’s principle is drawing as much air through your suit as possible. If you don’t have a room or garage you can put this in and close the door, I wouldn’t recommend it. This is not for apartment dwellers. However if you have a garage, 2nd bathroom, or outdoor space, it is a non-issue.

Summary
We give the Hangair a thumbs up. It is well engineered and does the job it is supposed to do. If you can find a good place to set this up where the noise isn’t an issue, you’ll soon find yourself in a nice rhythm of surfing, rinsing, running the Hangair, and surfing again.

Where To Buy
Hangairs.com ($63 after tax and shipping) - price updated 11/07/2007
Wetsand.com ($81 after tax and shipping) - out of stock on 11/07/2007