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montanasurfer Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2014 Posts: 308 Location: United States
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:33 am Post subject: Vanlife and Wet Suit Drying |
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Hey folks,
I am a van lifer who has a regular 9-5'er. I usually catch a surf before work. What I'm looking for is any creative solutions for drying a wetsuit on the outside of the van. I work in a sketchy area and don't want a meth head to steal my wetsuit my doing the usual draping it off the mirror method. I also don't want to dry it inside my van as having that much moisture in a van SUCKS, especially with being full time in the van. Any ideas? Any folks have methods they want to share?
Gracias, |
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Sodo Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2007 Posts: 9517 Location: Western WA
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 9:59 am Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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Add an exhaust fan to exhaust the moist van air and bring in outside air. Those little 3.5" computer fans run on 12vDC and use very little power, appx 3 watts or 1/4 amp. In 8 hours that's 2 amp-hours. You have to make sure your battery(s) can handle 2 amp-hours every day.
There are several sizes of fans. Your headlights, for example consume 10 amps (40x what the fan consumes).
A van has appx 360cubic feet of air, if that little fan can move 10 CFM then it exchanges the van air every 36 minutes. I have no idea what the CFM of those little fans is, the "10CFM" is a wild guess. _________________
'90 Westy EJ25, 2Peloquins, 3knobs, pressure-oiled GT mainshaft, filtered, cooled gearbox
'87 Tintop w 47k 53k, '12 SmallCar EJ25, cooled filtered gearbox
....KTMs, GasGas, SPOT mtb |
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WestyWanter Samba Member
Joined: February 15, 2017 Posts: 459 Location: San Diego
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:03 am Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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Sodo wrote: |
Add an exhaust fan to exhaust the moist van air and bring in outside air. Those little 3.5" computer fans run on 12vDC and use very little power, appx 3 watts or 1/4 amp. In 8 hours that's 2 amp-hours. You have to make sure your battery(s) can handle 2 amp-hours every day.
Your headlights, for example consume 10 amps (40x what the fan consumes).
A van has appx 360cubic feet of air, if that little fan can move 10 CFM then it exchanges the van air every 36 minutes. |
you sir know a lot about fans! |
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syncrodoka Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2005 Posts: 11998 Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:33 am Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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Have you tried driving around with the wetsuit on the mirror? |
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DanHoug Samba Member
Joined: December 05, 2016 Posts: 4715 Location: Bemidji, MN
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:34 am Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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run a vinyl coated steel cable thru the arms and lock it to the grab handle inside, cables running out between the door and frame. old motorcycle trick to keep your riding jacket from walking.
people can still cut the suit off the cable, ruining it, just to be mean but there are destroyers everywhere.
-dan |
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SCM Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2011 Posts: 3102 Location: Bozeman MT
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 10:42 am Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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DanHoug wrote: |
run a vinyl coated steel cable thru the arms and lock it to the grab handle inside, cables running out between the door and frame. old motorcycle trick to keep your riding jacket from walking.
people can still cut the suit off the cable, ruining it, just to be mean but there are destroyers everywhere.
-dan |
I like that one.
Another option would be to find an old rocket box, drill a bunch of 1-2" diameter holes in it, maybe fab some sort of horizontal rack inside, and then lay/lock your suit in it up on the roof. _________________ '91 Westfalia GL Automatic (GTA "Turbo" Rebuild w/Peloquin) and 2.3L GoWesty Engine |
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djkeev Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32433 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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SCM Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2011 Posts: 3102 Location: Bozeman MT
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 11:09 am Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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djkeev wrote: |
Surfing in Montana?......
Dave |
Missoula has a standing wave and meth heads. So that was my first guess but, given the temperatures there's not much chance of anything drying outside right now.
Why the OP isn't skiing/snowboarding this time of year (and during such a great year) is beyond me. _________________ '91 Westfalia GL Automatic (GTA "Turbo" Rebuild w/Peloquin) and 2.3L GoWesty Engine |
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WestyWanter Samba Member
Joined: February 15, 2017 Posts: 459 Location: San Diego
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 12:21 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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if you have a gym membership can't you leave it in a locker there an have it dry? |
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Finagon Samba Member
Joined: May 14, 2007 Posts: 53 Location: Portland, OR
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 3:15 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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If you have a decent, or even medium-sized rack on the roof, I could see some method by which you sandwich the wet suit between some heavy-ish gauge metal screen. Locking said screen to the rack?
Assuming it's a dry or cloudless day, you'd probably have a black wetsuit dry within an hour or two. |
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montanasurfer Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2014 Posts: 308 Location: United States
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 4:53 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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djkeev wrote: |
Surfing in Montana?......
Dave |
I actually live in California now... It is an unorthadox handle . |
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montanasurfer Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2014 Posts: 308 Location: United States
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 4:57 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wetsuit Drying |
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DanHoug wrote: |
run a vinyl coated steel cable thru the arms and lock it to the grab handle inside, cables running out between the door and frame. old motorcycle trick to keep your riding jacket from walking.
people can still cut the suit off the cable, ruining it, just to be mean but there are destroyers everywhere.
-dan |
I like this idea. I think I might give it a go. |
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DanHoug Samba Member
Joined: December 05, 2016 Posts: 4715 Location: Bemidji, MN
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VicVan Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2015 Posts: 1826 Location: Vancouver Island, BC
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:16 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wet Suit Drying |
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You wouldn't want the wetsuit exposed to sunlight all day, it would get ruined pretty quickly. Neoprene does not like UV I believe. _________________ '90 Little Blue Truck, 2WD auto, FAS GenV 2.0 NA (AVH) |
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montanasurfer Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2014 Posts: 308 Location: United States
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:40 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wet Suit Drying |
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VicVan wrote: |
You wouldn't want the wetsuit exposed to sunlight all day, it would get ruined pretty quickly. Neoprene does not like UV I believe. |
Yeah, I was thinking about that... Here's an idea, what if I get one of those marine powered solar fans and install that on the top of my swing away box I have on the back of the van with a dry rack to drape my suit on? I think we are on to something. That would incorporate the fan idea from earlier... Would seem like a wast of storage though.... |
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montanasurfer Samba Member
Joined: March 06, 2014 Posts: 308 Location: United States
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:41 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wet Suit Drying |
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VicVan wrote: |
You wouldn't want the wetsuit exposed to sunlight all day, it would get ruined pretty quickly. Neoprene does not like UV I believe. |
Yeah, I was thinking about that... Here's an idea, what if I get one of those marine powered solar fans and install that on the top of my swing away box I have on the back of the van with a dry rack to drape my suit on? I think we are on to something. That would incorporate the fan idea from earlier... Would seem like a wast of storage though.... |
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DanHoug Samba Member
Joined: December 05, 2016 Posts: 4715 Location: Bemidji, MN
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:44 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wet Suit Drying |
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i'll take a fading wetsuit over the smell of a continually damp one anyday! they gotta be hung up to dry!
-dan |
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70coupyel Samba Member
Joined: September 06, 2006 Posts: 1657 Location: So.Cal
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:48 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wet Suit Drying |
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The guy that actually started the #vanlife he surfed and he created a wetsuit drying closet in his van. You need to do some research and find out what he did. For full timers this would be good for towels and laundry. _________________
TheAndante wrote: |
Saying that specs are different than dimensions doesn't make sense. Porsche specs/VW specs/engineering specs are nothing but a series of dimensions,sizes,percentages,measurements, etc. |
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=338946&highlight=
70 KG Coup
83 Westy Waterboxer
Last edited by 70coupyel on Tue Jan 30, 2018 6:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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yiucycle Samba Member
Joined: August 22, 2007 Posts: 421
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Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2018 5:55 pm Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wet Suit Drying |
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I hang(strap it half way point, not on a wetsuit hanger) mine on my bike hitch rack all the time both on the van and my civic. Most ppl don't want to steal or touch damp clothes. I also drive around with it, usually if i get on the freeway, it will be mostly dry on the outside in 30-40min and i flip it inside out and dry that again. But other nice driver always honking at me and let me know i have a wetsuit on my bike rack.
If you have a westy or poptop you can also throw it up at the luggage rack but that is as long you remember to take it down before you drive off. _________________ 1980 2.8LV6 Fiero ASI/Riviera Vanagon
"there is no point in being embarrassed of all the stupid shit i done and will continue to do"
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery! |
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kaalualu Samba Member
Joined: June 09, 2011 Posts: 274 Location: Big Island, Hawaii
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Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:59 am Post subject: Re: Vanlife and Wet Suit Drying |
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Keep moving West, you won't need a wetsuit. Sorry, I couldn't resist.. _________________ '84 Transporter 16" CLK's/LED's/ AT's/Mansi injectors
'86 Wolfey Weekender Westfalia AT's/otherwise stock
Sold-'82 TinTop Diesel |
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