BADCC Hints and Tips
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We are fortunate that most of the accommodation that we use has a drying room. However, we often have more gear to dry than the space in that room, so it is important to use the available space wisely if everyone is to get his or her essential gear dry.
First back to basics. There are two essential requirements for drying: heat and ventilation. Heat to vaporise the water and ventilation to carry the water vapour away.
To experience heat without ventilation imagine filling a pan with water and putting on the stove on a high heat with all the windows and doors closed. The water will evaporate but the kitchen will fill with damp steam, which will condense on cool surfaces. Heat without ventilation does not dry. Ventilation without heat on the other hand is quite effective at drying. Ask anyone who has put washing on the line on a cold, windy winter`s day.
We can control both heat and ventilation to a greater or lesser extent. The heat is either provided or responds to plugging coins in the meter. Ideally we want a comfortably warm drying room: too hot will damage the latex seals on dry wear. We usually have more control over ventilation: overall by an extractor fan or opening windows, locally by allowing sufficient space between kit.
Generally it is warmest and driest at the top of the drying room as heat rises and drips fall. The bottom of the room is coolest and wettest. So how do we make the best use of the available space? For each item we need to ask is it important to dry and if so will it dry quickly?
The first items to put in the drying room are the fast drying, important things like thermals, fleece and possibly cagoules. If you wring out excess water, use a coat hanger to maximise ventilation and put this sort of clothing high in the room it will normally dry sufficiently in 2 or 3 hours that it can be moved to the sleeping accommodation overnight. It is important to not overfill the drying room at this time as this would reduce ventilation.
Then move to the essential but slow drying items: wetsuits, boots, and cagoules. All these can drip so are best placed lower down to start. Once the fast drying kit is dry, these items have stopped dripping and they can be moved to the top rack.
Finally we move to the unimportant kit: buoyancy aid, throwline and perhaps your spraydeck. This will get wet as soon as you start kayaking so it does not deserve drying space. If there is room it should be placed low where it will drip on the floor rather than on other kit.
If it is necessary to dry kit in living or sleeping rooms, similar considerations apply:
- Do not pile damp gear on the radiators – this only reduces their efficiency at heating, and can be dangerous
- Use coat hangers to increase ventilation and to hang items at high level
- Dry important, fast drying items like thermals, first
- Open windows slightly so that damp air can escape and to avoid condensation and that nasty smell
- Put slow drying items, like wetsuits, where they can drip without causing damage and soaking other items
Date first published: January 2006 by Peter Mansell
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