GearDryer Review

Wet gear is an occupational hazard for any outdoor enthusiast. But if you’re tired of damp, dank ski boots, soaked-through rainwear, or cold, clammy wetsuits that smell like the funky underside of a pier, allow us to introduce you to GearDryer. Founded by passionate powderhounds and year-round adventurers from Utah, GearDryer is committed to making wet gear a wring of the past.

GearDryer's Wall Mount 12 brings ski shop-grade drying capabilities to your garage or gear room.

GearDryer's market positioning is brilliant—to the point that, upon discovering the brand, we wished we’d been there from day one to invest. There are plenty of gear-drying contraptions on the market, but most fall into two categories: cut-rate crap with marginal airflow targeting run-of-the-mill consumers, or higher-end, commercial units built for ski shops and lodges with outrageous price tags to boot. GearDryer set out to bridge the gap, bringing premium, ski shop-quality power to gear rooms and garages, all while keeping prices relatively approachable. And since many commercial units look like high-school science projects rigged from PVC pipe, GearDryer was determined to design products that are aesthetically pleasing and look good on damn near any wall.

The result? Well, we’ve been testing their flagship boot dryer–the Wall Mount 12–as well as a couple of smaller options, the Solo 12V and AirHanger 12V, this winter. Long story short, we’re beyond impressed. If you’re looking to efficiently dry mitts, boots and more without paying an arm and a leg, read on for an in-depth review of the Wall Mount 12, as well as our first impressions on the Solo and AirHanger.

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The Wall Mount 12 successfully achieves GearDryer's goal of bringing commercial drying power into the home. The wall-mounted dryer desiccates boots, gloves, helmets and more with 200 cubic feet per minute of forced air (shortened to "CFM" and the measurement that matters most for gear-drying systems). Air gets sucked up through a grate at the bottom of the Wall Mount 12 using dual fans, then dispersed either as heated or ambient air through the 12 ports.

Why the option for heated or ambient air? Well, skiers and boarders with heat-molded and professionally fitted boots often prefer room-temperature air since hot air can essentially undo expensive boot-fitting work. That said, the Wall Mount 12 heated setting is self-regulating, upping air temperature by about 35 degrees–a temperature zone GearDryer claims is safe for most heat-molded boot liners. Still, to be safe, we mostly stuck with the ambient air option when drying heat-molded boots and it was remarkably efficient.

We mainly recommend the heated settings for boots without heat-molded liners (i.e. winter boots or hiking boots), quickly drying wet beanies, gloves and helmets, or adding welcome warmth to mittens before heading out into the snow. The system heats up in a matter of minutes and works wonders on sopping sundries–especially if you left wet gear in the car or an unheated garage.

Installation is simple–all you need is a drill, level and stud finder. The Wall Mount 12 comes with a lipped metal bracket that screws directly into studs, then you simply lift the dryer, press it flush to the wall and drop it carefully into place. The trickiest part? Lifting the dryer–it's reasonably heavy at 46 pounds. But that heft is due to GearDryer's use of premium materials–stainless steel glazed with a resilient powder coat finish–that we anticipate will last for many ski seasons to come.

If you want the Wall Mount 12 drying capacity but don't want it mounted to the wall, GearDryer does sell a Rolling Wheel/Freestanding Base Kit separately. It's important you don't leave the Wall Mount 12 on the ground, as the fans won't be able to function properly, whereas the kit is fashioned with fan functionality in mind.

Like the installation, the display is simple and to the point. Front and center, there's a dial that turns the dryer on. It also allows you to set a drying time ranging from fifteen minutes up to 24 hours. A single button lets you toggle between heated air and ambient air settings. That's it, that's all.

The Wall Mount 12 comes with 12 of GearDryer's "Modular Twist-and-Lock" ports–essentially multi-piece plastic tubes–which we dig for a few reasons:

That said, we do have two critiques of the port system:

Between the easy install, straightforward settings, sleek aesthetic and powerful, versatile drying capabilities, we’re head over heels for this GearDryer. However, we realize the Wall Mount 12 is expensive and overkill for some. If you’re looking for a smaller solution, check out the Solo 12V, which we’ll outline below.

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About the size of a slim shoebox, the Solo 12V shrinks the tech at play in the Wall Mount 12 for portable applications. This mini GearDryer uses a single fan to deliver a still-impressive 130 CFM of airflow to five total ports, making it perfect for drying a helmet, gloves and ski boots. We love the included helmet attachment, which fits optimally in the central port.

Unlike the Wall Mount 12, the Solo doesn't sport a heated setting. However, it does include three ambient air intensity settings of high, medium and low, which range from full-blast roar down to a gentle whisper. But what the Solo lacks in heat, it makes up for in packability.

At such a small size, it's ideal for ski condos–get two for a couple–and mounts easily to a single stud in the mud room, garage or wherever you can fit it. It's also compact enough for ski road trips. In fact, the Solo comes with two charging cables–one standard 120-volt plug and one 12-volt car jack–making it even more travel-friendly and our go-to recommendation for vanlife or RVing. Factor in the exceptionally durable, powder-coated stainless steel construction, and this little dryer is ready for life on the road.

Keeping gear dry is hard enough at home—doing so on the road is a major challenge. This portable powerhouse can handle both.

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GearDryer's AirHanger 12V is essentially a nifty, over-engineered clotheshanger with a built-in fan. It comes in handy when drying soaked rain gear, drenched ski and snowboard outerwear, sweaty ski race suits and more, but there's one piece of gear we were most excited to use it with: wetsuits.

Drying a wetsuit the old-fashioned way requires monk-like patience: Unwritten wetsuit commandments dictate you hang the suit, ideally out of the sun to avoid degradation, then flip it inside and out regularly until it's dry to the touch. It's a process that can take days, especially in cooler climates, and frequent surfers and neoprene neophytes end up slithering into damp, musty wetsuits—not a pleasant experience on frigid mornings. GearDryer's AirHanger 12V can shrink that never-ending odyssey into an overnight-ish affair thanks to 130 CFM of airflow.

Like the Solo 12V, the AirHanger has three settings (high, medium and low, with high being the most effective albeit loudest), doesn't have a heated setting and comes with both a regular 120-volt plug for home use and 12-volt car jack for on-the-road use. The construction seems robust and built to handle wet gear, with a durable plastic shell and pivoting, metal hanging hook. That said, it's worth noting that we haven't had the AirHanger on hand as long as we’ve been testing the Wall Mount 12, and we can't speak to long-term durability or integrity of the electronics within, but we’ll keep this story updated as our testing continues.

While we appreciated virtually all aspects of the design so far, our main concern with the wetsuit-drying application was the sheer size of hanger. The hanger neck circumference, for instance, is around 18.5 inches. Bn comparison, the neck measurement of Patagonia's biggest wetsuit (XXXL) is 17.5 inches. We wish the hanger were slimmer, as we don't want to stretch out expensive wetsuits at the cost of performance, but luckily there's a partial workaround–just leave wetsuits semi-unzipped or forgo the neck hole entirely if using a chest-zip style suit. We’ve tested it with size medium chest-zip wetsuits and haven't noticed unwanted stretching. That said, we’d exercise more caution with smaller suits.

If you’re used to wiggling into damp wetsuits, this gadget will make dawn patrol surf sessions a much more pleasant affair.