Call it funk, stank, or plain old odor. It’s that nasty smell coming from your outdoor gear after you rode it hard and put it away wet. Not drying your gear out properly is bad on two levels: 1) it won’t be ready for you to use the next day, and 2) it can stink up and break down your pricey items. If you’ve ever ruined a good pair of boots or caught a whiff of your rotten gloves, then this review is for you. Forget that old school drying rack; the DryGuy Force Dry DX boot and glove dryer is the solution.
The scenario is simple: you spent all day riding primo storm conditions in the Wasatch. Free refills were enjoyed, and now you have returned to your abode with a pile of soaking wet gear. Chances are, the two wettest items in that pile are your gloves and boots. Enter the Force Dry DX, a nifty little machine built specifically to dry these items in a way that won’t cause additional wear and tear like conventional clothing dryers. The setup is easy: plug the cord into a nearby socket, place up to four items on the drying posts, set it and forget it!
How the Force Dry DX works is all in the name; air heated to 105 degrees F is forced up the drying posts and into your soggy gear. An hour later (give or take, depending on how wet your stuff is) you’ve got dry gear that’s ready to rip once again. Besides being gently dried, the additional perk is that fungus and bacteria that thrive in wet conditions have been stopped in their tracks. No more funky boots, and no more putrid gloves. I’ve been using the DryGuy since March, and have become a believer.
After long days at local resorts, my main issue is wet gloves. I have found that using the “heat” setting for roughly one hour cooks my mittens to perfection. After touring days, my boots are usually soaked to a level that many would file under the “nasty” column. Ninety minutes on the Force Dry DX and those puppies are good to go! Yes, the DryGuy lives up to its name when it comes to winter gear, but what sealed the deal for me was how it handled my non-winter items.
Despite using wool socks, I work up a sweat in my hiking boots. The Force Dry DX handles business quickly, and has never damaged the leather exterior or fabric interior of my clodhoppers. My biggest delight was using the DryGuy unit to help revitalize an old pair of canvas sneakers. I sent them for a ride in my washing machine, then used the “no heat” setting on the DX to bring them back to life. When I put them on, they hadn’t shrunk a bit, and no longer reeked of swampfoot. Impressive!
The Force Dry DX has been helping me dry out my gear for two months now. Is that long enough to really put it to the test? Not in my opinion. Lucky for me, my girlfriend has been using one for eight years. Yes, eight years! She uses the Force Dry after every day on the mountain, and with a track record like that, I’m giving it a stamp of approval for durability/longevity.
My complaints about the Force Dry DX unit amount to zero. It’s efficient, quiet, gentle on gear, and does what DryGuy says it will. Add in the fact that it should perform for years to come, and it’s two thumbs up from me. Now, if only everyone in Utah could use one, maybe the lift lines would be a bit less stanky.
The Good: DryGuy Force Dry DX dries boots, gloves, and sneakers quickly and without damage.
The Bad: Nothing, this thing is great!
The Verdict: Do right by your most precious outdoor goods and make the Force Dry part of your gear care repertoire.