Rocket Sport Dryer

[proth0303 29]

I'm an "advanced age" hockey newbie with extra sensitive smell.  My first weekend skating in full gear, I experienced the stomach turning stench of a hockey locker room.  Knowing that I was initially going to be drying/storing my gear inside my home, I knew I had to figure something out so the "boss" wouldn't demand that I find another hobby. ;) Upon doing a little research I stumbled upon the Rocket Sport Dryer which seemed to have mostly good reviews, not just from individual consumers, but also several trusted hockey sources.  While it doesn't claim to prevent the stench, it should prolong the stench in between equipment cleaning.  

The dryer is basically a clothes rack, with a plastic shroud to cover, and a forced air heater.  After a hockey session, you simply hang your gear on the rack, cover it with the shroud, and turn on the heater and in about 60-90 minutes your gear should be dry.  AT $140 USD it wasn't cheap, but I trusted that Rocket's "unique and innovate product" was what I needed.    

Assembly:  The assembly of the unit took about 5 minutes.  It's very lightweight and very simple as all you do is insert the 3 legs into the base of the heater and screw the vertical poles/rack together.  The shroud is easy to drape over and zip up.  I can see how attractive and easy this would be to those wanting to bring it on a trip to dry gear in a hotel room.  It even comes with its own carrying pouch.  

Capacity:  There is just enough room to put one full set of gear inside, less helmet and skates.  I wish there was enough room to put my skates in there with the rest of the gear, as I've used the dryer for my skates (when I'm in between same day sessions), and it makes it so much nicer to put on dry skates!  

Effectiveness (Drying):  Several of the reviewers I found stated that the gear is completely dry after 60 minutes.  Hmm...  I have not had this success as I tried it at 60 and 90 and neither was 100% dry at the end.  Most of the gear was dry, but the insides of the gloves remained damp.  I currently set it at 90 minutes and let the last bit of the gloves to air dry.

Effectiveness (Stench):  My gear is only 3 months old and I've been washing it once per month.  With the exception of the gloves, my equipment does not smell at all and I attribute this to religiously using the Rocket Sports Dryer immediately when I get home from a hockey event.  The glove smell will likely be resolved by me washing them more often.

Durability:  This is where it starts to go downhill for me.  I've had the unit for ~3 months and it has developed a significant rearward lean to it.  The lean comes from the rear leg connection starting to sag under the weight.  I only dry one set of gear (not that heavy) and balance the weight the best I can.  If I wasn't careful I could easily see this tipping over.  Other than the lean, the unit performs flawlessly.

Intangibles:  In hindsight, I really don't think there is much, if anything, that makes it "unique and innovative" when compared to other portable dryers (see Dr. Dry at $65 on Amazon).  There's product called Tidalpool on Amazon for $80 that looks to be identical to the Rocket Sport Dryer but in a different color.    

Conclusion:  If I had to do it over again, I would buy the Dr. Dry version as at less than half the cost of the Rocket Sport Dryer, it has an intermediate towel rack that would allow for more gear to hang.

Final Rating:  5/10 (while it performs fairly well, I lowered the rating as I don't see it as a good value compared to other portable dryers)

Edited March 2, 2017 by proth0303