From the Expo Floor: Got Wet Turnout Gear? Hang Out at This Booth
The NSC Expo floor is a veritable village of various and often hi-vis contrivances and services. Among this massive variety of safety-related stuff, however, some products definitely stand out just because they're so, well, different. Which brings me to Booth 1039, where Poway, Calif.-based Underwater Kinetics (a.k.a. UK International) has staked out a space.
You may know "UK" as the designer and manufacturer of lights, protective cases, and accessories for use in harsh or difficult environments. You may not yet know that just last month UK completed an acquisition of a San Diego-based company called HangAir Inc., which designs and manufactures the HangAir® Drying System. What this system is, aside from now in UK's portfolio, is what is so unique. It looks like a clothes hangar on steroids, and it has a built-in, waterproof fan installed right in its middle that covers, UK says, 130 cubic feet per minute. According to UK, it is designed to address two common needs: to safely dry thick protective clothing, rain suits, wetsuits, drysuits, and turnout gear so they can be used daily, and to eliminate the odor caused by moisture and mildew.
The powerful, integrated fan is capable of thoroughly drying apparel and gear in approximately eight hours (depending on temperature and humidity levels), as opposed to the usual drying time of 24-48 hours if left to drip dry. That is about as much as words can do to describe it; seeing it is believing. Check it out at the UK booth, or, if you're not trudging the floor in McCormick Place South today, you can see it at www.hangairs.com.