I’m after a changing robe thingy to use when getting out of a wetsuit in the car park type of scenario.

I’ve seen some microfibre ones advertised but my experience of microfibre is that it’s great for polishing/cleaning things but utterly useless as a towel and I don’t suspect they are particularly warm. I want something that can be used most of the year so the things that are just a thin towel with an elastic neck (like I used to have when I was a boy, made by my mother!) will be no good.

Also as with everything these days there is an enormous price range with some being £150…

I need adult and kids ones.

TIA

I love my dryrobe for this, but they are becoming a fashion thing and so I hate it in equal measure. They are very expensive but great for what they are meant for.
In our house we also have Charlie McLeod ones for the children which seem almost as good as dryrobes, but then the adult ones now also cost the same as dryrobes. We also have an ‘anti-dryrobe’ like these – Poncho Which is much cheaper and TBH about 70% as good for the summer. Also packs much smaller.

Dryrobes are massive even when squashed down too

Most swim brands seem to do their own versions – pretty sure Alpkit do one.

Most of the serious open water swimmers I know (including a national champion) seem to use Dryrobes still and ignore the fashion hangers on.

What’s the ratio of doing something vs standing around talking about it?

What’s the ratio of doing something vs standing around talking about it?

That’s a good question. Prob more doing something rather than standing around talking about it, but I will have to help the kids get sorted before and after. Maybe 70:30… 70 doing. Those DryRobes look nice though. RED seem to do a similar one (similar in price anyway!)

I’ve got a good old-fashioned towel not-a-poncho (the sides are closed, more like a giant sack with a hood and holes for your arms.

Probably not the boutique luxury experience of getting changed in a dryrobe (it’s draughty, cold once wet, and barely covers your modesty/vegetables if your tall, but it cost £12, and it’s for getting changed in not having a chat.

Most swim brands seem to do their own versions – pretty sure Alpkit do one

They do, but as with most things Alpkit, it’s all a bit on the wonk

These guys do one for £90, I haven’t seen one around but the rrview are good:

ECO Recycled Waterproof Dry Changing Robe Poncho Long Sleeve Black (all sizes)

Not sure I get the expensive ones at all. Decathlon have a range of cheap(ish I notice they are creeping up in price) surf ponchos that work great. I’ve had one for a few years, and for car park changing its perfect. Lives in the back of the car most of the time, folds down well. When really cold I’ve got changed under it and left it on, but it’s definitely not a fashionable item.  Think Jawa robe for a tall person…

I got the kids a new set this summer, admittedly it’s for the beach and the pool for them and not depths of winter, but they are all good quality for the money.

Those Gorilla ones look good value. Might get one of those…. Cheers for the link. 👍

Booicore – actual towel material.

For half of the year (possibly more depending on temperatures where you are) a towelling robe is a better option.

I have a Decathlon Surf Poncho 500. Great design as it has extra slits in the side for pulling your pants up without flashing your arse.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/adult-surf-poncho-500/_/R-p-309946?mc=8574474&c=GREEN_KHAKI

The heavier fleece/waterproof Dryrobe types are less good for drying you but excellent for getting warmed up when it’s/you’re properly cold.

Your a week late – the Germans were doing them for thirty quid.

We bought an XL for holiday next week – it seems spot on. I also own a ‘genuine’ dry robe – the aldi one looks just as good.

https://www.aldi.co.uk/crane-blue-sherpa-changing-robe/p/815252606857300

Might be some left in store!

For changing then simple towelling one from Decathlon works well at the beach. Won’t be as warm as a dry robe and doesn’t double as a coat for going to the beach but packs into a bag easily and allows drying and changing without flashing passers by.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/adult-surf-poncho-100-blue/_/R-p-302847?mc=8528705&c=GREY_BLUE
My wife has a hooded microfibre one from eBay. Works fine but slightly narrower cut so a bit restrictive if you want to change a top under it without flashing your chest. She is slimmer than me so no problem for her.

I’ve been a year round windsurfer for many years, getting changed in car parks. A bath towel has always done for me. I do remember one time at glamorous Fairbourne when it started pissing down one cold November evening, but fortunately there was a concrete bus shelter about 100 metres away. Oh, and the time at Poole harbour when I was parked on the main road and I’d forgotten both my towel and was commando under my wetsuit. I had to check into the 5* Highcliff hotel, still in my wetsuit. A highly recommended experience.

I have a cheap lightweight Decathlon robe for summer use. For winter swimming (basically September to May up here) I have a Charlie McLeod one. I love it, worth every penny.

Most of the serious open water swimmers I know (including a national champion) seem to use Dryrobes still and ignore the fashion hangers on.

😄

I think it might be an open interpretation of ‘serious’ open water swimming! It’s my experience that a dry robe is part of the ‘required uniform’ for a certain sort of open water swimmer. You know the joke about always knowing who is a vegan because they tell you……it’s the same for open water swimming with a certain demographic….who all wear a dryrobe! They also drag a tow float around with them in ridiculous unnecessary situations because again it marks them out as a ‘serious open water swimmer’ – and definitely not a Jonnie come lately who drank all the coolaid.

Dryrobe – a definite meh for me. They have a place, but if I’m honest changing under them is a ball ache. Warm enough but blooming massive to carry around. My microfibe robe thingy (mine has ‘surf logic’ on the front – I guess that must be the brand) is much easier to change under, is better at drying me and packs away to nothing. If I’m chilly afterwards that’s what a fleece or down jacket is for. I swim in the sort of conditions where you break the ice to get in so microfibre is no hindrance for cold conditions.

If you must have a dryrobe style one, I’d hunt around – the Red ones are better imo, although similarly expensive. Thinner, a little bit stretchy and easier to change under and more packable. I don’t think Dryrobe the brand deserve their market leading credentials anymore.

*As a vegan who has owned a dryrobe since 2013 I fell able to make these sweeping generalisations with tongue firmly in cheek 🙂

I got given a Gorilla robe last year and never really saw the purpose, just carried on using a towel.

However I was doing a relay triathlon the weekend before last and it was very useful to put on after the swim as I waited for other team members to do their laps.

I think I prefer the Gorilla robe as it’s all towel whereas the Dryrobes I’ve seen seem to have polyester outer shell (they may do different versions, not sure).

Nothing wrong with a tow float. Perfect for going for a walk upstream and having a float back on a hot day.
I do use mine in the winter more as i can put some bits of clothing in it just incase i get too cold upstream and have to get out in a hurry and walk back.

Not got a dryrobe but i bought a passenger on which is mostly recycled and is lovely and warm and waterproof which i have been amazingly grateful for during the last winter

I’ve been using this for a year and half. Dead cheap, does exactly what it’s supposed to.

Amazon dry robe

😀

I’ve got an Alpkit one, it’s great 👍 although the tales of everything from them being wonky make me suspect I must be a bit wonky, as all my kit from them send to fit ok.

Are you using it as something to go from wet/dirty clothing to dry/clean clothing or wanting something to wear as a fashion piece?

If you aren’t going to wear it for the rest of the day, you are only going to have it on for 5 minutes, so get one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/232066254314

I got one (they were about £5 cheaper whe I got mine). It is a towel, with room to remove and put on clothing whilst wearing it.

Nothing wrong with a tow float.

Absolutely. They’ve been pretty much essential for providing a confidence boost to many outdoor swimmers. They’re also great for adding visibility, essential when there are other water users around.

RED mid sleeve ones seem quite nice and on offer at the mo so not that much more than a towel one. Might get one of those. I like RED as a company so…

Absolutely. They’ve been pretty much essential for providing a confidence boost to many outdoor swimmers. They’re also great for adding visibility, essential when there are other water users around.

This is very OT, but I do have a problem with them. One is just silliness, the other is a serious safety concern.

1 – silliness. I own and use one. They can be a brilliant thing. Visibility to other water users to stop you getting mown over and also the ability with some models to take some kit with you. This is good. I’m glad I own one. But I am selective when I bother.
When they become silly is when they are warn when the user is not going to be ‘swimming’/dunking more than 20m from where they got in, in water where they can stand up and walk back the 5m to shore, especially when it would be physically impossible for a boat to get to you.. Loch Insh NYD dunk this year was a good example – 150odd people of all abilities having a dunk. A dunk, not a swim. Lots of fun for regular and none regular swimmers. No one was in for more than 5 mins, no one went in far enough to be out of their depth. Yet a group of ‘hardcore, serious swimmers’ donned their tow floats for the occasion, bobbing next to them whilst they stood and chatted. Used like that, it’s an affectation – a signal to the hoypalooi that they are really committed. A bit like having a load of body armour strapped to your bag so it looks cool at a trail centre cafe with no intent to actually use it. Or the lady on the beach on summer solstice who, talking about her new found love of open water swimming..’well of course I always swam occasionally but I wasn’t really committed to it ….I mean I didn’t even have a tow float!.

It’s my problem, not theirs, and of course they can do as they please, it’s just makes me smile at times.

2 – I think they can give people a sense of security they should not. They are not a safety floatation device – but too many average swimmers use them as one. A real world example – I met up with a small group to swim at Lochindorb. As is often the case it was more gnarly than expected. A lady with us is very keen but not a strong swimmer. She was adamant she was going to join us to swim to the castle. We tried to persuade her this was folly for her. But she was adamant that with a few ‘rests on her float’ she’d be fine. She wasn’t. 25kts of wind, swimming skins and air temp sub 5degs. Resting on her float resulted in her being swept downwind and becoming near hyperthermic. Me and another swimmer had to tow her in and get her dressed and warm. Afterwards she was the one to conclude it was the false security the bloody tow float had given her that meant she could not be talked into a sensible decision. Since then I’ve had a healthy distrust of what they can do for the ego of swimmers, especially new swimmers. If you think you might need to use one to rest on in your planned swim, you have no place taking that swim on.

I’ve got a dry robe and my mate has a Gill copy was almost as good when we used them all week on a wet camping trip in the lakes a few months ago.

We were Dryrobe W*%##kers we virtually lived in them all week as the weather was so shit.

But tbh in the summer your probably just as well with a decathlon poncho towel. That’s all I use for water sports and swimming on hols. A dry robe would be boiling and if you have a few they take up tonnes of space.

Our winter swims tend to take place near to car parking so carrying/wearing a heavy Dryrobe is fine. Summer might involve a bit of a hike (or bike) so the towelling robe makes more sense as it’s lighter.

I bought a Gorilla one – a great bit of kit from my perspective and even better mine came unbranded.
I tried an alpkit one first – just couldn’t get a way with it – sizing was too small (and I normally love Alpkit gear)

I’ve got something similar to what danposs86 linked to, basically a giant towel with arm holes and a hood. Works brilliantly all year round. I didn’t even know that those dryrobes existed and what they said about the user so I’ll happily continue using my giant towel that makes me look like a really bad Tinky Winky (it’s a very dark blue).

Floats an indication that you are serious about the thing? Really? I always thought that they were for people who were either just useless swimmers or people who are affected by the modern disease of being incapable of just getting on with things without worrying about forthcoming tragedies.
Having said that, are not these changing robes just the same thing? If you are in the middle of a crowed family beach wrap a towel around the waist.

If you are in the middle of a crowed family beach wrap a towel around the waist.

well yes, but these are designed for when you are out swimming/messing about in the water, the air temp is in single figures and possibly a wetsuit is involved. They aren’t there to prevent you scaring children on the beach in Benidorm!

However, as with all this gear,  a cheaper, rudimentary solution would probably do just as well.

I’ll happily continue using my giant towel that makes me look like a really bad Tinky Winky

I’m going for the Monk look

I’ve got a Moonwrap (Dryrobe clone) plus you’ll find discount codes online – it mainly lives on the back of the kitchen door and for taking the dog out into the garden at night / when it’s raining, so multiple daily use. It’s been used twice this year for it’s intended purpose.

I have a RED one, I was highly disparaging about one until the MIL bought me one. Bloody great bit of kit. Kept in the camper. Extra blanket, camp showers wear, and the obvs wetsuit action. Tbh I just use it to stay warm / dry then get me veg out as it’s easier out side the robe.

I have a Dryrobe and a tow float. I thought being a cyclist made me a hated human being but it appears all my choices are just as bad.

I’ve got one of these: https://www.wiggle.co.uk/dhb-hydron-robe

It’s great.

I’ve ordered a RED one. They have one on offer.

Obviously I now need a tow float to complete the “look at that tosser“ vibe. 🙄.  That said the Tri Club that I cycle with (on a social basis only you understand, I’m certainly no athlete) insist on tow floats for their swimming sessions I think, so some people can be excused for owning them as it’s the law for club organised swimming sessions…😜

I’ve got a Northcore one and my wife’s got a Dry Robe, the quality is the same apart from the zip – I had to have mine replaced after about 5 years when it finally gave up, it was never really that good from day one though.

I wear over my wetsuit to drive home in from kitesurfing and for standing about in the winter between sessions.

I have a love/hate relationship with my Dryrobe I got for Christmas a few years ago.

Love – warm, waterproof(ish), lots of room to get changed in.

Hate – the hood not being big enough so when I’ve got it up the whole weight of the robe is lifted off my shoulders to the top of my head. The external pockets are way too low – I have to pull the robe up to reach whatever it is I need at the bottom of them (FYI – I’m 6’4″ with a long upper body).