No really, I’m serious. What could be the longest running international joke between the US and those Canucks to the North is an actual bona fide product. It would be like West Virginia creating an outhouse that played dueling banjos while you went, and calling it the “Deliverance Model”. Whether it was poor (or good) commercial sense to name Canadian-produced insulated mail slots Draft Dodgers is up to you, but its design is pretty cool.
These mail slots come in two halves that are adjustable to complement doors 1 9/16 inches to 3 1/8 inches. However, as with most things in life a little engineering can make these mail slots fit any door or wall size. I recommend T-Rex duct tape, which you learn about in a later post, but the Draft Dodger distributer has their recommendations as well.
What sets the Draft Dodger apart from ordinary mail slots is their insulation and dirt stopping barrier. Both interior and exterior flaps are insulated with seals to keep the cold air out of the house and the hot air in. Not only are these mail slots insulated with seals around the flaps but also with a thick layer of brushes between the two flaps. This added line of defense keeps dirt, air and peeping Tom’s (or in my case Jane’s) out. It has more defense and filtering agents than the pentagon, or so wikileaks seems to suggest.
The body of the Draft Dodger is made up of heavy duty plastic, and, protected metal flaps help keep rust at bay. Top that off with nylon torsion rods which double as springs for the flaps and you’ve got a sealed insulated mail slot that can handle those fierce Saskatchewan winters and even those not so fierce in Palm Beach Florida.
Draft Dodgers come in two models and two sizes: The Sleeveless Surface Mount and the ELITE Draft Dodger (also known as the ….well I leave that blank to avoid any uproar). Both of these come in regular letter size but the Elite also comes in a magazine size, which is 1 3/8 inches wider. You also get 6 more color choices with the Elite and a larger swing of about 35 degrees on the flap. The Draft Dodgers web site looks like it’s still a work in progress (the photos section has moderately creepy teen and surfing dog photos), but the site does provide the basics on both models and their finishes. The cost is a modest 35 dollars for the Sleeveless and starting out at 47 dollars for the ELITE model. With prices like these we could all afford to dodge the draft.
I have now installed my new Draft Dodger. I made one mistake by not following the template and making the hole too small in the first cut. Now it works great. It would be nice if installation instructions were included emphasizing the reason for making the hole bigger than the actual product. If I had it to do over, I would order the magazine size. I’m not even sure the letter size is legal from a USPS standpoint. Also, it seems very hard to insert mail through the inside spring loaded flap without pushing it open with your other hand. Is there a way to disable the spring?
Hi John, the tension on the interior flap can be adjusted, but it is a little tricky. You would have to remove the nylon pins that are keeping the tension. It will take some effort, but once they are removed, you can reinsert them and set the tension to what you would like.
There is a better how to guide this website. If the tension rods break, you can always send a message through the contact chat and they will provide you with some solutions.
Sorry I miss typed there. Here is the link to the website and you can find the how to guide under guides and tutorials.
https://draftdodgermailslots.ca
There are Snail Sakk Mail Catchers on amazon.ca. It’s main purpose is to catch the incoming mail. But it also reduces some of the draft and works with draft excluder type mail slots too.
I went to order a Draft Dodger mail slot and found the delivery charge to be very high. It was over $20 to ship this item. I think that is very high!
I was unable to complete a purchase via the Draft Dodger’s website. I kept getting the following message: “Unable to process payment. Please contact the merchant as the shipping address provided by the merchant is invalid, and the merchant has requested that your order must be shipped to that address.” Paypal informed me it was a problem with Draft Dodger’s website. Draft Dodger initially tried to help by asking if I had a firewall, but that was it. I asked if they would take a payment via phone or send me an invoice through Paypal, but never got a response. It’s strange to encounter a company that is so lackadaisical about facilitating a purchase. I guess we’ll have to find a do-it-yourself solution for insulating an existing mail slot.
Hi Beth, sorry to hear that it sounds like in addition to drafts they’re dodging your order too! If you come up with a cool DIY solution, please consider coming back and posting it here. Thanks for sharing your experience and sorry the vendor wasn’t more helpful.
I live in Allentown, PA. Where can I look at and possibly buy a draft dodger mail slot in this area?
Hi Vern. We just updated the link at the end of the article. Please contact them directly.
your link is broken again
Fixed (again), thanks Cindy!
dhdtvspecialtyhardwarestore.ca/
My experience with them:
The so-called toll free number is not toll-free.
They do not answer. They do not reply to voice mail messages.
They do not respond to their email form.
Hmmmm
I like the product but hesitate to order from a company with no customer service.
Thanks for the heads-up on this Skye. If you do make contact or have any updates, please let us know.