Homemade Backcountry Boot Dryer

[TrendyRendy]

Nice

 

[finsandfeathers]

Any update on the fans? Would love to know if there is any news about there performance and weight?

 

[Mountainbowhunter]

great idea to make your own for sure but by the time you do cad work, buy a 3d printer it’s probably worth it to just buy one. Just saw a deal on the gear deals page. Just my two cents. I have an old peet one but it’s about to die.

 

[rearnakedchoke]

Curious how long it takes to dry damp boots

 

[Mountainbowhunter]

I’d like to find out , has to make a difference blowing air into the boots. Been thinking out a set of them for awhile now. Two years ago my schnees froze because they got wet and stayed damp the whole trip.

 

[fmyth]

Curious how long it takes to dry damp boots

Order these fans for 10 bucks and find out. In my opinion the plastic screens on the Graksaw product do very little to improve the drying.

 

[ChachiSnips]

I used them last week on my son's boots after he slipped and got some water over the ankle on an overnight backpack trip. I just turned them on when we went to bed and they were dry when I woke up, and my battery pack had plenty of life left. Nothing scientific, but it worked. I can weigh them sometime this week just for reference. The plastic I put around the fans just gives a little bigger size to hold the fans up around the ankles in the boot and a path for the air to flow out, but "fmyth" is right, just throwing the fans in would work fine too.

 

[2STRO]

Boot dryer blowing air only (no heat), but runs at about 1.5W (.3A, 5V) on a USB so can run off a battery pack or other charging device. Added an optional online switch.

Saw similar online for $90 and figured I could make my own simply enough. About an hour in CAD, 3d printer, $15 buying some fans and a switch on Amazon and 10 minutes splicing wires. Fun project to play, not sure how useful.

Will wet boot be pretty dry by morning if you run it all night?

 

[Nicaburns]

The file linked for the 3D print is good to go... prints great and I have a set of fans on the way to try it out!

 

[ChachiSnips]

Will wet boot be pretty dry by morning if you run it all night?

Lots of variables, but will help for sure. Moving air through it will certainly help versus just being stagnant. Heat would also help, and both would be best. I loosened laces a bunch and had it run overnight sitting in the tent. Son's boots weren't completely drenched, but socks were pretty wet after slipping crossing a creek and boots were dry in the AM.

 

[2STRO]

Good info, thanks. I like the idea

 

[Andouille]

I bought these tiny fans and a battery pack on Amazon. I dropped them into a pair of damp boots and they dried them out in a couple of hours. I downloaded the file the OP provided and sent it to my son to have him print me a pair of fan covers.

Thank you, just ordered those fans to go with the covers my tech-savvy brother printed for me. Under $15 in total materials.

Lots of variables, but will help for sure. Moving air through it will certainly help versus just being stagnant. Heat would also help, and both would be best....

I think these dryers will work great with my hot tipi setup where I can hang my boots up high above the stove. Dry boots each morning for late fall hunting will be amazing.

 

[fmyth]

Thank you, just ordered those fans to go with the covers my tech-savvy brother printed for me. Under $15 in total materials.

I think these dryers will work great with my hot tipi setup where I can hang my boots up high above the stove. Dry boots each morning for late fall hunting will be amazing.

Let me know how they work. I'm still waiting on my son to print my covers.

 

[CB1]

Had to make a pair of these! Looking forward to trying them out. I printed them in petg just to eliminate concern of melting if I left them in the truck, or get a bit too close to the stove. Made one in glow in the dark pla filament first but figured that was a waste. Kids would have fun with them though.