Tips to dry out wading boots
- Thread starter cole_p
- Start date
The Peet boot dryer has been great, from my White's to wading boots been using it forever. Rinse well then drain a bit then on they go.
Yeah - my Patagonia boots - foot tractors - seem to be specifically constructed for max water retention.
One thing I do is keep a couple of old hand towels in the garage. Remove sole inserts, rinse boots, and let them drain upside down while putting other gear away. Then stuff a towel into each boot, stand on top of them to force water out of the boot materials and into the towels. Remove the soaked towels and bring the boots into the warm laundry room to dry.
Bonus if you have a boot dryer like Tom's!
Wow! A few more steps than I take (not saying you might be a tad retentive - no fly fisher is retentive). ;-) I've always liked to rinse my boots and waders when I get home. Alas! Poor Buzzy - this time of year all the garden hoses are winterized so I make do with rinsing boots in the utility sink and then leave them in a boot pan in our forced air heated utility room. The waders - they hang in the garage - till dry.
That's a good observation. Those orvis boots don't hold water but I blot the Korkers with old towels.
Even when I'm out every day in the summer it's the same ritual, and I seem to get a lot of days out of a pair of boot.
I used to wonder why I dried my work boots as they were wet 5 minutes out of the rig anyways.
MoreQuestionsThanAnswers
Smolt
I have a plastic shelf so they sit off the ground and air gets to all sides. Unfortunately there is always enough time between trips that they are bone dry.
Hahaha - the difference is that
A) Mine are often salty, which requires a more thorough rinse
B) I swear the Pati's are constructed from that stuff florists use to keep arrangements supplied with water for weeks
and C) You live in a desert, whereas I have a dehumidifier going in my garage 24/7!
Every angler should have a boot dryer. It is worth the money. No messing with any tricks, just throw them on and plug it in when you get home, they will usually be dry the next day.
Hillbilly Redneck
wishin I was fishin
I've got a couple of Peet boot dryers. Had them for years. The one I keep in the garage has extensions on it so you can stick your waders on there if you want. The extensions make it a little top heavy and the base has broken. I repaired the base with Gorilla Glue and some reinforment so it doesn't tip over.
mooseknuckles
Distinguished Degenerate
I have tried almost all of the above but settled on a PEET dryer. Then, I moved to the desert and I don’t worry about drying anything. However, for the wetside, it is a good investment! I have seen them at Goodwill and Craigslist so you might get lucky and find a used one.
I hang my waders inside out from the shower curtain rod in the bathroom in cool weather so they're dry asap.
Wading boots dry in the bathtub in cool wet weather or outside when warm.
I used to use the old school stuff with newspapers prior to breathable waders.
Wading boots dry in the bathtub in cool wet weather or outside when warm.
I used to use the old school stuff with newspapers prior to breathable waders.
I saw a Peet dryer at a friend's place, then used one at a cabin I've stayed at and it works pretty well.
I looked around and the prices seemed a little to ridiculously high for a simple passive convection boot dryer.
I found a site like this one but only needed-wanted a 2 boot manifold.
Marvelous Man Crafts: DIY Boot Dryer - Tracy Lynn Crafts
The DIY Boot Dryer is the first in a series of Marvelous Man Crafts. Marvelous Man Crafts are crafts you can do for a man, crafts that be done by a man, or crafts you can do with a man. There is no sexist intent here, just an opportunity for me to make things for the men in my life...
www.tracylynncrafts.com
So I sketched this out. I found the 2-speed dual temp hair dryer at the Goodwill for under $5 and the total for parts was under $30.
I used a rubber T so it would have some flexibility for the size of the hair dryer nozzle.
I didn’t glue the T to the boot tubes so I can take it apart to stow in plastic wash basin I use for my boots when traveling - we've been staying at a cabin @ Hood Canal for a few days.
I used masking tape to block the heat switch so I can't move it to the high heat position. The temp at the top of the tubes is 80° F.
After rinsing it takes ~4 hours to dry these *Chota* boots, less for my Korkers.
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That's pretty handy. When I got my first redwing loggers for work, the guy at Saager's put a peet dryer on the counter and said you want this too, along with a new tin of mink oil, and showed me how to care for them. That Peet's is now probably under a nickel a month pro rated. Probably saved even more by prolonging the life of the boots over 40 years (got that april '92?). Didn't really have the extra $ then, but glad I did it.I saw a Peet dryer at a friend's place, then used one at a cabin I've stayed at and it works pretty well.
I looked around and the prices seemed a little to ridiculously high for a simple passive convection boot dryer.
I found a site like this one but only needed-wanted a 2 boot manifold.
Marvelous Man Crafts: DIY Boot Dryer - Tracy Lynn Crafts
The DIY Boot Dryer is the first in a series of Marvelous Man Crafts. Marvelous Man Crafts are crafts you can do for a man, crafts that be done by a man, or crafts you can do with a man. There is no sexist intent here, just an opportunity for me to make things for the men in my life...
So I sketched this out. I found the 2-speed dual temp hair dryer at the Goodwill for under $5 and the total for parts was under $30.
View attachment 5652
View attachment 5653
View attachment 5654
I used a rubber T so it would have some flexibility for the size of the hair dryer nozzle.
I didn’t glue the T to the boot tubes so I can take it apart to stow in plastic wash basin I use for my boots when traveling - we've been staying at a cabin @ Hood Canal for a few days.
I used masking tape to block the heat switch so I can't move it to the high heat position. The temp at the top of the tubes is 80° F.
After rinsing it takes ~4 hours to dry these Chaco boots, less for my Korkers.
