Homemade Backcountry Boot Dryer

[Cvang]

Excellent tip

 

[Buffalo-Jo]

I’ve used these with no modifications. They work well in dry environments to dry out perspiration. They work less well in damp environments.

https://a.co/d/5F7vSG7

 

[GoatPackr]

No need for boot heaters. We use warmed up rocks placed near a fire or on a stove. Wrap in foil if they aren't clean. Don't get them to hot.
Drop them in the boots or even fill the entire boot with them before going to bed. We have even warmed our rocks up in the morning and had fresh warm boots before heading out for the day.
I imagine these fans and a couple warm rocks would really dry a boot out.

 

[BREAKCONTACT]

Interesting idea. Anyone have a weight on their setup (minus power pack)? I wonder if you could pair these with those zippo handwarmers(2.5oz) if you were in a really wet backcountry hunt (some AK hunts come to mind)

 

[Side-Swipe]

Heating element would be nice.

 

[BREAKCONTACT]

Reporting my findings from this year. I used This set of fans with an anker 20,000 mAh battery pack to power them, and used a zippo refillable hand warmer to be a mild heat source to go in the boot. The combo worked as intended, however, leaving the fans on high all night would drain the battery pack ~20-25% for a 7hr runtime. When we had rain/snow I used the zippo handwarmer in the boots in conjunction with the fans and set an alarm Halfway through the night and refilled it and switched boots. I didn't print housings for the fans, as I figured shoving them up to the toe area would be the most efficient location for them to dry the boots.

The power wasn't too concerning to me as we were out of a trailer and recharging of it was done throughout the day via the campers solar trickle charger. For a true back country setup, I would think finding a more power friendly set of fans might be in order.

The 5 hr zippo weighs 2 oz and uses 10ml for the 5hr burn. I think this setup could be refined to be a true solution. It 'worked' for me, but I only had 2 days of any weather and didn't end up very saturated. I sweat a lot and that's really all the fans had to dry out overnight besides the two nights.

 

[Will 736]

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.

Wow, great idea!