7 Reasons You Need a Forced-Air Boot Dryer
Russ Chastain 04.10.18
Nobody likes wet shoes or boots. Aside from the prodigious funk that can arise from bacteria that thrives in moist conditions, wet feet can breed all sorts of nasty fungi, and they’re just plain uncomfortable, to boot. Here are the top seven reasons why your life will be happier if you get yourself a good forced-air shoe dryer.
7) Your shoes and feet will smell better.
It’s true. Dry feet ain’t funky, and if you dry your footwear promptly, odor-causing bacteria won’t have a chance to grow down in there where your toeses live, and stankfoot leads to lonely nights in camp.
6) Forced air dryers won’t harm your boots.
Back when I was the young ‘un at deer camp, I learned from a couple of the older folks about how NOT to dry wet boots: next to the fireplace overnight. These guys set their soggy boots on the hearth and staggered off to bed. When morning came, their boots’ leather toes were unglued and curled up like elves’ footwear, but the soles were just as flat as ever. Oops!
5) It’ll keep your feet healthy.
Foot fungus is bad stuff, and it can do much worse things than itch and make your clodhoppers smell tangy. It can get so bad that you can’t even walk (think “trench foot”), and that’s plumb awful. Keeping your footwear dry can go a long way towards preventing that pain.
4) Your shoes will last longer.
I’m basing this on several decades of personal experience. The wetter your shoes get–and stay–the more quickly they will deteriorate, from the insoles out. Boots ain’t cheap, and it makes sense to make the good ones last as long as possible.
3) Your hunting will be better.
I have nothing scientific to back me up on this, but it seems to me that if your feet don’t smell strongly, there’s considerably less likelihood that a deer will smell your trail. Face it, with each step a tiny bit of air is pumped out of each boot, and the less funk it contains, the better.
2) Your feet will stay comfortable longer.
Dry feet stay warm longer in cold weather, and I hate having cold feet. Aside from that, hiking in dry boots is a whole lot nicer and less likely to raise blisters.
1) It just might cure your loneliness.
If you hanker for your darlin’ to share your sleeping bag (and who doesn’t?) foot-funk can be a big deterrent. If you’re tired of sleeping alone at camp, think about getting a boot dryer to un-funk your life.
