How to Dry Wet Hiking Boots?

Want your hiking boots to stay dry the next time? Unable to get your hiking boots dry on time? You aren’t alone. Drying your hiking boots might seem difficult – but it isn’t as difficult. For one, you need to know the right strategies – and that’s what we will talk about below.

Why are Boots So Hard to Dry Out?

Hiking Boots are one of the best when fit when it comes to climbing rough terrains and mountains. However, nature is not always cooperative with us. So often, due to snowy or rainy weather, our hiking boots get wet.

Wet hiking boots are at all not comfortable to wear and may also cause blisters. This is because it becomes really heavy. Hiking boots are made out of really thick and heavy materials so as to provide sufficient protection to your feet. Now, as you know, such leather or synthetic materials really take time to dry out.

Moreover, the upper part of the hiking boot has various layers of materials that are placed one on top of the other. Unfortunately, this also causes a delay in the process of drying. It is so because these inner layers don’t have much exposure to air, thereby capturing the moisture.

Hence these hiking boots absorb a lot of water in the materials, thereby requiring much more time to dry compared to other thin materials.

Can you dry wet hiking boots quickly?

To answer briefly, ‘Yes .’However, the term quickly is relative in this sense. What we mean quickly is faster than the natural time period, which might take some days or about a week to completely dry.

How to Dry Hiking Boot Quickly – Setting Reasonable Expectations

It is important that we set our expectations clearly before we hop on to the process of drying our boots quickly. The first is that we want our boots to dry out faster than the natural process, which takes about a week’s time.

Another thing you should keep in mind is that generally, when you are drying out boot quickly, it gets about 70% dry. So don’t keep an unrealistic expectation that it will completely dry out. However, in most cases, the boots dry up to 70-75%. After all, a 70% dry boot is better than wet and soggy boots.

What’s The Best Way to Dry Wet Hiking Boots?

Since you now know that hiking boots can be dried out quickly, let us understand the best way to dry hiking boots. So let us check the stepwise procedure.

1. Try to Clean your Hiking Boots

When you see your boots are wet, try to remove them as soon as possible after that, clean them thoroughly. Splash some water and brush it with an old toothbrush so that you are able to get some of the dirt out. Even if you are on the camping site, try to splash some water on it.

2. Removing the Insole

 When you are wearing a hiking boot with a removable insole, make sure that you try and remove the insole out when it gets wet. This allows the air to enter the insole and to circulate inside the boots. Generally, some of the best hiking boots come with removable, so it is quite easy in most cases.

3. Laces Need to be Removed

When your boots get completely dried, make sure you remove your laces. This allows more air to get inside the boot, thereby allowing more air to enter and help it dry quickly.

4. Placing Your Boots in a Room with Room Temperature

Before we go on to explain this, let us state some things very clearly. Sometimes this may not be practical, especially when you are hiking. Hence you can keep your boots in a warm room; however, make sure you keep them a distance from the direct heat source.

However, if you have the convenience, you can always let it dry in a room at room temperature.

5. Try to Put Newspaper Inside your Boots

One of the problems faced by most people is to dry out the boots from inside as well as outside completely. One simple way is to take some old newspaper, crumple up the page and make it like the shape of a ball. Then try to fill your boots with the paper ball and leave it to dry. This fastens the process of drying both from inside as well as outside of the boot completely.

How do you dry wet boots in the field?

You can try to dry your wet boots in a field by campfire boot drying. However, you might feel it is really easy to just put the boots above the fire and let them dry. However, this is actually not the way. When you tend to dry your wet boots on a campfire, make sure you don’t place them near to the fire. This is because direct heat can damage a lot of materials.

In order to find the best distance, sit at a place where you are not feeling the warmth of the fire. Then try to put your hands closer to the point where you can feel a bit of warmth. Use mild heat from the campfire and let it dry. Then try to place your boots at a 45-degree angle, so that hole of the foot is aimed at the fire. Once you have positioned your boot, you can let it dry by keeping a close watch on it.

How to quickly dry wet hiking boots video demonstration

Conclusion

These are some of the tips to dry your wet hiking boots. If you feel that you can hike just by putting a dry sock in a wet boot, this is not the way, and you should never do so. It is important that you dry your boots at least to a certain percentage. We hope these tips will be quite useful to you when you are trying to dry your boot quickly, especially for a hiking event the next day.

FAQS

Here are some frequently asked questions regarding drying hiking boots:

Can hiking boots get wet?

Camping and hiking are some of the best things in life. However, hiking and camping are not many fair-weather events. Sometimes it might rain continuously, or there might be a sudden snowfall. Hence you should always be prepared for the events. In such weather events, your hiking boots can get wet. So, make sure that you use these tips to dry out your boots.

Can you put hiking boots in the dryer machine?

Yes, you can do so. A boot dryer is a really good gadget. However, when you want to dry your boots in a dryer machine, make sure you find a good dryer. Generally, a good boot dryer should be about two horsepower so as to ensure the amount of hot air is pushed out so that the boots get dried really quickly. Try to put your boots on it for about two hours so that it gets dried out properly.