When hiking one of the most important jobs you have is keeping your feet warm and dry while on the trails.
Unfortunately, mother nature does not always cooperate due to rainy or snowy weather or a required stream or river crossing leading to damp or waterlogged hiking boots. Putting you in the situation of trying to figure out how to quickly dry hiking boots?
Sadly, wet hiking boots can not only be very uncomfortable while hiking but can also lead to blisters and other foot-related ailments that can potentially stop you dead in your tracks.
So what is a hiker to do if they find themselves with a set of wet hiking boots while in nature?
Well luckily for you and your waterlogged boots there are several tricks and tips on how to dry hiking boots quickly to get you back on the trails with warm and dry boots in no time at all.
Why are Boots So Hard to Dry Out?
While hiking boots do a great job of protecting feet through rugged terrain due to their construction they can be very difficult to dry out once wet.
To begin with the upper on hiking boots are typically made from very thick and tough materials to provide plenty of protection for your feet, such as leather or a heavy synthetic material which can take a substantial time to dry once wet.
In addition, the upper on hiking boots often have multiple layers of material stacked one on top of another which can slow the drying process down even further as the inner layers have no exposure to air, trapping moisture inside the materials.
Due to this, hiking boots, as well as other types of boots can absorb and store a lot of water in their materials requiring more drying time than say tennis shoes that use much lighter and thinner materials.
In addition, because of the waterproofing and construction of the typical hiking boots, common methods of drying shoes should not be used when drying boots making the process of drying them even more challenging.
For example, it’s important to avoid extreme or high heat when drying hiking boots as it can damage the leather, waterproofing materials, and glues used in the construction of the boot which can significantly shorten the life of the boot.
How to Dry Hiking Boot Quickly: Setting Appropriate Expectations
Before discussing the best ways on how to dry hiking boots quickly it’s important to set appropriate expectations first.
The first thing to remember is that “quickly” is a relative term and the goal when trying to dry hiking boots quickly is to dry them faster than what would be possible if you were to just let them naturally air dry which can take days or even as long as a week to completely dry.
The second point to keep in mind is that a 60% to 70% dry boot is better than a boot that is not dry at all. While given enough time all the below tricks would completely dry out a hiking boot much faster than just letting them naturally air dry. If you’re on a multi-day hike and only have a few hours to try and dry out your boots it will more than likely not be possible to completely dry a water-soaked hiking boot in just a few hours.
Top 5 Best Ways to Quickly Dry Boots
Below are the top 5 tricks that I have discovered work the best after many years of waterlogged boots and plenty of trial and error when trying to figure out how to dry hiking boots quickly.
Prep the Hiking Boots for Fast Drying
In order to ensure your hiking boots dry as quickly as possible, it’s important to prep your boots with a few simple steps to speed up the drying process.
The first thing you want to do to speed up the drying time is to remove the insole and laces from the boot. Removing and separating the different components of the hiking boot will allow the boot to dry faster by increasing the boot’s surface area exposed to air. Pulling out the insole and laces will also ensure that there is no water trapped inside the boot between the different materials.
The next step is to use a towel to dry off the hiking boots as much as possible to remove any excess water on or in the boot. In order to do this first use the towel to rub down all areas of the boot to remove any water on the outside. Once this is complete double the towel over a couple of times and begin pressing the towel into the boots upper, doing this will draw the water out of the boots upper and into the towel significantly decreasing drying times.
How to Dry Boots in the Field: Campfire Boot Drying
Now at first glance, you might think that this is rather obvious as putting any wet material near a fire including boots will dry the material out but there is much more finesse than just sitting your wet boots near a fire.
As mentioned above extreme heat can damage the leather and waterproofing of a hiking boot and potentially even melt the rubber soles if the boots are placed to close to the campfire. So when placing your hiking boots near a campfire to dry them out never place your hiking boots to close to the campfire.
To find the optimal distance from the campfire to dry your hiking boots start from a place where you can feel no warmth from the fire at all and begin moving your hand closer to the fire to the point where you can just slightly feel the warmth from the fire this is where the sweet spot is for drying hiking boots.
While only using mild heat from the campfire will slow the drying time down it will also help to protect the longevity of your hiking boots.
Once you have the correct distance from the campfire figured out the next thing to ensure quicker drying times for your boots is to make sure you align your boots at the correct angle to the campfire.
After much try and error, I figured out that the best angle for drying your hiking boots with a campfire is a 45-degree angle so that the foot hole is aiming as much as possible towards the fire. By positioning the boot in this manner it will help to ensure you are forcing the warm air into the boot which will help to dry out the inner layers of the boot and ensure the entire boot drys and not just the top layer.
Drying Boots Using a Shammee or Newspaper
If you don’t have a fire available to help speed the process up when drying your hiking boots another great technique is to use a shammee or newspaper.
Really any absorbent material would do the trick but the two most popular materials are shammees and newspapers.
This drying trick is very simple and all you need is either two shammees or a couple of handfuls of a wadded up newspaper. Once you have either absorbent material the only thing left to do is to cram either a shammee or handful of wadded up newspaper into each boot packing it as tight as you can and leave the material in your boot overnight.
The shammee or newspapers will actively wick the moisture from the boot overnight leaving your hiking boots substantially dryer in the morning than they would have been if you had just simply let them air-dry overnight.
While I have tried this drying trick with both shammees and newspapers. I prefer to use shammees over newspapers for several reasons.
The first reason, in my opinion, a shammee is better for drying is they are reusable and can simply be rung out when finished. Secondly, newspaper ink has a tendency to transfer from the paper especially when wet which can stain your boots or the socks you wear inside the boots after you use the newspaper. Finally, shammees are just more versatile than newspapers and are handy to have around as they can perform several duties when hiking on the trails.
Use Hand Warmers to Dry Hiking Boots
Another great way to quickly dry wet hiking boots is to use hand warmers.
Similar to the concept as the shammee or newspaper method but instead of packing each boot with an absorbant material you instead place a hand warmer in each boot overnight to help dry the wet boot out faster.
A popular brand that works really well for boot drying is Hot Hands by HeatMax which you can find on Amazon here.
These hand warmers reach an average temperature of 135 degrees Fahrenheit and can reach temperatures of up to 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Lasting up to 10 hours these hand warmers will dry your wet boots all night long while you sleep so you wake up with warm and dry boots to put on in the morning.
Use a Boot Dryer When Possible
While a boot dryer won’t work in every situation such as when trying to dry your boots in the field. A quality boot dryer is one of the fastest ways to dry out a pair of wet hiking or work boots.
So if you find your self with home-court advantage with wet hiking boots I would highly recommend a boot dryer, as it is not only one of the fastest ways to dry your boots out it also can help to protect the longevity of the boot.
This is because a boot dryer uses gentle warm air through thermal convection to promote airflow and to help speed up the drying process with warm air. But doesn’t use so much heat as to damage the leather or waterproofing ability of the boot.
So if you are someone that finds themselves with wet boots often I would highly recommend investing in a quality boot dryer such as the PEET Electric Boot Dryer which can be found on Amazon here to help protect your hiking boot investment which can often cost well over a 100 dollars.
Bonus Video and Tip on How to Dry Hiking Boots Quickly
While I have not personally tried the method in this video to dry out wet boots I thought it was interesting and might consider it for the future.
Curious about whether or not all hiking boots are waterproof? Check out our article “Are Hiking Boots Waterproof?” to find the answer.