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The $200 boot dryer I laughed at, then bought after 3 winters | Buy It For Life Gear - Free To Speak

The $200 boot dryer I laughed at, then bought after 3 winters

I used to think boot dryers were for rich hunters with more money than sense. For years I just stuffed newspaper in my work boots overnight and prayed they'd be dry by morning. Then last January in Cleveland, I got trench foot so bad my doctor gave me a lecture about skin breakdown. He told me to stop being cheap, so I picked up a used one for $80 and honestly, the difference in boot lifespan is wild. My last pair lasted 14 months, these are going on 3 years now. Has anyone else had a 'waste of money' gear item that actually paid for itself in the long run?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelarivera1mo ago

Wait, did you ever find the newspaper thing stopped working once the boots got really soaked through? I read somewhere that the paper trick only pulls moisture from the surface, so the inside lining stays wet and that's what rots the stitching over time. My buddy swears by those cheap cedar shoe trees instead, but I got a used dryer off Facebook Marketplace for like $40 and it's been running every night for two seasons now. The heat also kills the smell, which the newspaper never did, so that alone was worth it honestly. Kind of annoyed I wasted three years thinking I was too smart for it.

mark_ward1mo ago

The weekend I tried newspaper on my hiking boots, the ink bled through to my socks and looked like I'd wrestled a dead squid. Turns out the only thing it dried was my patience, so I gave up and stuck them in front of a space heater like a caveman discovering fire for the first time. That $40 dryer sounds like a steal though, honestly at this point I'd trade both my kidneys for something that actually kills the mildew smell before my wife makes me sleep with the boots outside.