Dry out those boots

Spring in the Northwest means some soggy hiking at times. Here’s a way to dry out those wet boots a lot faster. First, undo about half the bootlaces, gather them together and tie one big knot near the end of the laces. Then open up your clothes dryer, place the boots inside of it keeping the big knot outside the door near the top and close it shut. If they’re pretty soaking wet, you can place the dryer on “high” for about an hour or so without worrying about them getting too hot and becoming damaged. But then after the first hour or so you’ll need to keep an eye on ‘em to decide when you should turn it down to “medium.” If you just toss those stinkers in the dryer, put it on “high” and then walk away and forget about them for a few hours, it’s highly likely you’ll damage your boots by causing them to become too dry or delaminating the glue.

Important: When you first switch on the dryer, if you hear “thumping” sounds coming from it, this means your boots are rubbing/banging against the revolving cylinder.  Immediately stop the dryer, remove the boots, untie the knot and then retie it a little bit closer to the boots so they’ll be positioned in the center of the revolving cylinder and won’t rub or bang against it.

This tip was suggested by Mazama Dean Kokko and borrowed from http://www.therangerdigest.com