I’ve had a great boot and glove dryer for at least 10 years. It’s a MaxxDryXL, invented by a guy on Mercer Island. But living in a sunny, dry climate (most of the time), I can set items to dry outdoors. Depending what time I put them out and what season it is, they might be dry within an hour or few.
The booties from Friday’s paddle were still damp at dusk, so that’s why I left them out. They would have been dry by noon the next day, which the remaining bootie was.
Yesterday, everything I took in finished drying overnight indoors. I did fire up the boot dryer for the neoprene socks; the other items didn’t have neoprene in them and didn’t need help drying.
The skunk that so patiently waited
While dreaming of bootie feast, sated,
Lost his chance at a neoprene meal
When another slunk in for the steal.
He got skunked—or cacomixtle-ted!*
Wilderness Thief; on my first day out on a wilderness trip, I had my bug spray and coffee cup, that were in a mesh bag, stolen. There was as fox present when we arrived at our camp site. After setting up camp and cleaning evening dishes, we went for an evening paddle. When we returned my items were gone. Lesson learned!
Yeah a dry climate definitely reduces your need for a boot dryer. Must be a low wind area too! (I kept thinking while reading this thread that if I ever left a bootie outside the wind would take it before an animal had a chance to!)
I’m tempted to put out the remaining bootie, tied to a couple of soda-less soda cans containing pebbles, sited in close range of a game camera. Just to see what animals dare come so close to the door.
Anyway, the new pair of booties I ordered Sunday already arrived! Kudos to Gronseths’ Kayak Academy and good ol’ US Postal Service Priority Mail for the quick fulfillment and shipping. “Shipping”—now, there’s a misnomer!
The booties are NRS Freestyle, sized to compensate for their known trait of running one and a half sizes small. The unisex size 7 should be like clown shoes on my feet, yet they are just right. They have a fuzzy lining, which I have really liked on other neoprene clothing.
P.S.
I’m still keeping an eye out for blue and orange shreddy poop.
On the BC coast you can pretty much be assured that Coastal Wolves will be through your camp at night. Anything small and (maybe) smelly will be of interest so if I leave paddling footwear out overnight it is a gift if it is still there come morning. Putting stuff into the vestibule will usually make it wolf-safe but won’t always keep it away from rodents. Rodents won’t drag your shoes off but may chew the heck out of them.
Gotta stand and face it, life is so-o-o-o complicated.
I have had so many items nibbled upon or swiped by varmints during camping trips that I have contemplated fabricating some sort of collapsible container from metal window scteening to secure and encapsulate vulnerable items.
I spent a resrless night in an Adirondack shelter on the Appalachian Trail with a backpacking companion — we could hear the mice scurrying about our gear the whole time but thought we had secured everyhing well enough. My mate discovered in the morning that an industrious rodent had gnawed all of both the plastic bows off his glasses (probably salty tasting). As I was laughing at his distress, karma caught up with me: I went to pour hot water for tea into my fancy insulated trail mug only to find one or more mice had used it for a toilet. At least I didn’t have to use all the surgical tape in our first aid kit to fix my damages, as he did.
On another trip we heard a scrabbling ruckus outside the tent and interrupted a porcupine from dragging off a leather hiking boot. Got it back but not before the chubby pincushion had gnawed a pretty big hole in it.,
Mice, squirrels, raccoons, rats and others are undeterred by above-ground suspension. Only see it as a temporary challenge. Many black bears have devised methods of retrieving hoisted goodies as well. Bear cans/boxes are the best defense.
After the eyeglasses incident I took to keeping mine in a pint Nalgene bottle overnight. Also kept me from stepping on them as I blundered out to visit the little girl’s tree in the dark. As blind as I used to be before my laser surgery, breaking my glasses would have been a major obstacle to finding my way out of the woods without falling down something.
Had a boyfriend years ago (a seasoned wilderness adventurer and NOLS alumnus) who swore by peeing around the tentsite and smoking the cheapest nasty cigars in camp to repel critters. Certainly repelled this one. Neither tactic worked against the perseverant porcupine who insisted on loudly gnawing the plywood door on the tiny primitive cabin we used to winter camp in on a friend’s woodlot beside a state forest. Neither did loud yelling or banging on pots. The portly prickly one would just back off a few feet and regard us with disdain, as in “whaddaya gonna do about it? Slap me? Good luck with that…” As soon as we withdrew to the cabin he would waddle up and start anew.