Let’s face it, there are few things worse than having to pull on a pair of wet boots when you’re getting ready to head outside during the winter. Whether you’re setting off on a back-country snowshoe excursion, heading out to shovel the driveway, or simply taking the dog for a walk, wet boots can quickly leave you feeling miserable. But thanks to a company called DryGuy, those of us who have had to deal with this problem on a regular basis no longer have to head out into the great outdoors with wet shoes on our feet.
Founded way back in 1994, Seattle-based DryGuy developed and patented a process called “Forced Air” drying to address the issue of cold hands and feet that are the result of damp gloves and boots. The company says that dry garments are as much as 25 times warmer than wet ones, which is why we tend to feel so uncomfortable when our clothes get soggy. And while there are plenty of solutions to help us dry out our clothes more quickly, there wasn’t one that could do the same thing for our shoes and boots. DryGuy has changed that however, making millions of cold, wet feet much happier in the process.
Utilizing its forced-air approach, the company created a device that uses built-in fans to push warm air into the fabrics of boots and other garments, allowing them to dry much more rapidly.
Just how quickly? DryGuy says that its devices will leave your boots moisture-free in just 1-3 hours, while competing products that use the more traditional convection drying process can often take more than twice as long to accomplish the same task. That’s because the more standard approach only uses heating elements to warm and dry the fabrics, while the Forced Air method actually circulates the air to create a higher level of efficiency.
To help us stave off the cold chill of winter, DryGuy has created a slew of products specifically designed to keep our boots warm and dry. For instance, its Force Dry DX device is the company’s top-of-the-line dryer capable of cranking out temperatures reaching as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit. It features four drying posts, each of which can warm a single shoe, glove, or other garment at any given time. Users simply place the item they want to have dried over the post, and turn the Force Dry DX on. A built-in timer will even automatically turn it off again once the clothes are dried.
Priced at $80, the Force Dry DX comes with 16-inch extenders that allow it to accommodate larger footwear, such as skiing or mountaineering boots. But, if you’re looking to save a little cash while still keeping your feet comfortably warm and dry this winter, DryGuy also offers the standard Force Dry model. This version has most of the same bells and whistles as the DX, but is only equipped with two warming posts, and comes in a smaller, more compact design. The $40 Simple Dry is the most affordable drying solution in the DryGuy lineup, although it foregoes the Force Dry process in favor of the standard convection process.
In addition to the home units listed above, DryGuy also offers two portable solutions to take with you when you hit the road. The Travel Dry and Travel Dry DX are priced at $30 and $40, respectively, and are the perfect companions when you’re headed out for a ski weekend or peak bagging in snowy conditions. These much smaller devices actually slide inside of your boots, and when activated go to work removing moisture over the course of about 2-5 hours.
Using one of these DryGuy devices has some additional side effects on top of just keeping our boots warm and dry. For instance, the gadgets have the added benefit of helping to prevent premature damage to our footwear, while also reducing the build-up of fungus and bacteria, and eliminating odor, too. This helps to make them useful not just in the winter, but the other seasons, too. Runners and cyclists, for example, are likely to appreciate dry shoes during the warmer months of the year as well.
Each of these products is available now. Find out more at DryGuy.com.