cheap 12V shoe / boot / glove / camelback drier

Personally, I hate walking around in wet shoes, and after they get wet they seem to take forever to dry. I've seen 110V versions of this cheap project to dry ski boots, but never a 12V version. Why do I want a 12V version? because after I dunk my feet because I was too busy walking around looking at the trees to see that creek, I can drive barefoot to the next spot while my shoes dry out a bit. Or I can dry them out back at camp and not worry much about battery drain since the fan I got from RadioShack only draws .16 amps (my cell phone charger is listed at .350 amps max draw). Last time I washed my sneakers it only took 45-60 minutes per shoe to dry them completely at room temp.

Assembly is pretty simple. Find a 3" diameter 12V cooling fan and a cigarette lighter power cord at RadioShack or wherever you think appropriate. Verify which way the fan blows air and attach a short length of PCV to the fan so the blades don't get hung up and stop spinning (keeps the fan out of your shoes). Attach the power cord and your done

I used small zip ties and looped them through 2 holes drilled in the PCV for each corner of the fan
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...258800x600.jpg

In my sneaker doing its job quite well.
http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/k...254800x600.jpg

*notes*
- 3" diameter is about as large as you want to go for the fan, otherwise it might be too big to fit in the shoe properly. Also, 3" allows me to dry out the inside of my Camelback.
- buy 2 fans to dry both shoes out at the same time
- it's best to blow air into your shoes
- with cloth or breathable shoes, pull the shoelaces tight against the PVC pipe so less air escapes back out the way it came in - don't do this for waterproof or full leather boots (the air has to go somewhere)

That's a good idea right there! Thanks for sharing.

Erich

Cool idea! I wonder how well it would work if you were to get a small pc of flexible piping, attach it to one of the lower vents and turnon the heat and connect the fan and duct together?

another, great idea :clap:
I actually have an extra pair of shoes in my pak of extra clothes thats always in my rig...

I did the same thing, foot slipped of a rock in a creek, a very cold creek, lol and didnt have extra shoes or socks, NOW i do, lol

but this is a great idea, looks simple enough to make, cheap enough and small enough to fit just about anywhere for storage :thumbup: