The $80 boot dryer that made me question 15 years of stuffing newspapers in my work boots
So I've been drying out my boots with crumpled newspaper since my first construction job in Phoenix back in 2009. That's what my old foreman taught me, and I never questioned it. Then last month I borrowed my buddy's boot dryer before a 6 AM shift, the kind with the warm air tubes, and my boots were bone dry and actually warm in the morning. Not damp, not stiff, actually comfortable. I stood there for a minute feeling like an idiot. Is the newspaper trick actually just tradition, not real wisdom? Or is spending $80 on a gadget that just blows air worth it when newspaper is free and works okay? I'm leaning toward buying one now but part of me thinks I'm being sold a solution to a problem I managed fine for over a decade. Anyone else have that moment where you realized your 'hack' was really just making do? How do you dry your gear for real?