Have you ever wished there was a way to dry, deodorize, and refresh your shoes no matter where you were? If so, then look no further. The Drysure Active Shoe Dryer offers a truly portable, “use anywhere” way to dry, deodorize, and even prevent bacteria from growing in your shoes and boots.
Dry boots are about more than just comfort, although that is also high on the list of reasons to have a dryer handy. Wet footwear is not only uncomfortable, it harbors harmful bacteria and fungus and can cause a pair of shoes to rot away long before reaching their life expectancy. Unfortunately, keeping footwear dry while on the march is next to impossible. Until now, that is.
What is Drysure?
The simplest answer is “a footwear drying system that does not rely on any external power source.” But what does that mean and how does it work? The main component of the Drysure system is a mesh baggie filled with silica. Yes, silica, just like you find in the tiny packs inside everything from packaged electronics to your sneakers when they were new. Drysure has packaged larger quantities of silica in a long, mesh bag shaped to fit inside your favorite footwear. This bag is surrounded by a large plastic cage, designed to prevent the mesh bag from sitting directly on the floor or the sole of the shoes.
The tiny silica packets you are used to seeing work by absorbing moisture from the surrounding air. The Drysure bags work the same way, except their larger size allows for accelerated drying in terms of both the amount of time needed and moisture absorbed. Depending on the size selected – Active or Extreme – you can dry and protect anything from athletic shoes and loafers to your high shank tactical boots.
Because the silica-based drying process uses a chemical reaction and is not dependent on a power source, Drysure is truly portable and can be used anywhere – even off the grid. When it comes time to recharge the silica, after approximately 10 days of use (fewer if shoes are extremely wet), you can reactivate it by applying heat from the sun, a radiator, or even a low-temperature oven.
But does it work? That is the question we will answer as we put the Drysure Active Shoe Dryer through its paces. Keep reading to find out how it did and whether the Drysure system might be the answer to keeping your feet dry when on the go.
Drysure Active Shoe Dryer Field Trial Results
As stated earlier, Drysure offers two different sizes.
- Active is the smaller of the two and designed for athletic shoes, loafers etc. up to mid-height hiking boots. This is the model we tested.
- Extreme, the larger size, is designed for tactical boots or even ski boots, and works in the same manner.
Regardless of which model you choose, the system is designed to keep your shoes fresh and bacteria-free by removing the moisture from daily wearing or even drying shoes that have become wet during use.
The field tests started simple. After a normal day of wear, the bags were placed in a selected pair of shoes and left overnight. By morning the shoes were dry, fresh, and ready for another day of wear. The package advertises approximately 10 days of use under these circumstances before the bags need to be recharged. This was found to be accurate, with the bags continuing to function as expected after 1 week. Just remember to return the inserts to the provided zippered storage bag when not in use, as this prevents normal air moisture from further depleting available dry time.
After finding the system worked as advertised in a normal day-to-day wear situation, we pumped it up a notch and switched to a pair of athletic shoes that had been soaked after walking through a flooded area. These shoes were not damp; they were wet through and through. Now, to be honest, Drysure does not claim their product will dry soaked shoes by themselves. Instead, they recommend partially drying the shoes with a hairdryer and THEN adding the Drysure bags to finish the process. This statement was not entirely accurate – we found that a freshly recharged bag was more than up to the task of drying these wet sneakers over an 8-10 hour period.
Finally, there is the matter of recharging the silica. According to the instructions, there are three methods for doing this – exposure to direct sunlight, by placing near a radiator, or by heating them in a warm oven (212 degrees) for 1-2 hours. During this test period, two methods were tried – sunlight and the oven (it was too warm to turn on the radiator in July!). Both methods worked, but the preferred method is the oven. Not only does it allow you to control the exposure time and temperature, but it also appears to provide the best results.
Drysure Rating
After testing the Drysure Active System for several weeks and in a variety of shoes and low boots, the conclusion is they not only work as advertised, but they appear to perform even better than expected. From keeping your footwear fresh to drying wet shoes overnight, they offer an excellent option that is not only easy to use but able to be taken with you anywhere, anytime.
5 out of 5 stars
Disclaimer: The content in this article is the opinion of the writer and does not necessarily reflect the policies or opinions of US Patriot Tactical.
