Help! How do you dry your shoes overnight in winter?

You don't. Thus the importance of keeping them dry, via the usage of VBL socks, gaiters, boot wax, and/or overboots.

If dry, brush off the snow, put them in a shopping bag and shove them in your bag to keep them warm.

I do the exact same thing you said above, but my innov8 trail runners still get a bit wet inside somehow on tips. I think it's from cramponing or bad goretex.

Boil a litre of water and pour it into two 500ml Naglene containers, then pop each inside a shoe for 10-15 minutes. It may not dry the shoes off completely, but it takes the sting out of putting them on as you get going for the day.

I agree with Christian Edstrom—you don't.

The best scenario is to keep your boots or shoes dry to begin with, if at all possible. On many of my winter trips I fanatically cross frigid creeks in my crocs just to keep my boots dry as long as possible. This is vital on a winter trip when the temps are 10F or 0F.

Once the boots are wet and frozen, well, a hot water bottle will do nothing much to dry them, although two hot water bottles placed on top of the frozen boot toes will slightly thaw them enough to get your feet in easier. But who has the fuel to waste to do this?

Depends on model. A waterproof layer isn't helpfull.

While in theory keeping shoes dry is a good idea, unless super cold / dry conditions there will be issues with boots getting wet even if using VBL unless they are something like the old Mickey mouse boots which were combinely waterproof inside and out.

On trips with a wood stove (inside a floorless shelter with stove pipe exit) that we would set the footwear near the stove with a hot water bottle inside not only dried them out but got them comfortably warm. :)

Otherwise, my goal is not drying them, but keeping them from freezing. For this I would typically put a hot water bottle inside them until bedtime and then seal them inside a dry bag and put them inside my sleeping bag.

–Mark

If you are using pac boots, you remove the liners and dry out perspiration by putting them in your shirt while you sleep.
If you treat the boot leather with wax, it doesn't absorb much water- so the 1/4" thick liners don't get damp when put back into the boot.

For trail runners, or 3 season boots – you can achieve a similar effect as liners by wearing extra thick socks, or 2 pairs of thick socks. Just make sure your shoes fit with 2 pairs of socks. Tight shoes cause cold feet in the winter. The socks need to loft to be warm.

If you are in wet snow, then waterproof boots, or trail runners with a gortex sock over your thick/warm socks, or trail runners with neoprene socks over a thin liner sock work well. The neoprene combo is warmer, but less comfy and a little damper.

In all cases, don't wear the liners/socks when crossing streams, wipe out the interior of the boot/shoe with a very absorbent pack towel after crossing streams – and put your boots inside your sleeping bag at night to prevent them from freezing.

Nope, they don't. The insulated layers you wear inside them can if you sleep with them.

Pull out the neo sock, wool sock, insole and outer vapor barrier from your shoes at night and sleep with them in your bag. Only the neo sock should be damp. Turn the neo sock inside out to dry faster.

Tie the shoe laces from each shoe to each other and sleep with them inside your bivy on top of your pad and outside of your sleeping bag (under the knees with the soles facing left and right). This way your shoes don't freeze and they don't freeze you.
It also keeps you on your pad.

Photos on layers for light shoes in sloppy snow.

http://blog.owareusa.com/2011/11/14/using-light-boots-in-the-snow-and-wet-vapor-barrier-socks/

" Otherwise, my goal is not drying them, but keeping them from freezing. "
+1

yup.
wha's wrong with wet boots ? they going to get wet anyway… right ?
now. shoving feets into frozen solid boots every morning gets old, but as long as not froze stiff, not so bad.

i have had good luck stacking them "toes up" outside at the beginning of the night, so the water can drain out as much as it's going to. that seems to help a lot.
then they need to come inside for the rest of the night. not such a bad deal boots in the tent, because you can cleverly place them down at the foot end, where they will help keep your feet from wandering over near the tent walls and soaking the bag.
with any luck, they'll still be pliable by dawn and yes, your feet will go numb while you break camp, but things get better soon enough (we hope …).
but dry boots every morning ?? one would be hard stretched to dry them At Home in one night !

so : boots not frozen. socks not totally drenched. warm feets to start with .. and what more could a man reasonably ask ?

As I crawl into my winter sleeping bag, I pull off my ski boots and place them into my sleeping bag stuff sack turned inside-out. That keeps the snow melt on the normal outside of the stuff sack. Then that goes into the foot of my sleeping bag. In the morning, the boots will be unfrozen, but they may be a little humid. Those get worn until mid-day when I stop for a sunny lunch break. I will sit on a bare rock in the sun, pull off the boots, and dry them in the sun.

So, basically, the boots don't get dried at night. They get dried at noon if it is sunny.

–B.G.–

Fire?

I turn mine upside down over one of the floor heater vents…
works every time.

billy

oh… you meant while outdoors! ?

well, if you don't have a fire…. and if it's a very dry cold, just empty them and put them inside your sleeping bag at night… the warmth and dryness will greatly reduce the moisture content… that and a dry pair of socks in the morning and you're good to go… until you get them wet again a mile or so down the trail…

that's why I took a long sleeping bag on Mt. McKinley even though I am a short guy… boots in the foot of the bag… keeps em from freezing over night and they do dry a bit… or if your bag is wide enough put them at the side of your hips…

billy

A friend asked me about where to put her wet boots. She opted for in a bag, under the foot of her sleeping bag, instead of inside the foot box, which was my suggestion. The boots froze anyway. It was probably around 20f most of the night. Winter bags are longer for a reason…. Electronics, boots, clothes that are damp (stored in a plastic bag), isobutane canisters, a bottle of water for getting the snow melted the next morning, and you in a dry layer of clothing, anything you might find useful the next morning That needs to be warm to be functional … Water filters, if you bother in winter (I don't).

It's not fun to wear bricks of ice, but I've witnessed the swearing, chipping away with a knife, the futility and then the acceptance as the foot is forced into the stiff boot. (No fires allowed in Yosemite in winter, which is usually where we end up.)

Fire?

(a) Many of us do not have a fire when winter camping
(b) Exposing your boots to a fire can be very hard on them — it is all too easy to let them get hotter than they should be

–MV

"No fires allowed in Yosemite in winter"

Why do you say that?

Basically, you can't.
Just don't let them freeze.

Cheers

I have dried many pairs of wet shoes over campfires, not in too frigid of temperatures though.
It can take a long time.
But it's not like I have anything better to do from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. before I got to sleep.
You need to be careful about the heat. The general rule is if you can't hold your hand between the shoes and the fire for more than a few seconds without your hand hurting, it's too hot.
You need to check often because even if the shoes is a good distance from the flames, it can still be too hot. Or even if it looks close to the flames, it might not be very hot.
It's not too hazardous if you pay attention. Leather shoes are best because you don't have to worry about sparks melting holes.

At the correct/safe temperature to dry boots it can take a long time. Usually takes all evening.

Well, overnight is not a problem at all, you can go in totally wet boots and it's gonna be ok.
Dealing with wet boots is harder in temperatures around freezing. Below freezing boots won't get totally wet, also you can keep them drier by using VBL.
In changing conditions, when snow melts during a day and freezes in the mornings – you don't pay attention that boots are whet, just keep your feet warm using neoprene or membrane socks (and unfreeze your bootsshoes in the mornings).

It's right on the Yosemite website – "open fires should be used in emergencies only." People would strip all the trees if they allowed fires in winter.

Rule of thumb anywhere in the California Sierra Nevada. No fires above 10,000 ft. Short growing season and little vegetation. Fires are too much impact. Also you will be too exposed to wind and weather at that elevation for comfort.

LNT practice suggests little use of fires in most places anyway.

Backcountry skiing guru Andrew Mclean has an neat method based on a backpackers panty pot parka shown in the second photo here:

http://straightchuter.com/the-elusive-pot-parka/

Of course foam ski boot liners dry a lot easier then most shoes since the foam is basically impermeable.

I've tried the following technique in the Spring (in lots of very wet snow). It won't be as successful in the Winter, but it might be something to try:

Carry lots of extra socks. In the morning, put on a dry pair and really stretch the shoes. Bend your toes over and over, etc. Your dry socks will get wet. Wring out and repeat. Put on another pair and you should be good to go, or you might have to do it again. Obviously you end up with lots of wet socks. But wet socks are a lot easier to deal with than wet shoes.

I've thought about creating socks out of the "pack towel" material, since that dries so fast. I would recommend synthetic socks, if you don't do that. These socks might not be your first choice for hiking, but your first choice for moisture absorption (cotton would work for sucking out the moisture, but then you would have trouble drying them).

If you are bold enough, you could try "stir frying" your socks (be careful). Once they start steaming, take them out, set them aside, let them cool down, then repeat. This assumes, of course, that you don't build a fire. But in general, the nice thing about these socks is that they are extra — if you burn them, it isn't the end of the world. I know a guy who dried his boots by the fire and ended up loosening the glue on the sole. Not good.

You can also dry out socks by wrapping them in a towel and then twist squeezing the towel (with the socks wrapped around them). This will get pretty much all the moisture out of the socks, but of course, then you have a damp towel. Again, though, a "pack towel" material dries pretty fast — faster than socks and much faster than shoes.

"I do the exact same thing you said above, but my innov8 trail runners still get a bit wet inside somehow on tips. I think it's from cramponing or bad goretex."

Some snow or water might be sneaking in that big hole in the top. Make sure your gaiters are protecting that. I find it nearly impossible to keep snow out of low-cut trail runners, but I use GoreTex socks. That makes the issue one of brief coldness only.

One possible explanation is that the front of the toe area has the least amount of body heat compared with the rest of the shoe. Any moisture which makes it there will evaporate slower.

With your shoes dry, put them into a bathtub with an incremental depth of water, or at a varying toe vs heel angle. That might give you an idea of where the leak is, if there's one at all.