Boot & Glove Warmer Advice
thebowlerfamily
2010-05-05 20:16:09
Hi,
Looking for any input on successful warmer units (already tried hanging up in engine room). I am currently looking at the Advantage PEET Dryer Model#M07F w/Glove Attachments. We only run our generator for a few hours each night so need something fairly quick drying.
Thank you in advance for your input.
Christina, Jeff, & Jacob Bowler
F/V Candace M
:?:
ericv
2010-05-07 17:29:28
Couple of thoughts on this. Dry boots and gloves do more than create comfort, can save on infections growing, arthritis less aggravating, keep the toe jam and finger stink at a minimum. I hang my spare gloves clipped by a finger in a safe location in the engine compartment, when anchored and the 453 shut down I swap them out. Many a vessel has torched to the waterline by a glove that dropped onto a hot stove top and took off.
I carry an extra set of felt boot inserts that hang by the gloves, they get get installed each morning before heading out. Once the insert are out, I place the rubber boots in the enclosed engine compartment (in a safe spot) and the residual block heat through the night does a good job of drying them out. A better approach may be to set up a rod or dowel that allows the boots to set soles up so the heat travels up the boot. If your flush enough, buy a second pair of boots and trade them out each day after toasting in the engine area. PEET dryers do work well, not sure the drag it might have on an inverter but worth a thought. It is important to get out of the boots and socks at the end of the day and let the poor feet air out, I carry a cheap pair of flip flops for this. As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Eric
Salty
2010-05-07 17:57:25
Okay guys here is the tip of the day. Do not, I repeat, do not wear boots trolling. Do not wear boots. Your feet rot in them. You are in them up to 18 hours without changing them. Your feet rot in them. They stink up your whole boat when you take them off.
I went through one summer fighting a hangnail that turned into a big infection and cost me both time and a lot of pain. I had to find an alternative to boots.
Here are a couple of ideas. Keen makes great sandals for everything from wading to walking. Often I just wear the sandals over my bare feet. My feet breathe and feel great all day. When it is too cold for just bare feet I wear seal skin socks and then the sandals or wading shoe. My feet breathe all day and don't stink.
It is easy and quick to change the sandals and socks if for some reason I step into a tub of water. Usually on my trolling boat I am not wading in water, just a bit of drips from my rainpants, the hose, or water on deck. My wife, who does not like sandals for some reason, has gone to the ankle high extratufs which keep her toes dry but do not stink up like regular extratufs. I have not worn boots trolling for over 15 years now.
Salty
2010-05-07 18:04:07
On gloves,
I have about 100 pairs of clean/new gloves available every trip. We change to fresh gloves every time we come inside. I do admit to hanging gloves over the diesel stove, but I have 5 or six pair, including new ones, hanging there ready to go. I love pulling on dry warm gloves. We do not put on wet used gloves. It is uncomfortable, dangerous, and reduces your urge to get back at it.
We wash up as often as possible with a bacteriacide hand wash and always every evening. Your hands are so important in trolling and keeping them clean and dry is as essential as keeping your engine running.
Gloves are inexpensive. Infected hands are extremely costly.
Next week, how to keep your mind healthy trolling if anyone wants to know.
frozenatsea
2010-05-11 03:14:48
What I have learned. Clean your feet every night with diaper wipes. Change socks often and use Wigwam or another synthetic socks. Peet portable dryers are the best. The tower dryers fall over and the portables dry your boots faster. To dry your gloves, roll down the cuff as far as possible and hang by the rolled over cuff. Believe me, they will dry a lot faster then hanging them by the tip of a finger (I won a bet on this one). The evaporated moisture needs to escape. And if all else fails, turn them completely inside out and take them to bed with you. they will be dry in the morning. :D
yak2you2
2010-05-11 03:38:16
Felt insoles are the ticket for me. Doesn't seem right at first that you would add something that would make your feet sweat even more, but the reality is they suck up all the moisure. Then, at the end of the day, you simply pull them out, hang them up, and replace them with dry ones. As A gillnetter I will go over the top of my boots regularly, as in completely full of water. My recipe for fixing this was a quick trip to the cabin, pour out the water, take out the felts, fold up some newspaper and put it in the bottom, put them on and walk around for a couple of minutes, take out the soaked up newspaper, put in new felts and go. good wicking socks do help, and nothing beats a handful of baby powder. Baby powder, however un-macho it might make you feel, is good anywhere there may be chaffing.
JYDPDX
2010-05-11 16:50:03
I swear by the "Bama" socks in conjuction with the felt liners. They are the blue booties that I believe are made by Extra-Tuff. They really pull the moisture away from my feet and leave your boots dry upon removal. I've had problems with trench foot As well as athelete's foot in the past and never since I started using these things. Pull em out and dry them by the stove overnight. I find it's best to get boots one size larger to make room for then but when you find the right fit they make the boots way more comfortable and cushioned and as mentioned much less swampy :)
Salty
2010-05-12 08:34:49
Wow, what a great thread for practical advice. I will try the glove trick for sure.
But, these ideas intrigued me.
Taking the gloves to bed with you? You must be sleeping alone.
Hanging the felt insoles up in your cabin to dry? You must be fishing alone.
frozenatsea
2010-05-12 09:02:20
It is good to change the insoles every couple weeks or sooner if needed (just ask your deckhand). And those Bama socks really do work. They wick all the moisture out of your socks. Change or wash them often. I saw a pair on a friends boat last week that were completely worn out and they were growing something yellowish green. That reminds me. Keep Lysol spray handy to spray into your boots before you dry them. When you kill the bacteria, you kill the smell.
davidtettleton
2010-05-12 16:39:32
I'd like to hear about the healthy mind while trolling--Salty. Is there more to it then wondering why one pole is quivering more than the other after a long lull in the bite?
Salty
2010-05-12 21:27:26
"Mentally healthy troller" 8-) is an oxymoron like "rich troller". :lol:
But here are some tips to not going totally insane.
1. Do not compare scores with known highliners on a regular basis. It will drive you crazy.
2. Forget all the "magnetic field", black box voltage and bonding black magic voodoo. It will drive you crazy.
3. Do not crack the secret channels and scrambler codes of certain highline troll groups. It will drive you crazy, and make you think craziness is normal for the troll fleet. I cracked the secret channel (s) of a freezer troll group a few years ago and I thought I would get some good intel about fishing bites, gear, etc. All they talked about was their freezers, core temps, freon, engines, etc. When they did wander off topic they talked about their motorcycle engines, their lawn mower engines, their microwaves. In two years and way too many hours of listening I never did garner one good fishing tip but I learned enough about engines and freezing to know that if I wasn't already crazy this would be a good path to get on to get there.
4. Do not eavesdrop on the guided sport fish channels. It will make you want to do something both illegal and immoral to some of those guys who think illegal and immoral is part of the genre. Not good for a trollers mental health.
5. If you want feel relatively mentally healthy then listen to a seine skipper communicating with his skiff man. While you may be crazy you are nowhere near as crazy as that seine skipper in most cases.
6. If you want to feel real good about yourself tune into the secret gillnetters' channels. While you may be relatively bitter about life, worried about getting gouged, etc., nothing will refresh you like listening to a couple of gillnetters for a while discussing whether they really corked the guy they just set in front of or worrying about whether they are going to get corked, or whether all those fish swimming by just under their net, or outside the line are ever going to come up or in.
7. That quivering pole is a line load of big kings but they are all on the only hootchies of that brand you have on board and the other lines are not quivering because those darn fish have decided that is all they want for the rest of the trip.
I am qualified to report all the above as I have a family history of mental health problems, have a degree in health education, have served on mental health committees, have been salmon trolling one way or another for 60 seasons now, and have numerous excuses for arriving at my present state of mental health, or lack thereof.
davidtettleton
2010-05-12 23:01:44
I can relate to the first two especially! When I do ask someone how they did I try to make it in general terms like"good" or "not bad" although "some" and "a handfull" is vexsome and madening. Glad to hear about the box cause mine is always doing what it wants anyway-----although--I know I can tell when I have a piece of metal in my mouth---.
thebowlerfamily
2010-05-14 18:21:29
Thank you to all for the informative & resourceful replies.
:D
joeman79
2010-05-15 15:14:08
Salty,
Where do you find Seal Socks and what model or style is best? I have several pair of wading sandal and like the idea of no boots.
Thanks,
Joe
Salty
2010-05-15 16:03:18
Murray Pacific has sold them here in Sitka. I also believe I can get them at McDonalds Work and Rugged Gear. But, they last a long time and it has been a while since I bought them. The trademark is Sealskinz. I also have a little higher riding insulated neoprene like socks called Gator that work well in sandals.
Good luck with them. Let us know how they work for you.