So I bought the PEET Four Shoe Dryer for Mountain Mom a couple of years ago and it just sat in the box. She felt it was kind of frivolous and wanted to return it, but days slipped into weeks, and then months, and then it was too late to return it.
But this year is an El Nino year here in the West, and Sundance is getting pounded with snow (almost 5 feet in one week). With so many relatives coming over to play during the holidays,forcing us outside even more than usual, I decided to crack open the box to see if it would help us combat the piles of wet shoes, boots, gloves, etc in our home. What do you know, it works awesome!
The PEET Four Shoe Dryer is a simple device, with a mildly heated fan, a timer control, and four posts with various end attachments, not unlike a vacuum. It comes with adult size boot attachments in the box, but I purchased an additional glove attachments and helmet attachment. PEET gave Mountain Mom a set of the smaller kid’s mitten attachments for Big E and Little G’s boots and shoes last summer at Outdoor Retailer.
These attachments can be mixed and matched as needed by simply popping them on and off the base. It is made of thick black plastic, is lightweight, and easy to move around if necessary. It seems sturdy enough for the task, even if it looks a bit cheap. I think you could even easily pack it for ski/snowmobile vacation if you wanted.
What I Love
Simple is good. Throw your gear on the PEET Four Shoe Dryer, choose heat or no heat, and depending on how wet they are, turn the timer to a setting (ranges from 10 minutes to 200 minutes in 10 min increments), and maybe check on them every once in a while. The timer automatically shuts it down when the timer runs out, and viola, dry gear!
How long it takes depends on how wet the items are, but I don’t think we have ever needed to exceed the maximum timer setting. If you did, you would simply turn the timer again. Unlike setting your gear next to a fireplace, there is no risk of your gear getting singed/melted or your heat moldable ski boot liners getting screwed up, as it produces very mild heat. The attachments are easy to attach/remove yet sturdy enough that you don’t feel like it is going fall over or break. The plastic is thick and sturdy and looks like it will hold up well.
Attachments
The adult sized boot attachments work good for our ski boots, snowmobile boots, rain boots, and normal shoes. There is a PEET Boot Extension Attachment if you have really long boots or waders, but we haven’t needed one to date. It dries the foot bed extremely well, with longer boots taking more time to get the upper interior as dry.
The smaller PEET PeeWee Kid’s Mitten DryPort Attachment work good for the kid’s boots AND gloves, particularly mittens (the adult sized glove attachments are too big for kids gloves). I am assuming this is because kid’s gloves are smaller, with shorter fingers, and less likely to flop over and block the airflow.
The PEET Glove Attachment works very well, although putting on the gloves can be a little tricky depending on the size. This is due to the attachment opening and directing airflow directly into the fingers, which makes short work of moisture. Gloves typically dry out pretty quickly.
We have not yet tried the PEET Helmet Attachment but I expect similarly good results.
What I Don’t Like
That we didn’t start using the PEET Four Shoe Dryer sooner? Honestly, this is a great little piece of equipment. It is a little pricey at around $100 + any additional attachments (approx. $15 each), but we have used this often during the last month and are very pleased with it. Hopefully it will hold out over time and prove to be reliable and dependable.
