Chemical toe warmers to dry boots in tent, or to warm them in morning?

Would  those chemical toe warmers be of any use to help dry out boots while in the tent in the evening?

And would those be useful to help warm the boots before putting them on in a cold morning vs putting on cold boots?

Thanks for any thoughts or alternate ideas.

2x 500ml Nalgene bottles, boil water and put one in each boot. Works really well, and you’re gonna need water bottles anyways. 

I've used them on multiple occasions.  They'll work ok but you'd be better off finding a way to keep boots dry in the first place.  They'll take the edge off of a cold boot in the morning too.  If you're just talking about the typical dampness from sweat, they'll do well at that.  

Make sure to give them a shake every 20-30 minutes to reactivate them and keep them warm.

J R wrote
Thanks for any thoughts or alternate ideas.

i always just pull out my liners and throw them in the bottom of my sleeping bag in the middle of the night. 

If your moisture issue is sweat related, I'd recommend giving vapor barrier liners (VBL) a go.  A VBL will keep your boots, no matter how long you wear them, bone dry.  Google it; there's a bunch of  options out there from bread bags to VBL socks by Rab.

AlpineIce wrote: If your moisture issue is sweat related, I'd recommend giving vapor barrier liners (VBL) a go.  A VBL will keep your boots, no matter how long you wear them, bone dry.  Google it; there's a bunch of  options out there from bread bags to VBL socks by Rab.

This, especially for modern 1.5 boots which don't have removable liners

I usually like to take a kitchen sized garbage bag for a bivy with single boots. Use an ice tool or a piton to get the outside of you boots as clean and dry as possible, then toss in the hand warmers, put your boots in the garbage bag then inside your sleeping bag. Voila! If you have a pee bottle and another garbage bag for clean snow then you can just climb in the bivy / tent and settle in for the night.

The hand warmers will work much better than toe warmers. They have more chemical which means more heat. I use them to dry gloves in multi day climbs, especially if I ended up using a pair during the day for my hands. 

abandon moderation wrote:

Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of using breathable materials in boots? Goretex, outdry, etc.

I am gonna put it out there that a boot that is insulated to any degree is not going to breathe much. For really cold weather on multi day outing vapor barriers are invaluable. Takes some practice getting the right fit/sock combo. 

I have a hard time getting boots dry day to day even staying in hotel room. VBL eliminate the issue.

Porter M wrote: The hand warmers will work much better than toe warmers. They have more chemical which means more heat.

Check out the body warmers too. They're about 2x the size of the hand warmers.

abandon moderation wrote:

Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of using breathable materials in boots? Goretex, outdry, etc.

In practice I found that my feet sweat FAR less using a VBL sock set up. They will get to a very slightly damp point when working hard and that's it. Without them I would frequently have toes that looked like prunes by the end of the day, both the boot and sock were saturated and I couldn't get them to dry. 

With the VBL setup my feet are just likely damp, liner socks normally dry out in around 10 minutes if there is sun. Boots don't even get damp.

Waterproof "breathable" membranes are honestly just flat out stupid in winter footwear. The physics don't work out. You need a temperature and humidity differential across the membrane to really help drive diffusion. Since they are the furthest from your skin (closest to ambient temp) there is little temp differential across to assist. For summer/spring routes the outer fabric will normally end up fully saturated and now there isn't a positive gradient, the membrane isn't going to breath at all. Backpacking in occasionally wet/damp conditions at moderate temps they work ok. 

I’ve been using VBL for years and would never go back when using a single boot. My feet sweat a lot and before I used the VBL my boots would get wet and cold. The only time I have had cold feet in my boots was when I didn’t wear my VBL (excluding very cold ice climbing)

My liner sock is generally wet after a full day, but they dry quick and they are light so I can carry a few if needed.