re Desiccant?type Floatants . . .

[SMClark]

Seems there was a chemist or two among you . . .

I would guess the most common use of desiccant would be humidity control, primarily for protect packaged electronic components. Presumably, it absorbs moisture right out of the air in the packaging container, often a relatively large cardboard box. On more than one occasion, I?ve read that desiccant (commonly silica gel) eventually reaches its saturation point, but can be ?reactivated? by judicious use of a microwave oven.

The part about absorbing moisture out of the air until saturation that stumps me :

If you open a desiccant?type fly floatant like Top Ride or Easy Dry while in, on, or near a creek, river, pond, lake, etc, doesn?t it try to absorb that creek, river, pond, etc; ie, wouldn?t it almost immediately reach saturation? How could it possibly be capable of drying the second fly . . . ?


? smc ?

[Bamboozle]

SMClark:

No chemist here but...

There are other types of desiccants used out there but for the most part silica seems to have the upper hand in fly fishing. There are two types of silica used out there by fly fishermen: Silica Gel which is a desiccant and used for drying, and Fumed Hydrophobic Silica (think Frog Fanny) for floatant.

Silica gel absorbs water and works great to dry a soaked fly. It is usually large crystals sometimes with colored indicator crystals mixed in with it. Fumed hydrophobic silica is something completely different. It repels water and is a really fine powder. I know that some fishermen put soaked flies in Frog Fanny but that's not its intended use.

There are also some products out there that contain both silica gel crystals and fumed silica that claim to both dry & waterproof your flies. Where the products you mentioned fall into the fray I don't know. I use plain silica gel for drying and fumed silica for floating as separate things.

Silica gel's ability to absorb moisture is effected by many things among which is exposure time, humidity, temperature and surface area. Opening that little bottle even in extreme humidity doesn't allow much exposure time although on really humid days and with repeated use silica gel crystals will become saturated and ineffective. That's when I recharge mine by judicious use of a CONVENTIONAL oven. Too high heat WILL destroy the silica gel crystals and make it useless.

Maybe the real experts will chime in with a scientific explanation but for the most part chalk it up to magic.

[Dub]

Not sure if it works, never tried it, but I read a 'Tip' somewhere, that you can use regular rice, 'Minute Rice' supposedly works better, for this purpose. Place rice in a film cannister and put a small groove in the lip of the container for the tippet. Place fly in and shake. The dry rice absorbs the moisture off of the fly. Like I said, I haven't tried this so it may be a worthless 'Tip'. Inexpensive to try though.

Dub

[rons81]

I tried the rice thing with my cell phone. It took a little swim with me in the Chattahoochee. It dried it up. Phone works again.

[SMClark]

Thanks, Bamboozle, that helped. Apparently only the 'silica' part registered with me and I missed that there are two distinctly different silica products.


rons, from the looks of Lake Lanier a couple of weeks ago, you NGa guys are using WAY too much desiccant, you and Dub need to keep that Minute Rice tip under your hats !


Thanks, folks
-smc-


Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish he will drink beer, tell lies and wear a stupid hat . . .