Best waterproofing for your boots?

[LimpsAlong]

Got a pair of Asolo Fugitive GTX's. I like the boots but noticed on my last stream crossing the right boot got a little damp. What do you guys (and gals) reseal or treat your boots with?
Thanks,

[Doooglas]

Damp from within or from the outside ???
From the outside send them back

[Summit]

You could change your trail name if you switched to trail runners, no more blisters or worrying about waterproofing. Remove trail runners and use crocs or water shoes (camp shoes) to cross streams.

[Mags]

EDIT: I just noticed they were fabric boots.

Good luck is all I can say keeping them dry. :O (Water tends to get in over the top and most commercial water treatment methods for fabric boots (e.g. sprays) wear off very quickly. Plus GTX tends to keep water inside the boots).

You could try a spray; it may work a little while.

[wrongway_08]

Yea, forget it.

All boots get wet - the "water proof" label is a Yuppie seller. Works for 5 or 6 stream crossing - thats it.

Gortex ..... they get wet.
"new age" crap - they get wet.


$600.00, 6 pound, non-flexible out in the tundra expedition boots - they are water proof but get wet from sweat from the inside out.

You can waste your money on a number of "water proofers" but they dont work - I dont care what the sales people say. That crap will add ounces to your boots and change the color - thats about it.

Get a pair of trail runners (non-gortex) and call it a day. They dry out fast and weigh nothing - compared to those boots.

Or just live with the boots taking a while to dry.

[LimpsAlong]

You could change your trail name if you switched to trail runners, no more blisters or worrying about waterproofing. Remove trail runners and use crocs or water shoes (camp shoes) to cross streams.
I could change my trail name if I was 15 yrs younger!! Just kiddin' but I get your point. I've looked at trail runners but was unsure if they would work for me. Maybe I'll invest in some and give 'em a whirl.
BTW-never had a blister. Grew up in the country barefoot and still keep that tradition going into old age. Guess it's toughened my feet!
Thanks,

[bigmac_in]

Yea, forget it.

All boots get wet - the "water proof" label is a Yuppie seller. Works for 5 or 6 stream crossing - thats it.

Gortex ..... they get wet.
"new age" crap - they get wet.


$600.00, 6 pound, non-flexible out in the tundra expedition boots - they are water proof but get wet from sweat from the inside out.

You can waste your money on a number of "water proofers" but they dont work - I dont care what the sales people say. That crap will add ounces to your boots and change the color - thats about it.

Get a pair of trail runners (non-gortex) and call it a day. They dry out fast and weigh nothing - compared to those boots.

Or just live with the boots taking a while to dry.

I agree with WW08.

[Roots]

I could change my trail name if I was 15 yrs younger!! Just kiddin' but I get your point. I've looked at trail runners but was unsure if they would work for me. Maybe I'll invest in some and give 'em a whirl.
BTW-never had a blister. Grew up in the country barefoot and still keep that tradition going into old age. Guess it's toughened my feet!
Thanks,

I wore boots for a long time. Tried trail runners and will NEVER go back to boots!!! Definitely give them a try.

[Summit]

I could change my trail name if I was 15 yrs younger!! Just kiddin' but I get your point. I've looked at trail runners but was unsure if they would work for me. Maybe I'll invest in some and give 'em a whirl.
BTW-never had a blister. Grew up in the country barefoot and still keep that tradition going into old age. Guess it's toughened my feet!
Thanks,I appreciate that! What also works well for keeping my feet dry with trail runners is waterproof socks, like Sealskinz. Wouldn't recommend them in warm weather though as your feet will sweat too much. In warm weather just deal with wet feet. Something I intend to try that others have recommended is Hydropel sports ointment.

[dandares22]

Yea, forget it. Gortex ..... they get wet.
"new age" crap - they get wet.

Boots with Gortex are worth buying when you plan use them in high humidity, wet conditions. At this case Gore-tex membrane will perform as it was intended, only when there is much temperature difference inside and outside the boot.

trekking boots (http://best-hiking-shoes.com/Best_Trekking_Boots.html)

[Kerosene]

Boots with Gortex are worth buying when you plan use them in high humidity, wet conditions. At this case Gore-tex membrane will perform as it was intended, only when there is much temperature difference inside and outside the boot.Also works well in sub-freezing, low humidity conditions.

[Doooglas]

While I was "sentenced", to Floridastan,I was a fish farmer.
I had great success traipsing around all day with wet and mucky gore tex boots.Wet and mucky on the outside.
However. None of these were labeled as " hiking" boots.:confused:
Almost every time I by something that says " hiking",or "backpacking", it's all downhill from there.
I wear Haix boots and " hike";) 3 to six miles a day or so.Often with a pack on my back.
You guys wouldn't call it a backpack.:p It's as heavy empty as many of yours are loaded :eek::D.

Back to the question. "Waterproofing" is the boot makers job. Not yours.

Gotta go "hike" now. The fish and wabbitz need feeding and the trails need more gravel.Some people get to "hike" on the trails.:o Without the wheelbarrow:mad:

[Mags]

Boots with Gortex are worth buying when you plan use them in high humidity, wet conditions. At this case Gore-tex membrane will perform as it was intended, only when there is much temperature difference inside and outside the boot.

trekking boots (http://best-hiking-shoes.com/Best_Trekking_Boots.html)


Until the water gets into said boots over the top. Then the water NEVER leaves the wonderful (ha!) GTX boots.

Personally, if I were to use boots, I'd rather go with old school leather boots (non-GTX) and a healthy coating of SnoSeal. It is what I use for trailwork and seems to keep out the mud/moisture. Also works well for around town and snowy foothill strolls.

Of course, these will get wet at some point too..but will dry out quicker than GTX boots. And, of course, GTX membrane WILL get dirty at some point further making it crappier for letting moisture escape.

GTX only seems to work well in very cold, very dry conditions. For us normal folks? I honestly can't see any benefit to GTX.

[Lyle]

Disclaimer: I use trail runners, haven't had a blister since I switched from boots.

For old-school non-GoreTex boots Snow Seal worked well for many years. Designed for "Chrome Tanned" but works on all leather boots. Do NOT use oil or grease based products on "Chrome Tanned" leather boots, will soften the leather to mush. Mink Oil or Bear Grease type products work adequately on oil tanned boots. Most sales people do not know how the boots were tanned and don't know what the difference in care is even if they did know the tanning method.

I will disagree with others here. I do like GoreTex for use in boots. This is the only application for GoreTex that I think works. Vasque Sundowners were GTX lined and worked well for me for many years. Kept my feet dry on many wet trips.

This past May I did some hiking in the Boundary Waters. The word was that there was a lot of snow left on the trail and that it was wet, wet, wet. I stopped on my way to Minninsota and bought a pair of GTX trail runners to use. They worked very well. Had many stream/lake crossings where I could use logs/rocks to keep from totally submerging the shoe. I changed my socks exactly once in a 14 day trip due to getting wet. Had dry feet almost 100% of the time. Pretty good considering the conditions.

I will agree, your feet will get wet from sweat in hot conditions and GTX boots/shoes will not breath as well. You will be wet longer if you do get GTX boots wet from stepping in deep water. The GTX trail runners seemed to dry quite nicely by putting on dry socks and hiking.

As I said, I generally use and recommend breathable, non-GTX trail runners now, but I still feel the GTX lined boots/shoes do work and have their place.

[Mags]

I will agree, your feet will get wet from sweat in hot conditions and GTX boots/shoes will not breath as well. You will be wet longer if you do get GTX boots wet from stepping in deep water.


Or the rain getting in boots. :eek:

Having said that...thinking of how many people did the AT in leather boots with our without GTX (I'm looking in the mirror right now!)..it doesn't matter too much in the end. (But all the rain getting in my boots is part of the reason why I switched to trail runners :))

Goes to show why many of us say "There is NO best gear." ;)

[dandares22]

I use general not special fitted for hiking, gtx, vibram... etc nubuck romanian stiff boots for 10 years, but they now looks not very nice.. i suppose boots worth buying for 1-2 times in whole active life :-)