re: care of leather goretex boots

[DavidNH]

Hello,

I own a pair of nubbuck leather goretex lined hiking boots (Eastern Mountain Sports Summit II to be specific). I got them last fall and so far have just used them on a few hikes so they remain in very good condition.

My question is... to maintain them (supple and waterproof as possible) what is best? snow seal that I used to use on all leather boots or nick wax..that spray on stuff.

How much usage SHOULD I be able to get out of these boots? few hundred miles of rugged terrain? I would hope more...

Might it be a good idea to also have a pair of quick dry sneaker type boots ready to go as well for a long AT hike? I understand it is reccommened to have a second broken in pair. So should the second pair be a lighter more flexible boot or an equally rugged boot?
My current pair weighs 3.8 pounds but I have big feet (size 13 street shoe). I plan to start with these boots on my upcoming AT thru hike because the fit and they are comfortable.

nhhiker

[stupe]

As far as the maintainance goes.....EMS Contact Information

To place an order or for answers to your questions call 1-888-463-6367:
Monday - Friday 8:00am to 9:00pm E.S.T.
Saturday 9:00am - 6:00pm E.S.T.
Sunday 10:00am - 6:00pm. E.S.T.
To reach us via email [email protected]

Or check with your local store. Nubuck usually means silicone spray, although I have used liquid silicone in a jar, which is easier to pack than a big aerosol can. It's the only thing that works on Wolverine work shoes, and they're all Nubuck. I once spoke to a guy who used Sno-Seal on Nubuck, he said it worked ok, but it looked terrible. I looks to me like waxy greasy stuff like Sno-Seal or mink oil can't penetrate Nubuck. I would think the same goes for Nubuck/nylon or suede/nylon combination uppers. HiTech recommends silicone for these types of boots.
I once used greasy waxy stuff on a pair of Tecnica boots because it seemed more old school. They were smooth leather but Technica recommended silicone, and it turned out that they were right. I used silicone on my smooth leather ECCO's with GoreTex lining, and got years of happiness out of them.But contact EMS, they probably know better than me.

[TakeABreak]

AS STUPE say's, it best to contact the boot manufacturer about such question's each has there little quirk's about how to best treat them and what to use. I will say this I bought some cleaner and leather waterproof treatment that was recommmended for my boots, some I mailed up ahead, some a carried a week or so, used more and passed around to the hikers I was hiking with and left the rest in hiker box.

If you can find very small packages of the recommneded treatment or buy some and re-package it into smaller packages and include it, in mail drops, this would be best.

[dougmeredith]

For Gore-TEX boots you need to use a leather conditioner that isn't a waterproofer. The Gore-TEX liner does the waterproofing job. If you seel the boot on the outside, there is no point in having Gore-TEX.

Doug

[Blue Jay]

Might it be a good idea to also have a pair of quick dry sneaker type boots ready to go as well for a long AT hike? I understand it is reccommened to have a second broken in pair. So should the second pair be a lighter more flexible boot or an equally rugged boot?
My current pair weighs 3.8 pounds but I have big feet (size 13 street shoe). I plan to start with these boots on my upcoming AT thru hike because the fit and they are comfortable.

nhhiker

Yes it would be a very good idea to have a nonleather/concrete type of boot to thruhike. You put goretex and leather together, you cancel out the breatheability of both and get a hot, wet, heavy mess. I love EMS but they have a strange attachment to leather/concrete boots.