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Winter Boots and Dealing With Moisture


wiiawiwb

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Sasquatching in winter in cold parts of the country can present both opportunities and significant challenges.  One such challenge is staying both warm and dry. I like to hike around the woods looking for footprints in the snow where I'll stay overnight. Over the years, I've tried a few approaches to keeping my feet warm.  I think I've finally found one that works for me.

 

The challenge in winter is moisture control particularly if you are staying overnight. While hiking in winter, your feet will sweat but they may be kept warm while doing so.  It's not a huge deal as you'll be headed back to your car and home by day's end.  Foot moisture is a nuisance at a minimum or a danger in the extreme when you stay over in the woods.  What do you do when you stay overnight in 20F weather and the moisture in your boots cause them to freeze?  You're in trouble. You must prevent this from occurring and there are a few options.

 

1) Create a vapor barrier.  If you can create a way to keep the moisture next to your feet but away from the boot's insulating lining you can contain the problem. A simple solution is to carry extra socks with you and put your feet inside two plastic bags you get at the grocery store before you head out into the woods. The plastic bags create a vapor barrier. Your feet will get wet but the wetness will be contained within the thin plastic grocery bags. At night, when you remove your feet change your socks to dry ones and your boots are dry as a bone. You could also change out socks several time during the day. The plastic bags and and socks weigh almost nothing.  It's a cost-free solution. For those who are fashion-oriented, you can buy vapor barrier socks that do the same thing for $20-$30.  I prefer to use those funds for other sasquatching costs.

 

2) Get winter boots that have a removable inner liner. An inner bootie. I just got a pair of Baffin Snow Monster boots rated to -94F that have such a lining. They're not very heavy,  a tad bulky but good enough to hike in. I purchased a 2nd removable liner so at night in the tent I remove the moist liner and put them at the bottom of my sleeping bag. In the morning, I'll insert the 2nd pair of dry liners and I'm good to go. The warmth of these boots are incredible.  If you live in a very cold but dry snow climate, you can get mukluks with an inner liner.  They are probably the best solution and are perfect for northern Minnesota, Alaska, or places where the conditions are sub 20F all the time.

 

So, you have choices to stay warm and dry and not risk frostbite or worse.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5A6fmahR68

 

 

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VB (vapor barrier) boots. U.S. military issue for the past half century. Your feet won't stay dry, but they'll stay warm, and the boot itself will dry out quickly.

 

Trust me; NOTHING works better to keep your feet warm.......unless you're willing to spend thousands to experiment........like I did...........

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_boots

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I've worn both black and white bunny boots.  You can't argue with their concept of sealing in the insulation. That said, I much prefer newer technology with substantially better bottom gripping and rubber compounds designed specifically for ice.  The bunny boots, particularly the white ones, are quite heavy as well.

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Northern Outfitters offered the ultimate arctic extreme cold weather clothing system including boots. They're popular with dog mushers and north slope oil field workers. Their products are extremely expensive. I found that I could outfit myself with bunny boots for life for the price of one set of their boots.

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I've confronted this problem.

 

I have nice Keen insulated snowboots, but I use a plastic bag, too! We did as kids, and it worked. And it's cheap, extra bonus! I wear my Darn Tough heavy wool sock, a plastic bag, then a thin merino flat seam liner sock. Works great. If I ever had to stay out unexpectedly overnight, I carry extra socks in my pack or the truck.

 

I am always cold, unless I'm having a hot flash. Makes it difficult to dress for winter. I feel like I spend half our trips time managing layers. Ugh, menopause sucks.

 

I just saw an ad for bison wool boot insoles (and fingerless gloves and socks) that I may buy.

 

https://thebuffalowoolco.com/collections/rtw-socks/products/bison-wool-insoles

Edited by Madison5716
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1 hour ago, Huntster said:

Northern Outfitters offered the ultimate arctic extreme cold weather clothing system including boots. They're popular with dog mushers and north slope oil field workers. Their products are extremely expensive. I found that I could outfit myself with bunny boots for life for the price of one set of their boots.

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These boots look interesting. They are sold out and you can't even find them on their website. Baffin makes two similar boots both rated to -148F, the Eiger and the Impact.  

 

https://www.baffin.com/collections/winter/products/40000048

 

https://www.baffin.com/collections/winter/products/4000m001

 

I also considered the Steger CamuksXTreme which is the most waterproof mukluk they have. In the end, it is only water-resistant above the rubber so I decided against it. It would have been a very lightweight alternative.

 

https://www.mukluks.com/CamuksXtreme/productinfo/CAMXM/

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Yeah, I was confused on why the website wasn't even showing the boots. There were multiple Russian websites showing them, though. 

 

When I first heard if Northern Outfitters I wanted a whole suit, but the cost was outrageous. I decided that going out in -60 wasn't any fun, anyway, and wasn't worth spending a couple grand to suit up appropriately to to so. I'll fly to Arizona instead.:D

 

Edited to add:

I got a pair of work boots from the Army that I can't wear because they make my feet too hot. The liner is reflective or some such. I'll drag them out later and check them out..........

Edited by Huntster
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6 hours ago, Huntster said:

........I got a pair of work boots from the Army that I can't wear because they make my feet too hot. The liner is reflective or some such. I'll drag them out later and check them out..........

 

When I was still working outside the Army would give us an allowance for safety boots, and we were encouraged to try different boots and report our findings. A safety salesman in Anchorage sold this pair to me, and claimed that my feet would never get cold in them. 

 

Well, he was correct. The problem, however, is that regardless of how dold it was, my feet in these boots felt like they were in an oven at 400 degrees! No kidding: I simply couldn't wear them unless it was the coldest temps of the year and I was going to be outside all day long without a break. My feet would get too hot.

 

A Canadian invention, the secret is the liner. Unlike simple felt liners of the past in Sorel type boots with rubber lowers and cardboard uppers, this liner has some sort of reflective quality in addition to insulation. It is really quite remarkable. The boot itself has a hard toe (I don't think it's steel, but it meets American safety standards), is waterproof, and isn't as heavy as bunny boots. 

 

It won't breath like the Northern Outfitter boots, but it breathes better than the bunny boot, and I would be amazed if your feet got cold in them. 

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On 12/19/2019 at 12:34 AM, Huntster said:

VB (vapor barrier) boots. U.S. military issue for the past half century. Your feet won't stay dry, but they'll stay warm, and the boot itself will dry out quickly.

 

Trust me; NOTHING works better to keep your feet warm.......unless you're willing to spend thousands to experiment........like I did...........

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_boots

2DC921B9-9550-4608-A3D9-D9785D685F59.jpeg

The mickey mouse boots . We wore those in the Marine Corps for cold weather training , warm as h#ll but heavy to hump with .

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1 hour ago, 7.62 said:

........We wore those in the Marine Corps for cold weather training..........

 

Did you wear the white ones, or the black ones? Where did you guys do your cold weather training?

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The reflective inner liner is what is in my Snow Monster.  It is such a comfortable boot.

 

The Baffin Borealis is a boot I am going to try for the shoulder season in Spring and late Fall. It has an inner liner and is completely waterproof as the outer boot is a translucent shell. It is extremely light and will allow you to stay dry and warm all the while.

 

https://www.baffin.com/collections/winter/products/wicrm001

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiBZHtAFpR0

Edited by wiiawiwb
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2 hours ago, Huntster said:

 

Did you wear the white ones, or the black ones? Where did you guys do your cold weather training?

We only had the black ones , it was in Norway

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