Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Boot waterproofing

Goretex is fine in light applications. But its not waterproof like they claim and its one of the biggest jokes out there in real wet weather IMHO>

I"d bee's wax em and not worry about the fact you had to pay for the goretex name in the boot...

ANd yes, we wear a liner sock to get moisture away from the foot when sweating, poly pro of some type usually, followed by a wool sock.

I stepped off into a bog in Colorado once... it did not look like it could be much of anything, but with full pack on I"m glad it dropped off right away and that I grabbed a spruce sapling... my left foot never touched any bottom, and was up to my waist when I caught myself.

Water was cold in late September at 10K feet.

Wife and I were hiking out, and we went far enough that the pants and socks were basically dry by that evening. Cotton would not have been so friendly.

I have used obenhaufs LP on many pairs of Meindls. So far I have had no issues. I use both the LP and in between treatments their boot oil as well.

Yes. Wool socks and wool liners. I have no use for poly anything. If I'm in snow and wearing my packs I fold the pant legs over the top and lace them to the boot. No snow makes it in and I can wade streams without a drop of water making it into the tops.

If wool socks do get soaked, take them off, ring or shake them out, suit back up, and one should be good to go.

On an elk hunt Cookie and I once undressed, put our packs on (sans liners and socks) and waded the waist deep Minam river to get out after bagging our elk. Used my t-shirt to dry the interior of our packs on the other side, put everything back together and on, and continued on our merry way.

Another deal if one is on an extended trip (like 14 to 21 days in the back country) is to take spares of everything that's truly critical. Boots/socks certainly fit that category if one does not have absolute faith in his equipment.

A friend tells a story of hiking back from an Alaska sheep hunt with duct tape holding the tops and soles of his boots together. Not a pleasant idea at all. ALWAYS get the best gear one can afford.

Use an antiperspirant on your feeties to reduce the sweat factor.

Backpacker Magazine did a review of several water proofing agents and Sno-Seal Beeswax was tops‎. Best I can recall, they weren't an advertiser like some of the other competitors either.

I used Nikwax on a pair of Kenetreks at their recommendation. It was quite happy with it. The only downside I saw is that they had to be retreated a bit more often, but with the dauber/sponge bottle that was quite easy.

Funny that Kenetrek recommended Nikwax, since they sell a beeswax boot paste.

to add, I have not been overly impressed with sno seal anything. Better than nothing, but not great.

Mink oil

I'm not putting synthetics on my redwings.

You can always ignite kiwi paste wax, that will cause a chemical reaction in the Naphtha allowing a thinner carrier and more penetration of the base carnuba.

Problem with too much oil is it can overly soften the leather and cause the boot to lose structure.
My longtime favorite for all my leather boots is Montana Pitch Blend. It uses a mix of beeswax, mink oil and pine pitch.

Another vote for Pitch Blend.

+1 for Crispis and Kenetrek Boot Wax. It just works for me!

donsm70

Crisco

The big advantage of Crisco is it's easier to eat your boots when starving in the woods.

Didn't the Indians use beaver tail fat?

IIRC I bought the boots and got the recommendation in about '06 or '07. At that time, they sold the Nikwax and didn't sell the beeswax paste. The Nikwax cam in the box with the boots as I ordered them online.

Crisco probably works, to a degree, Vaseline too. However there are much better products for the task.

A few years ago, everyone was excited about a new product called Neverwet that was just coming on the market. It was put on with spray cans in 2 layers, a waterproofing layer followed by a protective layer. It would make water just bead up.
Now it's being sold by Rustoleum.

I tried it on an old pair of boots. What a joke. It left the boots mottled white to start with. Then it wore off within a day of hunting. It sure turned water when new but it didn't last long enough to get to the water. It was like wearing rubber boots. Water couldn't get in or out.

Now they have out a version made for fabrics but I'm not inclined to spend the money on it.

not a fan of sno seal. at all.
I am a fan of Obenauf's. Been using it for 5-6 years now. Havent seen a need to try anything else.