Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Boot waterproofing?

I leave my boots at work. Having two pairs is easier for me and isn't more expensive in the long run.

Use what the manufacturer recommends. I’m not putting beeswax, obenaufs, sno seal etc on my Parwanger leather for example. The manufacturer will have a recommendation, use it.

I use Dr. Naylor's Udder Balm, it is dual purpose! Sno-Seal on my low hanging roids is bothersome!

I have tried everything to waterproof my boots over the years on all types of leather, Gortex, and expensive boots to no avail and have never been able to keep my feet truly dry.

I finally gave up and have been wearing Felt Lined Rubber boots for years now and have never had wet or cold feet since.

Warm and Dry Feet is essential in all hunting conditions for an enjoyable hunting experience and you guys know what I mean!

Cheers ~

A big part is stopping sweat. I regularly spray my feet with antiperspirant. It makes a huge difference.

Neat trick, thanks for sharing!

YOU are the one that allowed your party's boots to fail as a ""guide"". You wouldn't be here bragging your nonsense if you or someone succumbed.

I wouldn't trust you being behind me watching on a firing line.

You are plenty deep, you can stop digging! What a joke!

I noticed a big difference in keeping my feet dry when a polypropylene sock is used under a merino wool sock.

To do the wax treatment, am I correct in assuming you do it after breaking the boots in and not when they're brand new?

Pecard shoe and boot oil waterproofing. Works for me on the leather boots that I have.



"Used on all smooth or textured smooth Oil-tanned, Vegetable, & Chrome tanned leather
Contains neutral colored pH-Balanced oil that waterproofs and conditions
Restores dried-out leather to its natural softness and flexibility
Darkens lighter colored leather"

Negative, boots can be waxed immediately, before break-in. Break-in is easier in warm weather, but it can be done at any temp. They will be a bit stiffer after waxing.

Waxing after "treating" with another solvent-heavy sauce is going to be difficult...

On a scale of 1 to 10 in tests Picards does not earn a 5.

Nikwax has always worked well for me.

It’s water based wax that when dry is very durable.
And it doesn’t soften up the leather so your boot’s ankle support stays intact.

Water just beads up and runs off.

And yes, it’s safe to use on Gore-Tex.

Leftybolt

Talking to a couple of the best cobblers on the continent they would say the same thing.

This. Warm the boots gently with a hair dryer and rub it on.....

In my horrible opinion....

Beeswax smokes everything by a lot.

Liquid beeswax is impressively flammable.

I can ruin good boots quickly with a heat gun.

Obenaufs is pretty good stuff if you don't mind reapplying often. For many folks, sheep season is 10 days max per year and then they switch to other boots. So basically they grease boots annually and that's fine. I have used Obenaufs quite a bit and mostly like it. I really like that it isn't a half day project with a 40% chance of house fire to apply.

Some folks have run boots way harder than that. It's a different discussion than work boots. It pays to listen to those folks, but in life learning is optional.

If you want to be right 93% of the time, watch where the sherrif goes and set your course 180 degrees from that.

Rubber rands often take the abuse that wax once was prized for.

Sno seal darkens leather and keeps it from drying out, but otherwise has little effect. Even in that very limited application, I'd rather have straight bear grease.

It takes a pretty warm day to break in waxed boots. You don't want to be breaking them in on a hunt.

The synthetics can be excellent or horrible. I dont trust nikwax much on leather, but I like their products in general.

Waxed gloves are great in theory, but they are so stiff they are generally useless in reality.

I usually just use a hair dryer to warm the boot and melt the wax. It takes longer but the house does not burn down. When melting wax I use a very small crackpot to melt the wax. No open flame and after I am done I add mineral oil to the wax to make cutting board finish. This makes cleanup easy on the little crockpot.

Waxed leather gloves are fantastic if you break them in during summer.

I do the same with a heat gun. I heat the leather to touch, not crazy hot, and then melt the wax in a large coffee can. Slather on the wax and use the heat gun to drive in the wax. Not crazy hot. Repeat till the leather stops absorbing the wax. Leave the wax in the coffee can until next time.

Safety should be a serious consideration... in large part that is why there are so many concoctions out there to accomplish a simple task... and none are as good as the difficult approach.