Are any "waterproof" boots/hikers truly waterproof?

LostArra

WKR
Joined
May 9, 2013
Messages
3,653
Location
Oklahoma
Gaiters would have helped. I did not anticipate walking through wet, knee high grass but am smarter to think ahead now.
This is reason #2 I wear the low ankle gaiters. #1 is I elk hunt in a lot of sage brush and the gaiters prevent the sage from grabbing the laces and untying them.
 
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Johnny Tyndall

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 17, 2021
Messages
219
Location
MT
All my leather/synthetic hiking boots have eventually wetted out. I've had good success with neoprene (xtra tuffs) and pac boots, where the lower is all rubber and the upper is leather (tucked under rain pants). Removeable liner on the pac boots helps as well. Nothing like cold, wet feet to take the shine off a day.
 

GambelOak

FNG
Joined
Jun 30, 2023
Messages
12
My boots stay waterproof for quite awhile but it is the moisture that leaks in from the top that saturates my pants, then the top of my socks, then down into the boot liner. When I wear gaiters I don't have this problem. I'm using Scarpa and LaSportiva.
 

Okhotnik

WKR
Joined
Dec 8, 2018
Messages
2,212
Location
N ID
wear good gaiters with your boots. no issues with scarpa


Makes a big difference. goops already covered
 

jmez

WKR
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
7,550
Location
Piedmont, SD
Hanwag Alaskan GTX and Crispi Idaho's. Both of these have been waterproof for me. Even in long, rain soaked grass.
 

Seeknelk

WKR
Joined
Jul 10, 2017
Messages
846
Location
NW MT
Gaiters are certainly needed in wet grass...but if it's warm out they also trap a TON of sweat moisture as well. Gore Tex and other products are only breathable to a small extent and it's often overwhelmed.
I've had decent luck with gor Tex and off brands of it but it's usually only good for 6 months of hard hunting. The flex of boot literally forces water thru those membranes after a while. Quality leather treatment is definitely needed.
 

Marble

WKR
Joined
May 29, 2019
Messages
3,577
I'm now on my 3rd Elk season with my lowas and they are still waterproof. Each time they get muddy or wet for a long time, they are cleaned and oiled. My Danners are still good too.

I probably wear them 100 days a year at least.
 

mcseal2

WKR
Joined
May 8, 2014
Messages
2,726
I've had better luck with Kennetrek than Meindl, Danner, and other brands I've used. I treat them a couple times before a wet hunt though. I treat them first in August during the heat. I use Kennetrek wax and set them out in the sun all day on the deck. I bring them in at night to avoid dew and put them out again the next day with more wax if they will take more. When it won't soak up anymore I quit. I then wear them on wet conditioning hikes until right before the hunt and treat them again. When I do conditioning hikes in dry grass I wear my Salomon 4D boots to save wear on the Kennetreks.

For caribou I used the Crispi Hiland Pro boots with the built-in gaiter. They kept me dry for a week of the wettest conditions I'll probably ever hunt in. If I'm headed on a hunt where I'd consider muck boots I'd use them again. Muck boots just don't work for me if I'm hiking a lot. I need some ankle support, and even with good insoles they are hard on my feet over time. I fought plantar fasciitis for a year after wearing muck boots for work to much on a reall wet fall. I never want to do that again.
 
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