Heated sox, Heated insoles or Booties

[Bump79]

Keeping feet dry is key. Try a vapor barrier (plastic bag) under your heavy wool socks. Make sure your boots are good and water proofed so they don't soak in moisture. The vapor barrier technique was a game changer for me.

This sounds like a terrible idea. You're trapping any moisture in your feet and not allowing it to escape. If your boots are waterproof then the water is sweat and your keeping it in.

 

[LookinforDirt]

Feet can be a tough nut to crack. Durning the rut this year, morning temps 21-25f, I used uninsulated pack boots with felt insoles, and a heavy weight wool sock. 5 hour sits. Yeah, my feet got cold (annoying cold, not unbearable cold). And I forgot/left my 1200 gram insulated boots and Arctic Shield booties at home!

As a kid hunting mid-Michigan, I had cheap KMart (yep, KMart) “leather” boots and doubled up on cotton socks. Could barely squeeze my foot into them. I was 14 and still vividly remember how miserably cold my feet were on a snowy, windy, 14f morning sit. Like borderline in tears cold. Still sat there. Had my fist sips of blackberry brandy, provided by a family friend hunting with us, at the car to warm up. That’s how we did it in the 80’s. Lol, not recommended. Don’t know why my Dad let me go out there that way. But he gave me his pack boots after that. Pure heaven compared to my previous misery.

Anyway, these days for sub-30f hunts, an insulated pack boot (felt, not Thinsulate), heavy wool socks, and maybe chemical warmers. Wiggle my toes often and remember that day at 14. If I have a hike, I’ll pack the boots in and/or change socks when I get there. A well fitting insulated boot, dry feet, and quality wool socks take me a long way. That’s the best I’ve found yet.

These might be a good option to pack in for a long sit. https://www.westernmountaineering.com/down-garments/booties/expedition-booties/

 

[Bucky44]

Can't take cold toes anymore. PBox heated socks on Amazon 57 bucks 5000mAh battery 2900 reviews almost 5 star? Thermacell i know all the complaints and don't care if they last one seasonif they keep my toes from hurting. Or should I do both? Next down booties with some kinda covields I hear good n bad and pain to get on and noisy. Also can I stand quietly on a cold aluminum stand wo Bottoms of AS making noise? Any help suggestions, what r u using what hasn't worked ect. Thnx tribe

Here in interior Alaska, we use the white Mickey Mouse miltary boots

Can't take cold toes anymore. PBox heated socks on Amazon 57 bucks 5000mAh battery 2900 reviews almost 5 star? Thermacell i know all the complaints and don't care if they last one seasonif they keep my toes from hurting. Or should I do both? Next down booties with some kinda cover n hand warmers. Obviously would have to take boots off in stand for booties. Artic shields I hear good n bad and pain to get on and noisy. Also can I stand quietly on a cold aluminum stand wo Bottoms of AS making noise? Any help suggestions, what r u using what hasn't worked ect. Thnx tribe

Here in the interior of Alaska, we use the white military Mickey Mouse boot, which will keep feet warm down to -60, bulky, heavy, and ugly but the only thing that works. Online about $100.

 

[Theringworm]

Lenz 5.1 or 6.1 heated socks and their 1800 battery. They are the best battery powered sock made. All controlled via an app on your phone. They are as pricey as it gets but I would do it 10 times over. Saved my feet last week chasing goats in freezing temps in Alaska.

 

[Jake_B]

Lenz 5.1 or 6.1 heated socks and their 1800 battery. They are the best battery powered sock made. All controlled via an app on your phone. They are as pricey as it gets but I would do it 10 times over. Saved my feet last week chasing goats in freezing temps in Alaska.

How long does the battery last and how warm do they keep your feet?

 

[Theringworm]

Depends on what settings you use. They have a 1200 ( up to 14 hours) and an 1800 (up to 20 hours) battery you can buy. On the app, where you can set the temp level to 1-9. Then you can have that temp level run constantly, or you can have it alternate on/off and you can set that time interval to what ever you want with the options being 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 minutes.

I set mine to run at a temp level of 3 or 4, and then alternate, running “on” for 3 mins, then ”off“ for 3 mins. They ran for 12 hours in that setting and had a little more than a 1/4 battery life left.

I have horribly cold feet. Obviously the first issue is to insure you are not lacing your boots so tight you limit blood flow to your feet. But if that’s not an issue and your have insulated boots and are still getting cold feet, these socks are money. I wore them elk hunting for 5 days and then 6 days Mtn goat hunting. They are amazing.

 

[EJFS]

This sounds like a terrible idea. You're trapping any moisture in your feet and not allowing it to escape. If your boots are waterproof then the water is sweat and your keeping it in.

Instead of soaking your insulated socks/boots with sweat and ruining their insulating ability, you hold a layer of vapor against the skin which tricks your feet into perspiring less and keeps everything dry. Of course it's important to dry your feet thoroughly at the end of the day, or I often take some time in the sun mid day as well if I can. If you're camping in sub freezing temps in can be nearly impossible to get those boots/socks totally dry after day one. If you've ever had to put your feet into frozen boots first thing in the morning you know what I'm talking about. Like I said game changer ... I use chicken roasting bags, or you can buy special vapor barrier socks. Bread bags are classic too, but they don't hold up and I don't like the idea of the potential for any grain/yeast in there to breed bacteria. Try it if you struggle with cold feet ... Thank me later!

 

[Professor]

Feet can be a tough nut to crack. Durning the rut this year, morning temps 21-25f, I used uninsulated pack boots with felt insoles, and a heavy weight wool sock. 5 hour sits. Yeah, my feet got cold (annoying cold, not unbearable cold). And I forgot/left my 1200 gram insulated boots and Arctic Shield booties at home!

As a kid hunting mid-Michigan, I had cheap KMart (yep, KMart) “leather” boots and doubled up on cotton socks. Could barely squeeze my foot into them. I was 14 and still vividly remember how miserably cold my feet were on a snowy, windy, 14f morning sit. Like borderline in tears cold. Still sat there. Had my fist sips of blackberry brandy, provided by a family friend hunting with us, at the car to warm up. That’s how we did it in the 80’s. Lol, not recommended. Don’t know why my Dad let me go out there that way. But he gave me his pack boots after that. Pure heaven compared to my previous misery.

Anyway, these days for sub-30f hunts, an insulated pack boot (felt, not Thinsulate), heavy wool socks, and maybe chemical warmers. Wiggle my toes often and remember that day at 14. If I have a hike, I’ll pack the boots in and/or change socks when I get there. A well fitting insulated boot, dry feet, and quality wool socks take me a long way. That’s the best I’ve found yet.

These might be a good option to pack in for a long sit. https://www.westernmountaineering.com/down-garments/booties/expedition-booties/

I remember those days. In Georgia we did not have access to pack boots. All our hunting gear was a combo of WW2 surplus and whatever they were selling at K-Mart. It’s not as cold here as it is in Michigan, but our winters in the mid to late 70s were brutal. We hunted in single digits regularly and it was just a contest to see who could stand the pain the longest. Leather K-Mart boots were the worst. We had a big snow one year and my uncle hooked a ski board to his truck and drug us around. The toe of my brother’s boot got worn completely off and we saw those boots were really made of some kind of plastic.

 

[Professor]

Instead of soaking your insulated socks/boots with sweat and ruining their insulating ability, you hold a layer of vapor against the skin which tricks your feet into perspiring less and keeps everything dry. Of course it's important to dry your feet thoroughly at the end of the day, or I often take some time in the sun mid day as well if I can. If you're camping in sub freezing temps in can be nearly impossible to get those boots/socks totally dry after day one. If you've ever had to put your feet into frozen boots first thing in the morning you know what I'm talking about. Like I said game changer ... I use chicken roasting bags, or you can buy special vapor barrier socks. Bread bags are classic too, but they don't hold up and I don't like the idea of the potential for any grain/yeast in there to breed bacteria. Try it if you struggle with cold feet ... Thank me later!

I tried bred bags once and my feet still got cold. This year I’m ordering some Rad vapor barrier socks and see how that goes. I’ve had enough of frozen feet and people telling me all I need is a good uninsulated boot and wool socks as long as my boots aren’t too tight. I’m going to buy Lenz socks and some Baffin boots too. Some combination is going to keep my feet warm. If not I might dig a hole in the ground and stick my feet and a Buddy heater in it.

 

[Beagle1]

Buy the Lenz and wait on the Baffin. The Lenz are the real deal and should keep your feet warm in whatever boots you have.