Kenetreks and wet feet

[Taylord9]

It rained cats and dogs and I hiked 7 miles up a mountain mainly on a road and in puddles. Like an inch of rain all day. At the end of the day I legit poured half cup of water out of my mountain extreams. I dried them out and waxed them up with obanaufs wax. I’m hoping this will help. my pants were not water proof and we’re also soaked under my gaiters. Can they also leak this much through the top? Any input from “boot nerds” wooing be greatly appreciated.

 

[welkin]

There's no such thing as a waterproof boot

 

[snowymtnwolf]

Likely rain down under gaiter this getting pants under gaiter wet and thus water running ever so slowly down into boot


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[Taylord9]

Likely rain down under gaiter this getting pants under gaiter wet and thus water running ever so slowly down into boot


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I need new gaiters then! What do you recommend?

 

[snowymtnwolf]

Gaiters mainly for snow / wet grass brush. When it’s raining cats and dogs it’s just going to permeate. Water / sweat just rain down leg and eventually into top of sock and then down into boot.

Likely waterproof pants would stop that but as somebody else ^ said - no boots are waterproof besides a rubber boot that you wouldn’t want to hike in


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[grfox92]

There's no such thing as a waterproof boot

Kenetrek boots lined with Windtex are certainly waterproof and the only boot that stays that way for the life of the boot.

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[grfox92]

It rained cats and dogs and I hiked 7 miles up a mountain mainly on a road and in puddles. Like an inch of rain all day. At the end of the day I legit poured half cup of water out of my mountain extreams. I dried them out and waxed them up with obanaufs wax. I’m hoping this will help. my pants were not water proof and we’re also soaked under my gaiters. Can they also leak this much through the top? Any input from “boot nerds” wooing be greatly appreciated.

This was from water wicking down your pants into your socks from your wet pants. Rain pants over your boots will keep your feet dry.

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[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Take the insoles out and fill them to the top with water and look for leaks. They can develop leaks of all types over a period of time.

I had one pair of heavily used MEs and my feet were soaked. Did the soak test and they leaked like a sieve. Lesson learned: each summer do a soak test to 1) verify waterproofness and 2) allow sufficient time to break in a new pair of boots if needed.

Gaiters work well for keeping external moisture out. But they can suck donkey balls for keeping internal moisture (ex: sweat) from wicking out. I see this every year in AZ during the early season hunts: wet legs, lower pants, socks, and damp boots. But take the gaiters off and everything is dry. Periodically open up the gaiters and everything dries just fine. This issue gets compounded with higher moisture environments.

 

[Swampcruiser]

Im not positive but these waterproof membranes are designed to keep water outside and let water vapor out - I would soak in a tub remove and resoak in 6" water with dry paper towel or newspaper in the boot to check for leaks- thats how I find the leaks that always happen in my crappy Crispi and Solomons.

 

[Theringworm]

This was from water wicking down your pants into your socks from your wet pants. Rain pants over your boots will keep your feet dry.

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I agree with this. I have been in some Alaskan storms where it rained from sun up to sun down. Hiked dang near all day. Gaiters over my rain pants which were all over my Kennetrek ME’s……… zero issues. A slightly damp sock from sweat/exertion but nothing severe enough to cause “raisin looking” skin. My Kennetreks have been a solid reliable boot.

 

[HuntandFly]

Same experience as many others with my mountain extremes: worn them for 8 years hundreds of miles and finally last year they sprung a leak after the rubber lining along the toe finally started to completely deteriorate.

Prior to that, miles and miles in soaking wet conditions and the only dampness in the boot was a little bit of sweat, EXCEPT when I didn’t wear gaiters or waterproof pants to prevent wicking down my base layer or socks into the boot.

I’ll be buying another pair soon, love those boots

 

[Taylord9]

Waxed em up with Obenauf’s wax. ( let me know if that’s ok) and hiked in the rain again today. 4 miles through the brush not as wet as th other day but the treated boots and better gaiters did the trick. Feet were bone dry everything else was soaked AF. Also, the new Blackovis merinos do in fact have a bad odor and I got 2 rips about the size of a silver dollar hiking out of a hole.