My water leak test results

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Nov 13, 2014
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These sat overnight and have identically stopped leaking with about an inch and a half of water in them. Leaked pretty fast the first couple hours.

I'm thinking maybe the way they're constructed or wear from ankle flex?

Either way I had wet feet for days in these and eventually a blister on the bottom of my foot.
Curious what others think?
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What boots are these? did you do any treatment on them? I have basically decided that the only waterproof boots are brand new rubber boots. Irks me when a boot claims to be waterproof but half an hour of walking in wet grass produces wet socks.
 
OP
C
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Crispi Colorado II's and nothing for treatment. Just kind of weird that they both leaked down to the exact same level. I don't have a ton faith in the long term durability of any Gortex boot but these weren't used much before Elk season and one good soaking and it was all over. It's a tough pill to spend $370 on new boots and have problems on the first hunt. Whatever they're made of is like a sponge. Once they wet out it took days to dry them out and only to soak the water right back in.

I think I'll give Crispi a shout out and see what they say.
 
OP
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Gore Tex in a boot is almost worthless, the only good thing it does is limit the amount of dust between your toes.
Buy your boots at rei, 12 months return.
I agree. I was doing the rei thing but arthritis in my toe had me loving Crispis toe box.
 

Blandry

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Oh you FILLED them with water.. not really the same thing.. you can have seam issues.. I've had to send several boots back after ingress.. If you filled them with water they would leak like a sieve.
 

EdP

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I don't expect my "waterproof" leather & GTX boots to hold water or to keep my feet dry like a pair of rubber boots would while standing in water for long periods. I DO expect them to keep my feet dry from rainwater running down my raingear all day and from stream crossings where the exposure time is limited. If you need a higher level of "waterproof" my thought is you need to be using rubber. Quality boots assembled properly with GTX linings will meet my expectations but one bad seam and they won't perform.
 

Blandry

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Well you know brother.. a bunch of manufacturers use goretex.. LICENSE goretex.. it doesn't mean you will get goretex.. even the top level goretex branded won't guarantee that.

It's an issue with your footwear provider.
 
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Crispi Colorado II's and nothing for treatment. Just kind of weird that they both leaked down to the exact same level. I don't have a ton faith in the long term durability of any Gortex boot but these weren't used much before Elk season and one good soaking and it was all over. It's a tough pill to spend $370 on new boots and have problems on the first hunt. Whatever they're made of is like a sponge. Once they wet out it took days to dry them out and only to soak the water right back in.

I think I'll give Crispi a shout out and see what they say.
You should call them, because that’s not normal. I will say, synthetic doesn’t hold up for me… wish it did, but thorns find their way through eventually around here.

Between the 4 pair we have, have not had a pair of all leather zamberlans leak yet, asolo have been solid there too.

My crispi boots have been good too, I get over a season of dry feet, but haven’t got 2 seasons of hard use out of any. I’m going to try some lapponia next year though, I like that boot, and don’t have very high expectations for staying dry long
 

5MilesBack

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I've had a pair of Crispi's for about 10 years now, that I generally only use when it gets wet. That way I keep my Zamberlans dry and in good shape. I always use my KUIU Yukon gaiters with both pair. Both are untreated. The Crispi's have been great at keeping my feet dry whenever it's wet out. It rained for 12 hours straight a couple weeks ago, so it was WET out. They were great. Then when I got home I went to clean the mud off them and the heels peeled back and completely crumbled to powder. Have no idea what would cause that. The rest of the sole is fine.

Had to use my Zamberlans that are also 10 years old, and the boots I wear every year for elk hunting. Had a couple more wet days up there and they worked great.......kept my feet dry while becoming caked with mud. Gaiters were soaked on the outside and covered in mud as well, but my feet were good.
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OP
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My Wildrocks have been great for a few years now but they're all leather and I treat them frequently.
 
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Blandry

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I've had a pair of Crispi's for about 10 years now, that I generally only use when it gets wet. That way I keep my Zamberlans dry and in good shape. I always use my KUIU Yukon gaiters with both pair. Both are untreated. The Crispi's have been great at keeping my feet dry whenever it's wet out. It rained for 12 hours straight a couple weeks ago, so it was WET out. They were great. Then when I got home I went to clean the mud off them and the heels peeled back and completely crumbled to powder. Have no idea what would cause that. The rest of the sole is fine.

Had to use my Zamberlans that are also 10 years old, and the boots I wear every year for elk hunting. Had a couple more wet days up there and they worked great.......kept my feet dry while becoming caked with mud. Gaiters were soaked on the outside and covered in mud as well, but my feet were good.
I had some Asolo's do that years ago.. I put them up for a few months w/o use and when I picked them back up the soles just fell off from the heel forward. I did a google search and it was an issue that many others had reported. I really liked those boot but they were like 3 years old at that point and I didn't worry about fighting with Asolo trying to get them replaced.

I hear there's a place in UT that will resole Crispis if you're interested. They're right on the CO side off I-70 so not too far to ship. I plan to have them resole my Briksdals because they'll be shot next year.
 

Fullfan

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Interesting, just spent 18 days elk hunting in Idaho. I have two pr of the Crispi Idahos. One or is less than a year old, other is two years old. Also a pr of Crispi laponias. All were treated w the Crispi waterproofing cream. The Idahos all leaked and my feet were soaked. The laponias did great. Have an email into Crispi. Awaiting a response
 

Blandry

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the only boot that's 100% waterproof is a muck type or pac boot but water will ingress if the Gore-Tex liner is stitched. I've sent several back sometime 2-3x to get ones that didn't leak. It's just a manufacturing process/defect.. it's going to happen. sometimes you're lucky sometimes now but the stitching will fail eventually and you'll get wet feet.
 
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My Crispi's have been waterproof but the pairs that are not all leather the soles warp - meaning when you hold them upside down and look at the soles the heels are twisted away from the forefoot. I don't feel anything weird on those when I walk in them but I won't purchase any Crispi non-leather boots going forward as I am not impressed with the build quality.

Anyone here with Crispis see any sole warp on yours? I might pester them about the warranty on the Colorados.
 

Blandry

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I've had much better experiences with mountain boots from la sportiva, scarpa. asolo (my mountain running shoes are scarpa ribelle running and I think I could sheep hunt in these lol) waiting on the GTX models to drop in the US. I also have some super duty Schnees granite pros. These are high mountain boots and really good.
 

Fullfan

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Crispi contacted me, have an RMA for the one pr, was advised by Crispi to contact Gore about the second pr due to them being 16 months old. Awaiting a response from Gore.
 

Fullfan

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Update, Crispi has warnteed one pr of my Idahos, new pr on the way. Gore informed me they are waiting on test results from the other pr of Idahos.
 
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