uninsulated boot heavy sock

[ramdez]

Hello all, I'm from eastern Pennsylvania and I have been wondering which would be best. Traditionally I get an 800gram thinsulate boot that i wear from September > January in all different conditions. I was wondering if anyone did any testing by getting a really good waterproof uninsulated boot and wearing super good thinsulate socks?? This seems logical ...but i'm wondering how it performs :)

[swamp]

i like Lacrosse boots..

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jsp?cmCat=MainCatcat20564-cat20570&id=cat280030

[ramdez]

and i like turtles :) sorry couldn't resist.

so you opt for ultimate water proofing and insulation? where do you hunt? i've always thought boots like that were bulky and annoying. what are your takes? what are the draw backs of these boots?

i think my question tho was, why not buy a shell and then swap the insulation as needed by means of really good socks. so the boots can be multiseasonal.

[swamp]

really good waterproof boot = rubber boot

if you are standing in water for a good part of the day hard to be a good rubber boot is hard to beat...

[LeeInSC]

I hunt in all kinds of terrain. My feet don't get that cold, and I use uninsulated boots a lot.
I only have one pair of insulated boots right now, 400 gram Thinsulate Danners.
In swampy areas and crossing creeks, or deep, wet snow, I use LaCrosse uninsulated boots.
I use a heavy wool sock that goes to the knee. Inside that, I use a thin, light, tight-fitting sock like a poly or olefin, to wick away moisture and create a layer. The soft, thin Lacrosse inserts add some sole insulation for that wet snow or icy water on sub-freezing days.

[Bushman]

Lee and I are pretty much on the same page with that boot selection. For just knocking around in the woods using a good boot with a good traction sole, I like the Danner Grouse uninsulated boot. That said I won't use a leather boot for any deer hunting because leather holds scent too well and my cover gets blown when I get sniffed. I used to use the upper end Sorel pack boots for cold weather, but now they only go out for snow-blowing or ice fishing as the deer were telling me that the leather uppers were offending their olfactory senses. Not so with the La Crosse rubber boots and minimal, less than 200 grams, or no insulation plus a good pair of Smart Wool socks and a quarter inch bottom felt liner. Sure they need to be dried out every night, but they work. When it gets really cold a pair of the Boot Blankets go into the pack and go over the rubber boots. I've never liked those mega Thinsulate boots that they make because they are heavy and clumsy and too hot for any amount of walking.

[GF.]

i think my question tho was, why not buy a shell and then swap the insulation as needed by means of really good socks. so the boots can be multiseasonal.

Because if you buy a boot with enough sock-room for really cold weather, you'll be swimming in it the rest of the year, and that will wreck your feet about as fast as anything I can think of. It's not as if the insulating properties of different sock materials are so different that you can change the R-value enough to matter without making big changes in the thickness of the laters.

Tree stand hunters have it the easiest, IMO, because almost any kind of boot is warm enough for the walks in and out of the woods, and no boot I've ever come across is actually warm enough for sitting around all day up there ion a cold breeze. So you need a decent hiker for getting in and out, and you need the warmest boots you can stand to carry and/or an external heat source for once you get up there. Personally, I always made out best with a sleeping bag and a couple of bottles of screamin' hot water under foot, but my 100-degree-below rated laCrosse pacs are OK with heat packs under my toes - they just suck for doing any real amount of hiking in or out....

With stuff like Outlast insulation and heat packs, you can really extend the comfort range of a decent boot (if you have room for the heat packs in there, but then you're getting away from a decent hker). But at the end of the day, you gotta have boots that fiit if you're going to walk in 'em. Best way to cope with that (IMO) is to layer up or down everywhere else. If you're too warm, your feet get a lot of blood flow to dump the heat; if you're cold, blood flow gets shut down to conserve it...