I know there are a few of you that like walking up and down on rough ground so perhaps a little advice might be useful.
I don’t do a lot of walking, in the sense of doing it in itself for pleasure, but I am out every day with the dogs and the terrain is rough in forest and field bearing in mind where I live we are not far above a rocky surface.,
I want a good sole, a waterproof boot which supports my ankles and hooks at the top rather than eyes.
Until now I have bought what looks very good at a cheapish price, €60 ish, but they don’t last long before letting in water from wet grass etc.
I have 2 pairs at the moment, one has a leaky right boot the other a leaky left one. For the first time this morning I thought ‘what the hell’ and wore the 2 good ones.
I am not a fashionista so don’t really care but, already causing some amusement by having different coloured laces in one of my pairs I thought ‘I wonder how much a really good pair might set me back?’
You could spend a lot of money on a good pair of walking/hiking boots and I’m sure many have their favourites. Many years ago I bought a pair of boots for walking in the Pennines, not scrambling up scree slopes or anything, just hiking. I bought a pair of boots from, of all places, Clarks shoes. They were very comfortable, had 3 lace eyes then four lace hooks on either side and lasted me 12 years, hiking about 3 to 5 hours per week. They finally did bite the dust ans when in Bristol last year, I bought another pair of similar Clarks boots for half price in an end of line sale. They were similar to these except mine were leather rather than suede … I’d never buy suede. They’re not for serious hiking, but for what you need they may fit the bill.
Sadly, I can’t find hiking boots to suit my feet… but I still have a tin of old fashioned Dubbin (from another lifetime) and I do find that a thick coating of this on my lace-up shoes helps to keep my feet dry.
(A coating over the stitching where sole meets upper… and then all across the leather uppers and any fancy stitching/whatever…)
EDIT: I’ll be pleased to find out where I can get some boots…
I had some good ones a few years back from Decathlon which were a fabric and not leather or suede. What I did do was spray them with the special waterproofing spray that Decathlon do that you put onto tents and other outside items to prevent water penetration. I sprayed the boots each time I wore them for about three weeks and it built up a good protective layer which indeed, kept any wet out.
Dubbin, thats a blast from the past. My OH and my brother always coated their steel toecapped working boots in that to protect their feet from damp and protect the leather outer.
In my experience, the only waterproof boots on Earth are rubber Wellies.
Get a comfy pair of hiking boots in the material of your choice, matched to a suitable weight pair of moisture wicking socks and coat the boots in a suitable water repelling agent.
Thinsulate does what it says on the tin : it’s thin and thermally insulates your feet.
Gore-tex doesn’t work at temperatures and altitudes that sensible humans go hiking in.
Thanks for all the useful suggestions. I do have a tin of water repellant spray, bought after one of the pairs I have saying that it should be applied to them. Trouble is with that boot the ingress is underneath where a couple of chunks of the rubber tread have broken off completely leaving what appears to be the underside of the interior fabric bare. Not much can be done with that situation.
The boot of the other pair which leaks looks fine when looking straight down on it. There is a really good unbroken stitch which is what fooled me into thinking that they were solid, but looking closerI see that that stitch attaches the upper to the lower but there is another layer lower than that which is part of the rubber tread and it is those 2 layers that have separated.
I glanced at the Clarks and the Thinsulate sites but I agree that suede is not the way to go and, although Thinsulate links to Amazon Fr, my preferred seller online for security reasons, although they list pages of hats and gloves there is nothing at all for feet.
I’ll look again at all those but I am thinking maybe the best way to go is buy a reasonable cheaper pair, use the spray on them and accept the fact that they will have a shorter finite life. Then buy again rather than what I have done up to now which is soldier on with wet feet.
We used to do a lot of walking on the Cornwall coastal paths pretty rough in places. We’ve always bought Grisport hiking shoes. Italian made! But not too expensive around €120. I never bother going to a shoe shop I just reorder the same model on the internet
Here in the Aveyron, I normally hike two or three times a week and from late March to November, unless there’s been heavy rain and it’s super muddy, I’ll wear Keen trekking sandals - they protect your toes and can last for ten years or so.
I recently bought my wife a pair of Mammut boots at a massive discount and they’re so good (dry light and protective) that I’d like to replace my slightly disappointing and far more expensive Aigle boots(which had replaced my english Brashers) with something similar to my wife’s boots. If you can find a good discount these boots aren’t seriously expensive. Try:-
I like to walk in agricultural boots, which have superb grip, are comfy and give support all the way up above the ankle. They’re not fully waterproof but will handle most wet (slippery) and rough ground. I also use standard walking boots when dry, but whereas I get though a pair of these a year, the agricultural boots rarely ever need replacing!
Thanks again all, much food for thought. Both the Grisports and the Mammuts look the business. As I have said before I am nervous ordering online other than from Amazon and I’ll go back and look again for the 2 above there, but much of what they sell does not come from Amazon’s warehouse, so not full protection in the case of a return.
In the meantime, as I cogitate, last night I transferred the best 2 laces to the best 2 boots (ie the driest). Only thing is that they are from different pairs but, hey, I’m known for being eccentric so no damage to my street cred.
Actually both are brown in colour and very similar, so I doubt many will notice.
Edit to @George1, I am sure I could not walk in the ones you pictured, I need a firm laced tight ankle grip to avoid injury.
My BIL wears ones like that when in his 40-tonner. He has to deal with a lot of wet surfaces when unloading or strapping down and finds them ideal plus easy to get off when in the cab at night.
Ah ha, I draw the line at outdoor wear on long drives, always in my wooden soled with leather upper Dutch clogs. So comfy and warm in winter, cool in summer as I can slide my feet slightly out of them at will.
Driving work is a different matter though, security footwear obligatory now along with the dayglo vests, special gloves and hard hats too in many cases.
I spent close to €200 over 10 years ago on a pair of LOWA walking boots. They have a Gore-Tex lining so are completely waterproof, not just water resistant, unless wading in a stream. They are after +10 years as good as new.
With walking boots you get what you pay for.
Having worn walking boots in all sorts of terrain for many years, if you want to be dry then you need Goretex in the boot. I have recently bought my first pair of Salomon boots (the X Ultra Pioneer 2) for 140 euros at Decathlon. From my experience so far they give excellent grip on wet rock. This model is a shoe (fitting below the ankle), but they do other models if you want more support. Definitely recommend them.
What on earth do you all do if you are walking through long grass? I can’t bear soggy feet, socks and trousers so it has to be wellington boots. A friend swears by riding boots.
