Boots - Gore Tex or not ?

keep your feet warmer in winter until the gore tex eventaully gets holes in it i go for the boot design, a lot of good boots happen to have gore tex. i woudnt not buy a boot because it has gore tex and i wouldnt not buy a boot because it doesnt...

They probably don't let out as much water as a hole melted through your Bullers, but it's way better than leather boots that retain like buckets. Possibly a bit cooler in Summer ?. I prefer my Goretex panelled boots if I know I'm going to get wet feet.

My first pair of boots were leather and every pair since then have been Goretex. I have found the Goretex boots keep the water out really well. I am with waynowski on this one however - for me it's all about how the boots fit my foot!

Yep. They keep the water in ok. Comes in the big hole at the top. Passes through the goretex and gets stuck between it and the leather. Every footfall forces it to make new holes looking for a way out. And try and dry the things ... takes days to coax water back out with newspaper. Boot life expectancy halved, drying time doubled. Probably good if all you worry about is a bit if sweat but goretex an absolute pain if you doing in-water stuff and plan on using em again the next day.

you're a pom arent you? you're supposed to take your boots off at the first sign of a puddle....

I've often said that 'us poms are born waterproof'. But I'll leave the working the high-country barefoot to kiwis and hobbits.

Agree with "madpom" They are terrible if you are in and out of rivers all the time! Poor durability too! Good for easy going where you can keep your feet dry!

I have to say that my experience has been the opposite. I do agree that if the goretex cracks (can often happen across the top of your toes area with the wrong boots) it is game over. That said, my boots are often drier than my husbands leather boots. I walked the Heaphy in 4 days of rain recently and was the only one with perfectly dry feet the whole way. The only way my boots get wet is when I step in water that goes over my gaiters or in prolonged drenching rain. My first leather boots gave me blisters on the soles of my feet on my first tramp (Milford track). On the other hand a couple of years ago I walked the Milford and my boots were falling apart by the end. We had one night to restock before walking the Routeburn and I raced down and bought a new pair of goretex boots. I walked the Routeburn with dry feet (again loads of rain) and not a single blister or sore spot! My husband on the other hand tried a pair of goretex boots and went back to leather again this time around. We agree to disagree on this subject! :)

I've got a pair of Keen goretex boots and yes, they're good if the water's not going to get in via "the big hole at the top" and I've certainly noticed they take longer to dry so I guess the trick is to wear my Keens on particular trips and the other boots on others. For serious river travel I often prefer to just wear my sandals for the whole trip as they dry very quickly and in sustained river travel, the feet keep warmer a lot more as they are working harder in sandals and the cold water is squished out so doesn't sit in the boot, keeping your feet cold. Not an option for everyone though, I acknowledge.