Boots - Gore Tex or not ?

"ellaleah" Gore Tex boots would be fine for an easy walk like the Heaphy track where there are bridges. As madpom, honora & myself have said they are no good where you are regularly going through water courses deeper than the top of the boots. Here on the West Coast tramping can involve numerous fordings of streams and rivers. Having boots that let excess water out is important! Goretex boots that hold the water are tough on the feet & have a very short life span in such conditions! If I had to use Gore Tex boots for much of the off track West Coast roaming I do I would drill holes in them so they pumped out water as I walked. (used to do this with Buller gumboots)

Glennj: your post implies that you have been able to source non-goretex boots lately. I have to ask: where and what brands? I tend to get the 'but no-one uses those any more sir!' response when I try to find any in either Wellington or Central. The only non-goretex pairs in the shops seem to be the cheapest, nastiest models. Looking online I see I can get all the well-known brands either with goretex or traditional lining: ASolo, La Sportiva, Lowa at least - but here in NZ ...? With the result I've been living with and cursing goretex for the last several pairs.

Hi Madpom, I just bought a pair of non goretex Scarpa SL's from Macpac, brand new version . 2.8mm one piece Sherpa leather, thick rubber rand, rock solid vibram m3 soles, nice and stiff soles . Joined the macpac club and got them for $420 (they retail for $550) . I use my hut shoes for river crossings, then the sl's for everything else (rain, swamp, snow).

yeah waterproof boots are a double edged sword depending on the conditions... the manufactuerers make them for the northern hemisphere market that dont have to do as much river crossing as the average nzer does and they sell well... i have gore tex boots, i have tight fitting gaiters and find i can dash across streams and avoid getting puddles in my boots, they get wet but it's not totally filled with water. of course that doesnt work when you're constantly in and out of water. so if you can afford it do you look at two different boots. you have shoes now designed for being in water that drain well but you dont see boots made like that...

We hiked NZ for about 4 months in '09-'10, and bought lightweight hikers without GoreTex due to anticipated rain, river crossings, and extended river/creek wading/hiking. The Inland Pack Track is a great example, as you're pretty much wading in Fossil Creek or the Fox River most of the time. I bought one pair of these: http://www.amazon.com/Inov-8-Mens-roclite-Trail-Running/dp/B001P3PLDM And one pair of these: http://www.backpackgeartest.org/reviews/Footwear/Boots/Montrail%20Namche%20Boots/Test%20Report%20by%20Ernie%20Elkins/ After I tried them, I bought 4 more pair of the Namche, to keep in reserve. I found them on clearance, and in the classified sections of hiking blogs. Unfortunately, both are now discontinued in favor of GoreTex versions. However, they did exactly what they were supposed to do. In combo with lightweight wool socks, things were fairly squished dry within 30-60 minutes after exiting the water. The shoes themselves really didn't dry overnight, but we kept one pair of dry 'camp socks' in reserve, and, rather than carry the extra weight of camp shoes/sandals, we brought some cut off corners of good quality garbage bags with us. Get to camp, remove shoes & socks, dry feet, put on dry socks, put on garbage-bag 'footies' (rising slightly above top of shoes), then put wet shoes back on until bedtime. Repeat in morning. Dry camp socks stayed dry, wet hiking socks go back on in morning before setting off. Worked like a charm. The Inov-8's were great too. I wish I had bought several pairs of them as well. Killed one pair of the Namches in NZ due to cumulative mileage, but I brought a 2nd pair, and the Inov-8's. Also brought Asolo TPS520GV boots (great!), but didn't resort to them at all on the entire trip. As others have mentioned, versions of this type of shoe/boot without GoreTex are pretty much non-existent now, thanks to the wonders of marketing. (FYI we're from the USA)

"madpom" Frames/Boots NZ will make you unlined boots at a much cheaper price than the Gore Tex ones you get in sports shops. A bonus is that they last two to three times as long and may be only half the initial cost. Some people don't like them because they are heavier and need breaking in. I'm a fan of the commando soles and stiffer shank. It may sound counter intuitive but I find it easier walking in the heavier soled boots, especially if carrying a weighty pack & climbing, than if I'm wearing lighter vibram soled boots. [NB I have no connection with Frames/Boots NZ except for having purchased their boots. There are still other manufacturers out there that make unlined boots]

Glennj, How well are those Frames tramper boots lasting that you got last year?

Hello nzbazza, The Frames "Tramper" boots are up to 49 days usage and are still in good condition. I just use them for the tougher trips & run other pairs of boots as well. Since I've owned the "Trampers" I've worn out one pair of Wenger Eiger light leather vibram sole boots. They lasted 35 days but were deteriorating quickly from day 8. First problem was stitching failure around the toe boxes then join failure where the leather joins the moulded soles. My reccomendation is to avoid that model and perhaps all Wenger boots. (The Wenger boots are from the Swiss army knife people but they are made in Vietnam) They were worse for both comfort and durability than the similar Gri Sport boots I had. The Gri Sports were made to last 61 days but should have been discarded after 55 days use. I thought 55 days was poor durability for what was advertised as specialist hunting/tramping boots but 35 days from the Wengers is terrible. Mates have had even worse durability out of Kathmandu branded light leather vibram soled boots than I have with the Gri Sport & Wengers! I'm back to using forestry gumboots for some of my walking now that the weather is cooler.

glennj, the heaphy was just the most recent track I walked, but I have also walked plenty of other tracks and crossed many rivers. The Gillespie pass last Dec we crossed the Makarora river first up - my boots got wet and I just stopped down the track a little and let the excess water out. a couple of other crossing my feet didn't get wet at all because the water level was just below my gaiters. The others all got wet feet. I may not have the chance to walk as many tracks as some other members here, but that doesn't make my opinion invalid. As I said - my hubby prefers leather boots and probably always will. My original point was that you should buy the boot that meets your requirements and most importantly fits your own feet.

any opinion is valid if you've had any experience tramping, i was away from tramping for fifteen years with chronic fatigue, the gear had changed completely when i came back and i had to build my understanding of it from scratch.