River crossings: wet boots vs water shoes.

Dear dspottydog, We've lost trampers in our club on river crossings. River crossing was one of the biggest causes of death in the mid 1800s. If you go with experienced people or a club or do a MSC course or read their bushcraft manual you will find out what to do. It is possible to cross a big fast river, but you will not find out how in this forum.

I love it when someone says "Harden Up". Trouble is, every ones feet are different. I have no end of trouble with my feet when I tramp with wet boots. Guarantee I will have blisters one hour later and will be bleeding two hours later. I do believe you need some boots when crossing (I have tried sandels and shoes but they are generally too soft and damage the feet). My thinking now is to use a pair of tramping shoes (non-waterproof) and keep on going, relying on the shoe draining quickly. Over the years, from the start of settlement, drowning has been a major cause of deaths in NZ. These days, we are a bit of whoosts at crossing rivers (with good cause). It is worth spending time on getting gear that will work FOR YOU, and developing good technique.

The last time I mentioned my sandal use on a forum, I was flamed. However I am sharing data and my experience. I mainly tramp in sandals with about a thousand days notched up with this particular footwear. I also tramp in rubber gummies sometimes and recently wore leather boots for the first time in 12 years when my mate developed blisters so we swapped footwear. Sandals have never been an issue for river crossing for me or anyone else I've been with as long as you have a decent brand e.g. Source, Lizard, Chaco or San. I have also attended club river crossing courses as an instructor in my sandals. Of course for MSC courses where I instruct, I wear boots as we do what the creed advises on our courses which is "supportive footwear". I was on a trip recently and we had one river crossing only. The water level was mid shin at the most with minimal current so I took my rubber gummies off and crossed in bare feet. I have also done this occasionally when I've been wearing plastic climbing boots and we have insignificant rivers to cross with good vis of the bottom. I read a lot of overseas literature and one source was emphasizing wet feet as being a hazard for blisters which surprised me as my experience (pre- sandals where blisters are a thing of the past)is that wet feet prevent blisters. As the above says It's all about what works for you. My partner will actually deliberately wet his feet on a tramp.

i can't believe no-one has mention the words "broken ankle" ! walking in water decreases vis to mega low so no idea whats going to be under the next step. heavy pack, slippery ground and a rolling rock under foot will surely be begging for a broken ankle. the more supportive the footwear the better! a heavy wet foot with blisters will still get you to the end of the track, a broken ankle won't. (not to mention hidden stakes and any other sharp rubbish lying around !)

As Honora pointed out, everyone is different (except when we're not :) I appreciate the support provided by full leather boots (with waterproof lining) - good quick-drying socks are a necessary adjunct. I wear long, breathable gaiters (you can get 3 or so steps through a river without water ingress if you're quick!) and carry a light pair of crocks for camp/hut use. River shoes are OK if you intend to walk up/down a river but changing for every river crossing just takes too much time ! Contrary to what might be expected, the waterproof lining of boots (almost unavoidable, these days) actually assists drying out your feet. Consider how waterproof fabrics work - they pass water vapour from the warmer side of fabric to the cooler, and don't pass liquid water. So, having crossed a wide, knee-deep river (ie thoroughly saturated boots, water to the ankles), drain the boots and wring out the socks (ie remove the liquid water). As you get tramping again and you generate body heat, your feet quickly dry (or, more correctly, return to a more normal level of dampness). However, if I know I have a long tramp in water, or multiple river crossings, so that persistent wet feet are unavoidable, the night before I'll tape my feet where the blisters usually form. Result : no blisters. If you are faced with a couple of hours of knee-high water, you are going to have wet feet - you need a strategy to deal with it.

Hmm, interesting how spam can revive a thread. I definitely prefer boots over anything else when walking up/down a river. There's the safety issue (esp in NZ) with boulders and low visibility, etc, and that's enough justification for me all by itself because I can be terribly clumsy in rivers. Besides this, though, if your feet will be getting wet anyway then I think there's often a benefit in having trapped water pooling around them with a chance to warm up rather than constantly and quickly running over the feet and sucking away all the heat. I know there are other experiences with this and I figure if Honora likes sandals then they're probably perfectly okay in particular circumstances as determined by Honora, but I've also been in the odd river with people wearing shoes and sandals where the water was reasonably cold and I think those people suffered a lot for having the running water sucking all the heat out of their skin. On one occasion, at least, we changed our plans because someone's feet were freezing.