Tramping Research Project

Some things don't change. :-) How about an unlined, long lasting sole, semi rigid (crampons), thick leather (durability), randed, medium height, quick lacing, boot?

This feedback is fantastic! Thanks so much for your input. Its good to ask straight from experienced users of these products. These images and existing products are great examples that I will research into more. Having wet feet,sweat , wet gear are some big issues. How long does this take to dry? Weight of the product when dry and wet. Durability as some of you mentioned DWR. Quick drying vs completely waterproof? Attachments or built in? and making this affordable and available in New Zealand. Ethic issues involving toxic sprays etc. Useability testing will be interesting!River crossing and over a period of time. Is anyone based in wellington?

Hugh, exactly some things don't! Durability is such a big issue. I dislike products that have a short lifetime , the world is polluted enough. With unlined what do you mean? and semi rigid like crampons? easier for crampons to be attached? Love the use of leather and completely randed for river crossings? and quick lacing would be ideal. A better sort of lace and gives more rigidity . keep posting!

I can live with wet socks but dislike boots that won't let the water out. I used to drill drain holes in my Bullers and have also done this with modern vibram soled gortex lined boots. Most boots come with heaps of padding & I wish they didn't because the padding falls to bits quickly, retains quite a weight of water & makes for slow drying boots.

Hugh means unlined, as in they don't have liners like ski boots etc and semi rigid (3/4 shank) means you can use crampons without them coming loose and also walk comfortably in them on approaches. I personally think there are an insane amount of boots available today especially compared to 20 years ago anyway. The big problem with so called 'goretex' lined boots is the big hole in the top of them :) Jackets are the same, but thats another story.. Heard of super gaiters?

Your right about the number of boots you can buy, I went over to bivouac and added there selection up, 27 types of boots and another 20 odd mountain/trek/running shoes!

I was quite upset when I had last had to replace my boots and discovered there were hardly any options for non-"waterproof" boots. I ended up buying ones with goretex lining because I couldn't find any others that fitted. Almost always I'm going to cross a river that is more than ankle deep, so they'll get wet anyway. I don't expect to get my boots fully dry during a trip, but after river crossings it didn't take my old ones long to get back to only 'slightly damp'.

Traditionally a solution to getting blisters was to wear a thin pair of socks under the thicker ones. I have some very thin coolmax socks (coincidentally so does Frank). I often wear 2 pairs of thin socks as they are quick-drying compared with 1 thicker pair. With these modern padded (and slow drying) boots, 2 thin pairs is quite comfortable. For longevity, the old gold top brand mens dress sock can't be beaten. It can be found in op shops. Probably from deceased gent's estates as they outlived the wearer! Even in sandals running down screes I would get 6 months out of them. When I get to a hut, off come the socks and boots. The socks get wrung out thoroughly and put out to dry ASAP. The boots get put upside down to drain, moved inside and up high to dry further and put out in the sun in the morning. I am a big softie and hate hanging around huts in wet boots, especially in the morning. I've never gone as far as the double internal application of newspaper but it sounds like a very good idea for a big blouse like me. My feet are permanently numb from cold damage in parts around the toes and ball of the foot.

@chris1 "I was quite upset when I had last had to replace my boots and discovered there were hardly any options for non-"waterproof" boots. " I couldn't agree with you more. That's a fine example of the market selling hype over reality. The very definition of tramping in this country is 'wet feet'. It's an absolute given for all but the most manicured of tracks. The only pertinent questions are around how you are going to deal with them being wet.

so - an unlined boot, just thick leather with no gortex, foam, padding etc. Its much more practical when tramping to wear the 'padding' and even the 'goretex' as a sock (or sock layers) that can be taken out, wrung out, replaced, dried ... at the approriate time. Two pairs of socks was normal, and both would have been 'thick' socks by today's retail standards - was normal till the retailers decided to supply 'better' boots that only needed one pair of street socks worn inside and were 'comfortable' from the first time you wear them due to all the padding built into the boot. Easy to sell to the masses. That works OK on developed walkways with culverts and bridges and a drying room at night, (on the Milford Track, ? even mountaineering above the snow line where there are no rivers?) until it rains for real. But as already pointed out - wet boots is the norm in tramping it isn't a big deal - and it would be even less of an issue if the boots weren't lined with fixed padding. Lace up short gumboots were popular (and still are with some people) because with no padding and 'waterproof', they are light, don't absorb enough water to notice, and cheap. They are not much fun to put crampons on and don't give much assistance on steep ground. Back to basics - trampers are a very small market, and no one makes a boot for tramping.