Dalraida said:Back around 83 I spent a very wet week in the woods on a BP. Being frantic to renew the waterproofing on my Limmers I ended up using bacon grease on my boots. It worked, smelled wicked good and my boots were not harmed. I'm still hiking in them. I do recall wondering at the time if I should hang them at night with my food
ChrisB said:. . . on a recent trip down N. Percy in heavy rain my feet got soaked. I forgot my low gaitors and my socks wicked in enough water to float my feet.
So gaitors are part of the equation as well!
ChrisB said:The Nikwax seems to wear off very quickly in the field. At the start of a wet day the boot toes would be dry, but by mid-day they would be showing signs of water penetration. cb
DougPaul said:Chris Townsend has published the theory that a quick drying boot (or sneaker) is more important than waterproofing a boot. (I presume he means for non-winter.)
Peaks said:If you listen to the boot manufacturers, most recommend a water based product like Nikwax
Chip said:I've used Sno Seal for about 30 years, no cracking or dry rot. I think the trick with Sno Seal is how you apply it. I remove the laces and in-sole, pre-heat an oven to 150 and bake the boots for about 5 minutes, apply Sno-Seal generously, return boots to oven and repeat. I repeat about 3 or 4 times, until it's obvious all the Sno-Seal has melted in and been absorbed.
forestnome said:I've used Aqua-Seal for years with good results. This spring, I changed to Limmer boot grease, thinking it must be good if it's from Limmer. It seems to have dried out the leather. It goes on well and works on the trail, but by the next week the leather seems dry.
forestnome said:I've used Aqua-Seal for years with good results. This spring, I changed to Limmer boot grease, thinking it must be good if it's from Limmer. It seems to have dried out the leather. It goes on well and works on the trail, but by the next week the leather seems dry.
Another possibility is some interaction between the different treatments.dave.m said:I wonder (this is just a guess) if the silicone based Aqua-Seal you've been using has failed to condition your boots well. Could be that the leather is "thirsty" for oil.
Mink oil softens leather and, IIRC is generally not recommended for hiking boots. (I'd check my reference books, but they are in packing boxes right now.)JimB said:I didn't see any mention of Mink Oil.
IIRC, one pundit claimed that it will also help leather to rot.JimB said:Wow, I looked it up and "do not use mink oil on your boots" or they will end up like mine . It will soften the leather.
I tried a search engine and found some evidence that mink oil can go rancid and rot leather. References and excerpts below.Kevin Rooney said:I believe I remember the thread, but don't think they said it would rot the leather but rather soften it the point of being mostly useless.
Neil said:What a thread!
One more question: I must have applied a gallon of waterproofer/protectant to each one of that first pair of boots I owned. Where did it all GO?
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