[pct-l] Keeping feet dry in the rain.

[Dave Potter]

I use these, it is wet in the UK and they are brilliant, they don't breathe 
but I don't care and they are cheap and hard wearing.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Waterproof-goretex-socks-size-8-new_W0QQitemZ300408051351QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_Collectables_Militaria_LE?hash=item45f1b71697

Dave


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Austin Williams" <austinwilliams123 at gmail.com>
To: "Dan Africk" <danstheman at gmail.com>; <>
Sent: Tuesday, March 23, 2010 5:24 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] Keeping feet dry in the rain.


> Hi,
>
> I hate having wet feet too, and I've spent a great deal of time, money, 
> and
> energy trying to figure out how to keep them dry in the rain.
>
> Here are some things I've tried:
>
> Water proof socks.  SealSkinz makes water proof socks.  They work well for
> certain activities (hunting, camping, fishing, etc).  I found they did NOT
> work well for long distance hiking.  First of all, they have "patented
> wicking technology" or whatever - in order to pull the sweat away from 
> your
> feet.  But the slow wicking is not match for a thru hiker's foot sweat -
> especially when the hiker is wearing a thick sock.  Second, these 
> waterproof
> socks will break down after even just a day of rigorous hiking.  I just
> think they were meant to withstand the abuse that thru hikers put them
> through.  The seals broke in short time, and between that and foot sweat, 
> my
> feet were just as wet as usual - except I was out about $40 and had to 
> carry
> the extra weight for no reason.  After a day's hike (25 miles) I found the
> waterproof socks to be no more effective than the next thing I tried:
>
> Plastic grocery bags.  I tried putting on a pair of thin socks - then
> covering my foot with a plastic grocery bag, then putting on another pair 
> of
> socks on top of that (to keep the bag from sliding around as much).  It 
> was
> less fancy than the waterproof socks.  It also made for a tight fit of my
> shoe (since I was wearing two pairs of socks).  That worked reasonably 
> well
> at first, but the bag eventually rips, slips out of posistion (ie: falls
> down by my heel), and/or rips.  They are a lot lighter than the waterproof
> socks and they are free.  But on a thru hike, they don't stand up to the
> abuse.
>
> Gators.  I wear running shoes on the trail.  I figured waterproof gators
> might have worked.  But I found that even with the gators, water soaked in
> through the sides of my shoes when walking through tall grass or brush.  I
> still use gators to stop debris from falling in my shoes, but I found they
> don't help me much in the way of keeping my feet dry.
>
> Waterproof boots with gators.  This does work (I use this set up when 
> doing
> trail maintenance).  But then, you have to hike in boots - something I am
> positively not willing to do on a thru hike (I'd rather have wet feet).
>
> I've heard goretex socks work well, but haven't tried them out myself.
> Tyvek booties sound like they might be a good candidate (tyvek is
> ridiculously strong).  Like you say, they don't wick... but in my
> experience, footwear that "wicks" rarely performs well anyway - and that 
> can
> be addressed simply by changing your socks.
>
> I found that trying to keep my feet dry was not worth the effort.  I
> eventually just let go, embraced the wet feet, and hiked happily ever
> after.  I was fortunate in that I only had to deal with wet feet maybe 10 
> or
> 12 days out of my entire hike - and never for more than 6 hours at a time.
>
> Here is an article about SealSkinz water blocker socks:
>
> http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/184833/sealskinz_waterblocker_submersible.html?cat=46
>
> Good luck!
> -Austin
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