Shoes

One of the biggest issues with backpacking is shoes. I have boots that are great for Arizona, they are well ventilated, they have nice insoles in them, but will they work for the wet, muddy Highlands? The answer is to come. I have another pair of boots that I use for construction site visits. Will these work? All these questions will be answered and more.

1. Merrell Mesa Ventilator II's


and

2. Wolverine Work Boots (no steel toe, it's not required by OSHA)


Neither worked. Both failed miserably in my testing. I bought some waterproofing stuff that claimed to work after one application.



In fact, as you'll see, it scores a 100 on...some kind of scale.



Other products require two applications and it works better and lasts longer...than what?



I used 3 applications. What did my shoes score as far as waterproofing? 0. Both boots leaked when standing in a tub of water for 5 minutes. Butt.

I ran into some good luck though. I went into Ross and caught a glimpse of these beauties:

Wraptors

$140 seems like a steep price to pay for waterproof shoes. I agree. I found them at Ross for $24.99. I'll try to keep an updated list of gear that worked and gear that didn't work so well.