Snow Boots

Check out Baffin Boots: best snow boots I've ever had.

http://www.baffin.com/

Bata Bunny Boots are by far the warmest you can get. You get used to the clunkiness. Watch out for the tripod legs!

-JD-

Get yourself a pair of military issue Mickey Mouse Snow Boots.

I had a pair when I worked in Nebraska, picked them up at a surplus store. A good pair of gaiters couldn't hurt either, but then you probably already knew that..:-)

Cheers,

Dugger

Flip flops and tenny runners

If you are experiencing snow such that flip flops and tenny runners aren't appropriate attire.............MOVE. That white shiff is why I no longer live in Michigan. When a day's snowfall is measured in feet, I don't want to live there.

Yep,them be Bunny Boots! Get the white ones, better quality. Also make sure the pressdure valve is closed or you will get water in there and they are ruined!

-JD-

Flip flops and tenny runners

Sorry, but we love the snow and the fact that most of the rest of the world doesn't want to deal with it. Lived in So Cal & Central Coast areas for a lot of years. Driven crazy by the two seasons: Brown & Green, with green lasting for about 2 months. Getting a fresh foot as we speak...

Hmmmm...they don't look like they'd be all that great in snow shoes. I have a pair of OR gore-tex gaiters that I use along with these pants and I stay warm & dry.

When I was a lift operator at Mammoth Mountain, California we wore Sorels but I'm not sure if they are in business anymore.

I never had anything but dry, warm feet in those. They had felt liners. I can't find them; think they got thrown away years ago in someone's periodic cleaning rampages. 🙁

Sorels are the way to go for snow boots.

They do still make them.

Rockys, best fit, warmest I've ever worn.
Kicks Sorel "Slipers" by far

Sorel's are o.k., made more for firm surfaces like ice fishing or walking around town shopping with the wife, the rubber/fake leather seams come apart after some moderate 'work' usage. Rocky's are o.k., made for instant comfort, but the footbed flattens out and goes to heck along with the stitching, made to last about a season, even with good care. The Bunny Boots and La Crosse Iceman style boots are plenty warm, but not realistic to wear in snow all day, every day. They are too heavy and cause too much lower leg and foot fatigue. If you are really going to 'use' your boots for REAL WORK in the snow, EVERY DAY, Baffin's products are superior to any others I've tried. Especially their steel toed models, which are required in many cases. You will find 'hiker' type leather insulated boots paired with gaiters and snowshoes will be more comfortable and cause less fatigue, especially if you can work on snowshoes, or keep moving all day. But if you plan to stand next to an instrument for any amount of time in cold conditions, you'll appreciate the pack style boot. The Baffin steel-toed pack boot is warmer than other pack boots and lighter than most.

Past co-workers and I have had this same conversations and all agreed in the end.

Experience is gleaned from living and working in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. Farming, logging, marking timber and surveying are good ways to test equipment. I no longer use the weak stuff, even though it's less expensive. I will say that if your feet do not get cold easily, the hiker style leather insulated boot, paired with a good gaiter are going to save you a lot of energy.

Ted

I have Whites Pac Boots. They are about 15 years old and still going strong! If the soles ever do wear out Whites will re-sole them. Super tall too, nothing gets in them unless you want it to! Just keep them greased up and they last forever. 7mm thick leather just doesn't wear out!

Having surveyed in snowy,rainy, muddy MI for over 25 yrs, the last 20 or so consisted of an annual purchase of $20 yellow fireman boots that I slide over my normal summer boots. Feet never got cold, never got wet, and they doubled up for clean boots in the muddy seasons. Plus you don't track mud into your office/house after you remove them and leave them in the back of the truck to dry out. Oh yea, and those pants cuffs - still clean, so you can always get another day or so out of your jeans.

Go Green. Get Yellow Fireman boots

Thanks for the reply T-Ray. How do the White's work with snow shoes? It's hard to tell from the pics, but how's the ankle support?

Doug

Thanks for the detailed response Ted. I have used the hiking boot/gaiter routine for years and for the most part works OK. I took my last pair of Asolo's in to get re-soled and was told they had moulded soles and it was not possible to repair. That's the reason for the interest in the White's, I know they can be rebuilt.

Doug

A few years I was looking for some light boots... lighter than the Sorels that I'd been wearing for about 40 winters. 3 years ago I bought a pair of Soloman Aspen boots. Very light and very warm just wearing thin socks. However, if you stand around much (at an insturment) I don't think these would be good. They might not last long if you are going to beat them through brush everyday, but for snow they are great and I would certainly buy another pair. Warning.. the pair that I bought ran small so the next time I will buy a pair that is a half size bigger than what I normally wear.

I've had a pair of Sorel Conquests for about 5 years now. Very happy with them. They are just beginning to come apart, but I figure after 5 seasons in the field that's pretty good.

I wore them yesterday because I wasnt thinking when I left the office yesterday morning. It ended up being high 60's here most of the day. Time to break out the summer hikers.

-V