I\'ll be honest with you! I have never had a pair of gortex boots that didn\'t leak. Even leather gortex ones. Sno-Seal works great on leather boots. But you have to apply it often. When I hunt in really nasty weather, I wear Muck Chore boots. Like wearing a pair of house slippers and I never get wet feet.
You saw mine in camp ... leather Miendels from Cabelas ... had \'em now for 4 years, I think ... still no leaks in the Gore-Tex.
That said, they are stiff and heavy. I\'m on the look for boots as well ... something with a more athletic fit, and definitely lighter. The ones I have look good -- but the leather on the right one warped a little in the rain and now, a couple weeks after our hunt, my right middle toe-nail is turning black from bruising.
my friend had a buddy that worked for Goretex. one of the coolest things i have seen were these two sheets of the stuff he was gifted. they were HUGE tarps. what surprised me was how light they were. completely waterproof. 100%. super thin, almost fragile cloth..but very waterproof.
if you have a leak, it is from some poorly handled seam. i had a pair of danner pronghorns that leaked. leaked badly. i tossed them. my Schnee\'s do not leak. i stood ankle deep in water for 30 minutes and it never leaked.
to answer the original question. i like leather boots with Goretex liners. nothing is more abrasion resitant than leather for me. thorns? leather! i also like be able to treat the leather with a quality conditioner to extend the life of the boots.
Cordura outers? AZ thorns will blast thru. cleaning and conditioning is no-go, so the boots look bad earlier in the lifespan. i choose leather.
my lighter boots are Lowa Renegades. no leaks. pretty tough, but the leather is thinner.
ive personally never had gore tex stay dry for more than a year or two. im sure there are alot of reasons for that but the bottom line is my feet get wet. have never went with leather boots so cant speak to that.
x2 on the Saloman Quest. I have two pair of boots that I wear. The Salomon Quest (light, gore-tex and fits like a tennis shoe). I wear these during turkey season, archery elk and any other hunting in moderate terrain when it is dry.
I also have a pair of Zamberlan (not sure of model but they are discontinued) full leather with gore-tex liner. Very tough, reliable boot. Like John\'s Meindl\'s they are very stiff soled and made for packing heavy loads and hiking rocky terrain.
All that being said, when I\'m elk hunting and it\'s raining I opt for the Zamberlan full leather boots. In 2013 during the record rainfalls in September, the days I wore the Salomon\'s they felt like carrying cinder blocks as the mesh and foam retain a lot of water. My feet never really got soaked but the boots got heavy. I treat the full leather boots with NikWax and each season and they are good to go.
A mistake a lot of guys make is not thoroughly cleaning their boots after season. The dirt and grim really tend to eat on seams and laces if left on for long periods.
glad I found this thread. I thought I was the only person who experienced frequent Goretex failure. My Cabelas Silent Stalkers leaked on day 2 of the hunt, and I\'d only owned them about 2 months at that stage!
Couple questions:
1. how do yall \"clean\" dirt/debris from your boots? I have noticed that boots left dirty tend to lose their waterproofness much faster.
2. how many years of regular use do you expect to get out of a pair of boots, remaining dry?
I now take 2-3 pair of hunting boots every year I go, and normally switch back and forth every other day to let the boots dry out daily. having a \"spare\" is mandatory for me now. My 2nd year elk hunting was nearly a disaster cause I was depending on 1 pair, and they leaked like a sieve.
