Cold Weather Footwear

:laughing: I’m pretty sure I’m loose in my normal state.

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Hopefully the OP is getting in and out of his boat with greater ease. Back to footwear…

Someone please explain to me the functionality of mukluks like the Chotas up above and something like a neoprene paddling booty like this from NRS.

Does the taller boot fit inside the cuff of a drysuit? I just looked at mine and I can’t imagine that it would fit, which would mean the suit would have to tuck into the top of the boot and that seems like a recipe for flooding the boot if you swim. Maybe I’m missing something.

Realized yesterday that my regular paddling shoes (mesh toes and laces) aren’t the best tool for winter work. I was lugging around a lot of cold sand inside the shoe and besides being cold the sand grinding against the drysuit booties can’t be good over the long haul.

My mukluks are from NRS and love pairing them with wool socks in winter to keep my feet warm…even if they get wet on quiet paddles. The mukluk comes to mid-calf so I can step into about 14 inches of still water without having my feet soaked.

When the situation calls for wearing a dry suit, my footwear is a booty, again with wool socks, similar to the one to which you posted a link.

As you thought about it, the dry suit leg does not fit into the mukluk for me. Different footwear for me based on other clothing being worn.

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I wear Chotas mid calf very warm thick 75% minimum wool sock. Some say wool but there’s not much wool in them.

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PD, thanks for the pool noodle idea for keeping mukluks standing upright. Off to cut up a pool noodle.

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Tall boots go outside the pant leg of a dry suit.
Mine came from a dive shop but I assume the paddling ones have a similar characteristic. There is a strap or whatever at the top that can be tightened some. That said, by the time you have the leg of the dry suit including the bootie inside the boots, usually is not a lot of spare room to trap water.

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I am very pleased with SealSkinz waterproof socks - colorful, very comfortable, and waterproof. I wear them inside my hiking boots when wet spots are expected, anad they keep my feet warm and dry. Also wear them inside my Chota type waterproof boots when kayaking in cold weather. I give them a 10!
Margot

Surprisingly, I have tried two pairs of waterproof socks from two different companies and both socks in both pairs were completely not waterproof! I tried a SealSkins pair under a pair of theoretically dry pants that I knew weren’t - might as well have had no socks on for how wet my feet were through two layers. Recently bought and tried a pair of Randy Sun knee high socks. Bought them based on good reviews (I had never heard of the company) and wore them in the water for just a couple of minutes getting in and out of my kayak. Feet were thoroughly soaked. :rage: SealSkins never responded to my emails; Randy Sun is sending me a new pair but frankly I just don’t trust waterproof socks at this point.

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If Sealskinz socks are the same material as their gloves, beware!

They will quickly get a peculiarly nasty stink in them and they are almost impossible to turn fully inside out to wash and dry. Oddly, they also take longer to dry than any other fabric I’ve used on any garment.

Never again!

If you wear the fuzzy-inner Chota boots, just wear a pair of thin wool socks in them. If the drysuit has Gore-tex “feet,” put the wool socks on and wear the drysuit feet over that, with the boots over all. That should be warm and relatively dry.

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I always wear a thin pair of Smartwool socks in my drysuit. No issues there. But I have a not-so-dry pair of dry pants that I thought the waterproof socks would help with, as well as options for the Everglades Challenge where you may be wet and potentially cold for days. Truly waterproof socks would be quite handy then, but I can’t seem to find any that work.

I made this simple device for draining, drying, and storing Chotas and other water shoes.

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All my boots, shoes, and sneakers I tilt towards a fan and dry them.

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