Where I kayak often puts my feet in the water. Wondering what people use in the spring and fall that doesn’t cost a fortune. I have some booties but they have no tread or arch support, would like to be able to walk across gravel from the parking lot too. I have a pair of muck boots but feel like they would become anchors in a tip over.
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Your cool weather may be different than my California cool weather. What sort of temps are you looking at for air and water?
I use dive boots that someone gave me. NRS has a couple of choices of neoprene low cut water shoes.
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probably high 50s to low 60-ish for both. Lower Michigan, mellow rivers or lakes.
I have a bunch of assorted paddling shoes, but the ones I grab most often are 5mm neoprene Deep See brand ankle high side zip dive booties with a hard sole. Warm and comfortable, good traction on gravel ramps and muddy shores. Pretty cheap, too. Usually $30 to $45. Naturally your feet will not be dry in them but I wear wool or neoprene socks and my feet have never been cold in them.
I use Speedo Tidal Cruisers for the conditions you describe, though I don’t really consider 60-ish cool. It was 43 deg out there for my 5 mi morning loop. Should have worn the neoprenes today!
I paddle a surkski and my feet get wet quite a bit. I really do not enjoy cold feet and wear NRS Freestyle Wetshoes. Easy to get on and off and they do pretty well walking on asphalt and a concrete ramp.
I place thicker Spenco or Dr. Scholl’s insoles in my booties. Not perfect, but much better!
I also use dive boots. The tops are about 25mm/1” above my ankle bones. The soles are thick enough that I feel confident that sharp rocks or shell won’t puncture them. When I step in cool/cold water with medium/light weight wool hiking socks on my feet don’t get wet or cold. For warmer water I have a pair of kayak-specific hi-top shoes. These are canvas-like. My feet do get wet in these and they take 5x longer to dry than do the neoprene-like dive boots.
Converse All Star high tops with fuzzy socks.
Wet suite booties
LL Bean hunting shoe. rubber bottoms with leather uppers.
A whole generation of outdoorsy folks in canoes commonly wore the Maine Hunting Shoe or something similar from some other company. If they didn’t want to deal with wet leather, the only rubber boots they had back then were even more heavy and bulky than their leather boots. It’s amazing how things have changed. Still, tall leather boots like the Maine Hunting Shoe (especially with its lightweight and flexible rubber portion) are still remarkably versatile and comfortable. You can even get them extra tall, like folks preferred “back in the day”, if you want to keep your feet mostly dry when stepping in water by shore, but of course then the already-high price goes even higher (Not that they are overpriced. It’s just expensive to make good leather boots these days and almost nobody does it).
As to Converse All Stars with proper socks, there’s a lot of logic in that idea. So many of the footwear options listed in this discussion are going to leave you with wet feet anyway, so just relying on a proper sock for warmth (much better insulation and than neoprene) and not spending a ton of money otherwise makes pretty good sense.
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Another Chucky T wearer here.
Chuck Taylors are comfortable with the right socks. They have great traction and the high tops don’t come off. I learned about them from rafters. When we were younger we did a lot of dancing around on tubes and they are perfect for that.
There are some boots made by Chaco that can be found in a catalogue up in Ely, Minn. Those will work in winter. I remember seeing a video of Dorothy Molter the Root Beer Lady in the BWCA. She used to wear buckle golashes in cold weather. Anything will work.
Keen or Chaco water sandals with Randy Sun knee high socks; sometimes with additional very light wool or coolmax sock.
Sandals can be trouble in faster water. They provide no ankle support, they can be slippery. I have had them come off. I never wear sandals in rivers.
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