Muddy boots, what do you do?

[taws6]

I just wondered if anyone has come up with a good way of stopping/reducing the build up of heavy mud on your boots?

I'm happy enough in most mud, but crossing wet open muddy/clay fields my boots pick up alot of weight, and the only thing I've come up with is to fling it off, or scrape it off with a stick. That's a real nuisance having to do it every 3 or 4 steps.

Got any better ways of dealing with this age old tradition? (Avoiding the field isn't an option!)

 

[Whittler Kev]

Tie boots around kneck, put them on on the otherside of the field?

 

[Shewie]

I tend to head for puddles or do the occasional side swiping step to try and clear out the cleats.

 

[Rebel]

Get boots with better tread.

I'm not being totally silly but I've noticed that the tread on some boots holds the mud and clay more than others. The problem is that I don't really know what constitutes a good tread design for reducing the amount of mud that sticks to boots without walking through a bunch of mud and clay to find out. Of course once I've done that I can't really go back to the shop and complain that this pair doesn't shed mud fast enough.

I walk through heavy loam fields with the dog every day and I don't have too much of a problem with the mud sticking to the tread. At the moment the fields are a total mud bath and totally waterlogged.

I'm wearing a pair of Muck Boot wellies when it is really bad and Karrimor KSBs when it is a bit drier.

 

[Miyagi]

Mud, you're stuck with it!!

Once you get home though...

Wash or hose the mud off.

If they're leather boots and showing salt marks, rub milk on the mark, fill with balled up newspaper and place them on sheets of newspaper on the floor.

Wash hands, have a brew and your dinner etc.

Before you go to bed, coat with boot polish and leave over night. Don't brush the polish in, let it seep into the leather as you sleep. Brush the polish in in the morning.

Hope this helps

Liam

 

[PREPER]

This morning it was snowing, I went for a walk and on my return used handfulls of snow to clean my boots! It worked a treat.

PREPER..........

 

[Matthew.Passmore]

I just give then a good scrape on a tuft of grass and dunk em in a puddle or stream to clean em.

 

[andybysea]

Yep id agree with preper snow is great for getting off mud i went out today and got alot of mud on my boots going through a farm and the way to my brew spot, on the way back walked in the snow,by the time i got home mud was gone, if no snow do as Miyagi says and hose off mud when you get home.Get a couple of sand bag's hessian when walking through mud stick them over your boots and tie them on with a bit of cord being hessian you should'nt slip about,once out of the mud stick the bags inside a poly bag and when you get home rinse the out!

 

[BigM]

Military jungle boots have special sole pattern to avoid picking up mud. Don't have a pic or much info on it, but it might be worth a Google.

M

 

[jonajuna]

what dont come off on the walk, soon comes off by banging them together when dry

every so often when cleaned by natures abundance of ground water in this country, i will bung some waterbased proofer on them. although goretex lined so generally waterproof anyway

but then, i like mud and dirt and the like, means i've actually got off of concrete and tarmac for a change

 

[Miyagi]

Yep id agree with preper snow is great for getting off mud i went out today and got alot of mud on my boots going through a farm and the way to my brew spot, on the way back walked in the snow,by the time i got home mud was gone, if no snow do as Miyagi says and hose off mud when you get home.Get a couple of sand bag's hessian when walking through mud stick them over your boots and tie them on with a bit of cord being hessian you should'nt slip about,once out of the mud stick the bags inside a poly bag and when you get home rinse the out!

Or...

Just wear folded down Wellies like I do.

If they're good enough for Compo (on Last of the Summer Wine) they're good enough for me.

I recently spent a couple of days and nights on the Pentland Hills in my Wellies (which are over 20yrs old) and no dramas.

Liam

 

[taws6]

Thanks for the thoughts, and the hessian bags do the trick?

Not being a woss, the clay around here is super sticky and gets heavy quick, to the point of a 2" rim of clay right round them, and hardly being able to lift me boots at each step!

Thanks for your thoughts,
Paul

 

[lannyman8]

i just keep walking and the mud drops of in the end......

when i get to the field edge i just wipe it off on the grass bank or stream or puddle or what ever......my boots are also gortex and dont realy clean them that often and i also enjoy the look of having done some out door work..lol.....

 

[verloc]

I know that the tread on those Tay Sport muck boots I bought from Angus Og are designed to be less "claggy" and pick up less mud, So i assume whatever the sole is like on them is what your after maybes?

 

[Shewie]

Thanks for the thoughts, and the hessian bags do the trick?

Not being a woss, the clay around here is super sticky and gets heavy quick, to the point of a 2" rim of clay right round them, and hardly being able to lift me boots at each step!

Thanks for your thoughts,
Paul

What about carrying a stick and giving them a knock from time to time ?

 

[g4ghb]

It is clay soil round here too - I make do with a combination of scraping it on hard bits of ground, the other boot or a convenient stick. 'side sliding' on damp grass helps as well

 

[Chinkapin]

BigM is correct. Some U.S. Army boots have what is referred to as a Panama sole. It has larger, but much wider spaced lugs than say the older Vibram standard lug found on many boots. The Panama sole is supposed to pick up less mud and be easier to clean out the mud when it does build up. I have a pair but havent worn them under any extremely muddy conditions, so I cant comment.

 

[taws6]

Send them to me Chinkapin, I'll give them a good testing lol!

g4gbh- that's pretty much what I end up doing, a tuft of grass or a fence post is good for removing 80% of the mud. I like a brisk walk mixed with a bit of a jog though, and these fields really slow me down to a crawl.

The Tay Sport muck boots look good, but they wouldn't be ideal for me, as I enjoy a bit of a run too....

 

[sapper1]

At the start of the muddy bit wrap a carrier bag around each boot.

 

[John Fenna]

Rub graphite on your soles to make them more high friction - worked for Georgie Best in his glory years!