Walking In the really rough stuff.
- Thread starter w00dsmoke
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Why not wear waterproof socks under your leather or otherwise boots, sealskins for example, and wear wet suit bottoms (underneath waterproof trousers, to protect them from wear) or a full wetsuit. Or a breathable dry-suit, or dry-suit bottoms.
Sealskin socks are rather short don't you think, not to mention cutting off your blood supply to your calfs!
I do have knee length goretex boot liners which are pretty good. Have you tried walking in a wetsuit? Obvioulsy not for any distance...
Let me nkow how you get on after a couple of clicks. WEt suit bottoms would be agreat idea were it not for the expense. A great idea if they were a lot cheaper. A full dry suit, well again a good idea but it would need to have all the vents for ventilation like the latest mil ones otherwise you'd overheat. But yeagh for the really rough stuff an affordable dry suit would be good. Once I slim down a bit that'll be an option.
WS
SInce nobody is watching, can't you just strip down, pass, dry yourself and get clothed again. Clothes go in a watertight pack when crossing. Some surf-shoes or similar so you don't hurt your feet when passing. I got one of those lightweight towels and they are excellent, dries really fast too.
If I could buy buffalo pertex in a size 56 chest I'd buy it but I can't!But yes it does seem ideal. I wear piled fleece in the winter and it retains a lot of warmth when wet but it is not as good as proper buffalo pile.
what about one of these (made to size and specs) then or a montane extreme smock/jacket?
http://www.centralgroupuk.com/ebolcastle/extremecc/APSSmockOlive.htm
Ben
Woodsmoke,
Once upon a time I spent my time in the same places you describe. I found well dressed leather boots and a good pair of gaiters seemed to work well enough. Unless it was a long wade in deeper water.
When this was the case, weird as this may sound, I used to take the time to remove my socks and put my boots back on without socks, get across the river as quickly as possible (knowing my boots would fill with water) then empty the boots and put my socks back on. Although the socks got damp, My feet warmed up much quicker than if I let the socks get wet through. It also felt great pulling on the dry socks, rather than squelching on with boots full of waterlogged socks.
Mind you, I still used to dread that moment when you started to feel icy cold water seeping in over the top of your boots !
Above the boots, I stuck with some form of thermal/wool long johns (winter only) and polycotton trousers which tended to dry out fairly quickly once you got moving again. I was an early user of Rohan gear when it first came on the market, and its windroofness and quick dryng allowed me to abandon my nylon overtrousers which I hated wearing.
On top, I just had wool shirt/jersey + cotton proofed jacket and long nylon pull-over cagoule for torrental non-stop rain days. You still got soaked with condensationn, but you were wet and warm. The cotton proofed jacket protected you from the worst of the condensation. Later I went with fleece and goretex, but I'm not really convinced I was any warmer or dryer.
Graham
Once upon a time I spent my time in the same places you describe. I found well dressed leather boots and a good pair of gaiters seemed to work well enough. Unless it was a long wade in deeper water.
When this was the case, weird as this may sound, I used to take the time to remove my socks and put my boots back on without socks, get across the river as quickly as possible (knowing my boots would fill with water) then empty the boots and put my socks back on. Although the socks got damp, My feet warmed up much quicker than if I let the socks get wet through. It also felt great pulling on the dry socks, rather than squelching on with boots full of waterlogged socks.
Mind you, I still used to dread that moment when you started to feel icy cold water seeping in over the top of your boots !
Above the boots, I stuck with some form of thermal/wool long johns (winter only) and polycotton trousers which tended to dry out fairly quickly once you got moving again. I was an early user of Rohan gear when it first came on the market, and its windroofness and quick dryng allowed me to abandon my nylon overtrousers which I hated wearing.
On top, I just had wool shirt/jersey + cotton proofed jacket and long nylon pull-over cagoule for torrental non-stop rain days. You still got soaked with condensationn, but you were wet and warm. The cotton proofed jacket protected you from the worst of the condensation. Later I went with fleece and goretex, but I'm not really convinced I was any warmer or dryer.
Graham
Sealskin socks are rather short don't you think, not to mention cutting off your blood supply to your calfs!
Just a suggestion, I've never used them so don't know whether they are short or cut off the blood supply to your calfs.
Have you tried walking in a wetsuit? Obvioulsy not for any distance...
No never worn a wet suit, no idea how good or bad it would be, just a different suggestion, your the one worrying about getting your troosers wet!
What about just the wet suit bottoms?
Or alternativley what about longjons underneath waterproof trousers. Longjons would dry quicker than trousers, hold less water when wet and still provide some insulation. Worn under water proof trousers they shouldn't get too wet anyway.
Coupled with decent gaiters your lower half shouldn't get too wet in a short wade.
As suggested above take your socks of and put your boots back on to wade then you'll have dry socks to put on, and to keep them dry you could always put your feet into polythene bags before putting the wet boots on.
Eoin, I am loving the suggested costume. I have the best mental image right now of a guy dressed in a combo of sealskin, wetsuit, longjohns and socks with plastic bags on his feet, hiking across the peatlands and uplands of Scotland. That is beautiful, and it has given me a real good giggle. Thanks for that.
I'm hoping I haven't just started to send the threat into silliness.
I'm hoping I haven't just started to send the threat into silliness.
Of course, some of what I said was light hearted, but some of the suggestions were serious, it's up to you to decide which is which!
But thinking again about w00dsmoke's problem, the obvious solution is to wear clothing that the original inhabitants of those lands would have worn.
A kilt.
But thinking again about w00dsmoke's problem, the obvious solution is to wear clothing that the original inhabitants of those lands would have worn.
A kilt.
There's suggestions here (among some very good ones) from folk who haven't walked off a path in the gear they are suggesting! pmsl
I think dry suit bottoms with built in braces are probably the way forward here, ones with built in socks so boots like those land sea and air boots can be worn with them.
WS
I think dry suit bottoms with built in braces are probably the way forward here, ones with built in socks so boots like those land sea and air boots can be worn with them.
WS
Oi, you can't get away without telling some more of that story so easily, come on spill the beans.
It sounds interesting. Please
Walking in anything made of neoprene would soon get very uncomfortable.
A good alternative, but a similar idea, is the thermocline range of diving gear from Fifth Element. It's made of a type of fleece called Aquashell, I think.
I've used the long and short sleeve tops for canoeing and kayaking and think it's excellent stuff. It's warm when wet and dries quicker than anything else I've ever worn. It also breathes. They also do a "farmer john" style wetsuit made of the same stuff although the top half isn't breathable.
If you knew you were going to get wet then this might be a good base layer.
w00dsmoke, the type of terrain you're talking about reminds me of the shores along the south end of Loch Ericht. I "ran" down from Dalwhinnie to Loch Rannoch earlier in the year and spent a good few hours trudging along this section so I know where you're coming from.
A good alternative, but a similar idea, is the thermocline range of diving gear from Fifth Element. It's made of a type of fleece called Aquashell, I think.
I've used the long and short sleeve tops for canoeing and kayaking and think it's excellent stuff. It's warm when wet and dries quicker than anything else I've ever worn. It also breathes. They also do a "farmer john" style wetsuit made of the same stuff although the top half isn't breathable.
If you knew you were going to get wet then this might be a good base layer.
w00dsmoke, the type of terrain you're talking about reminds me of the shores along the south end of Loch Ericht. I "ran" down from Dalwhinnie to Loch Rannoch earlier in the year and spent a good few hours trudging along this section so I know where you're coming from.
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