New Boots? Preventative Maintenance!

[Indian Summer]

I got my new boots. For me that’s a big deal. I haven’t bought new elk chasing boots since about 2012. I took a look at what the usual cause of death is for boots and decided to try to prevent those things from happening for as long as possible.

My soles never wear out. It’s not overly rocky where I hunt and I make it a point not to wear my boots on concrete or pavement. At around $500+ these suckers are expensive!

So if f the tread lasts and the leather doesn’t break down what’s left? The places where the leather and rubber come together. That would mean where the soles are attached to the leather uppers and also where the rand ends at the top. You should not have problems with sole separation if you buy quality boots. I remember one time one of my god spot a pair of Rocky boots. by the end of a seven day hunt one of the souls literally fell completely off. If there is any separation of the sole from the leather, I find it it’s usually just the toe tip where it comes up on to the rand. There’s not much you can do to prevent sole separation. Or is there?

What about the rand? That’s usually the first thing to break down. It takes some serious abuse. It’s only held to the leather with glue. No stitching.

My preventative maintenance is basically a $40 insurance policy. The first thing I do is take a tube of Aqua Seal which used to be called Freesole and I run a bead, the whole way around where the soul meets the rand. This does two things. It strengthens the bond between the rand and the soul, and it ensures that no moisture or dirt will ever get into the seam between those two. Next I do the same thing at the top of the rand. Run a bead of.Aqua Seal the whole way around. It’s not pretty, but I think the boot manufactures would smile and say that’s a really good idea. We just can’t sell boots that look like that. Lol the bond between the rand in the leather at the top isn’t nearly as strong as the bond between the rand and the soul. So this is a big improvement to the boot. I also run a little bead down the seam where the rand ends and his place together. this is usually on the inside of the boot, as opposed to being on the outside, which takes more abuse.

At this point, the bond between the soul and the rand and the rand in the upper is much better. Next I apply Tuff Toe. The benefit of this is obvious. The front end of your boot takes some serious abuse. It’s constantly wet and gets kicked off of rocks and brush all day long.Tuff Toe protects the whole front end, and the sides of the boot toward the front. Adding this over the tow tip on top of the.Aqua Seal ensures, that there’s no way the rubber toe tip could never separate. It also completely covers the seam between the rand and the leather Oper making it impossible for the rand to D laminate from the leather. This doesn’t have to be as ugly as the bead of Aqua Seal. Just follow the instructions and mask off the area that you want to apply the Tuff Toe to. Paint it on then peel off the masking tape and you have a great looking toe cap. The stuff is tough as nails too. I put it on my last set of boots after the toe started to separate a little bit. It solve the problem, but I wish I’d done it sooner.

I’ve used both of these products before. But this is the first time I’ve done it to a pair of boots right out of the box. The Schnee’s boots look every bit as good as the Kenetreks I previously had. Only time will tell. I’m hoping that these will last as long as my Kenes did. I plan to keep an eye on them and do additional maintenance anytime I see they need it.

For waterproofing are use Onenaufs. It has never failed me. In 12 years my Kenetreks never leaked. It was important to get the Aqua Seal and the Tuff Toe on before I greased up the leather. When I apply the Obenaufs I put it on super heavy. Then I get a hairdryer on low heat and melt it in. I’ll also keep a jar of it in base camp. If it’s been raining all day or there’s snow on the ground, I might hit my boots real quick mid hunt. I’ve also used Nik Wax with good results. It’s a liquid it doesn’t need heat to be absorbed. It works very well and it’s also supposed to help condition Gore-Tex or other waterproof membranes.

That’s about it. I’ll let you know how it goes with the follow up post after the season. One thing worth mentioning, lots of people put their boots near or above a fire or woodstove to dry. Excessive heat is a boot killer. If you’re going to drive them like that, make sure they’re far enough away. A Peet boot dryer is a good investment. They make ones that run off propane and don’t need any electric and they work pretty well. Very low heat from the inside of the boot instead of from the outside. When I was out feeling myself and all the guides would use those.

All I need now is two legs that work when I get to where I’m going. Is sciatica has been a real killer. Two bulge discs pushing on a nerve is no fun. But I’ve been improving literally every day. I could never hunt elk or mule deer in the condition. I’m in right now, but I’m confident I’ll be ready to go when mid-September rolls around. I guess I better get breaking these boots in.

Here’s a picture of the boots with just the Aqua Seal on them. I’ll take some more pictures when I am applying the Tuff Toe.

[Indian Summer]

Great products! $10 for the Aqua Seal and $35 extreme use Tuff Toe. If I get just 2 more years out of the boots it will be a good investment. But I think I’ll get more than that by giving them an annual inspection, and taking care of any damage.