Another stupid question: Wet feet!

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william O

Joined
Feb 5, 2009
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When possible, of course, I'll try to avoid getting wet. But inevitably, I'll have to get my feet wet, either crossing a stream or in a downpour. What do you guys do to get/keep dry? Suck it up till the end of the day and try to dry out shoes/boots/socks by the fire? Of course I'll have a few changes of dry socks, but I don't imagine changing socks if shoes are still soaked. Does anyone carry a "spare" pair of shoes/boots to wear while the first pair dries out? Would be nice, but I imagine that's a big weight/bulk sacrafice in a day pack. Thanks for your experience. William
 
I carry sandals or scuba boots for water crossing. If you're crossing water much I would advise against Goretex boots, unless they're tall enough to not be fully submerged. Once water is on the inside, it's very difficult to get them dry. Nice dry socks will become soaked in about 10-15 steps if you're wearing wet boots. If your boots do get soaked, make sure you're wearing good socks. I have found that for my feet, the Smart Wool PHD socks work amazingly well when dry and wet.
 
Sometimes you can warm rocks by the fire and put them in the boots to help them dry but you pretty much just have to suck it up. I'm pretty much against fire drying unless that is all you are doing.

If you are cooking, or setting up your tent, or going to get more wood, or ANYTHING else there is a better than average chance you will partially melt your boots:o

I usually bring crocks along because they are light. Then if you are hiking in wet boots every stop take them off the heat from your feet warms the inside and when you take them out water will evaporate for a short time. Then when you get to camp use the crocks. Also if you don't mind dirty feet put them in the bottom of your sleeping bag at night and sometimes that will help to dry them.

I usually change for stream crossings but if I am going to be hiking any distance in wet grass and it's above freezing I bring actual trail sandals and just use them with or without socks. I have yet to find any gore tex other than leather covered that resists wet grass.
 
I use tall Haglöfs gtx boots. For stream crossing wool socks (gives a bit of warmth) and crocs or "aqua sandals".

Dry boots are essential, but you can manage. If you get them wet but still have dry socks, put your feet inside thin garbage bags. It's the next best thing after dry boots. And like hollowdweller said drying leather boots close to a fire is a big no-no (Where butter melts, leather burns).

On our last backpacking trip my wife and I were crossing a knee deep stream when she tripped and got allmost fully submerged in the cold water. Her gtx boots were hanging around her neck so they got totally wet too. Fortunately all her gear in the pack was packed in dry sacks... When we got to camp, and it finally stopped raining later that night, I made a fire. I put large ziplock bags inside the wet boots and cooked warm water to heat the boots as there was no rocks or pebble to be found. I did this maybe half a dozen times over a couple of hours and once in the next morning. She hiked the next day in partially dried boots lined with garbage bags, and I'd say after the days hike her boots felt as dry (or wet?) to the hand as my own sweaty boots.

About using rocks. I'm wary of using rocks heated by fire, it's too hard to control their temperature. If possible I'd warm pebble in water.

For the next trip I might try bringing an extra dry sack just for the boots for crossing streams. If it had continued to rain the following days we'd never got the boots dry. The temperatures were 5-10Celsius at daytime and dropped below 0C at night.
 
HawGorn said:
About using rocks. I'm wary of using rocks heated by fire, it's too hard to control their temperature. If possible I'd warm pebble in water.
Click to expand...

True. You don't want them to be any hotter than you can hold in your hands for about a minute or they can burn the inside.

Don't ask me how I know this:o:rolleyes:
 
I've packed Chacos before for crossing streams but for the future I think I'm going to make myself a pair of huarache sandals:

http://barefootted.com/shop/

huaraches.jpg
 
teva sandals that velcro around ankle well or they will come off, water socks are good too.
they are great at camp with some dry wool socks as a break from boots.

I have fallen with boots around neck as previous post and after that I bag them with my dry seat garbage bag. Hate sitting on damp ground
 
I remove boots and put on the crocs for deeper than boot height water. For busting wet brush, I have a pair of gators that I wear and they do help to keep debris and wet out of boots. Also, my boots are goretex, which when adding wool sock liners and wool socks, really helps to keep the feet dry.
 
I used Keen sandals. The toe-cap really does a good job of protecting your toesies. Prior to these, I used a pair of Teva's. I was crossing beaver ponds and would freqently get a stick shoved into the front of my foot. Both of these sandals are too heavy for my light packing, so I am looking at some of the lightweight aqua shoes. I know this is a little odd, but it worked well. I cut my feet up while in Hawaii, being ignorant of the fact that there was rock/lava under the water while at the beach. I wore a lightweight pair of sneakers I had with me. They worked perfectly and dried quickly.
 
jw2n said:
I used Keen sandals. The toe-cap really does a good job of protecting your toesies. Prior to these, I used a pair of Teva's. I was crossing beaver ponds and would freqently get a stick shoved into the front of my foot. Both of these sandals are too heavy for my light packing, so I am looking at some of the lightweight aqua shoes. I know this is a little odd, but it worked well. I cut my feet up while in Hawaii, being ignorant of the fact that there was rock/lava under the water while at the beach. I wore a lightweight pair of sneakers I had with me. They worked perfectly and dried quickly.
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When my summer pack has been light I've brought Keen sandals with me. I love them.

I walked 14 miles one day in a pair and only got 1 blister:thumbup:
 
If it's a dry day I'll usually take my boots off and go across barefoot or in sandals, but if it's been raining for a while, my feet are usually wet already from water running down my legs and soaking into my socks anyway, so I'll just go across in my boots. Dump out the excess water on the other side, and keep on hiking. I always take at least one spare pair of socks, so i can give the other pair a chance to dry out the next day.
 
Hey William,

Taking care of your feet while hiking is pretty important. Dry are happy feet, wet feet are blister prone. Try, at all costs, to avoid wet feet in the first place. Here are the steps I take during mountaineering or hiking trips: 1] Start with a really decent pair of quality hiking boots with a high leather upper [with lots of ankle support] and a tough, burley sole; 2] wear two pairs of socks - an ultra thin polypro layer followed by a good wool sock [SmartWool]; 3] Wear gators - short nylon ones in summer, taller gore-tex ones the rest of the year; 4] clean and waterproof your boots often.

Well waterproofed boots and gators will get you through almost anything and everything. For truly epic water crossings, you have three options: find another route around, take it like a man [walk quickly, cinch the gators in tight, and find the shortest route across], or if the river bed is safe [though I don't recommend this] barefoot it.

Regardless of whether your feet are dry or wet, when you get to camp, make sure your dogs are dry, toss a little foot powder on them [take a little bit in a tiny zip-loc] and throw-on some clean, dry socks. Try to dry those boots out, I rarely have a fire in the places I go, so I'll lace them up a tad looser and my own body heat will dry them pretty quickly. If it's really cold [i.e. freezing], toss 'em in your sleeping bag at night. In the summer, I often bring a pair of Chaco sandals for around camp [on hiking trips] so I'd put them on if I had to cross a big river.

The most hardcore mountaineers in the world [with balls the size of pumpkins] will always look after their feet - no matter what so it's not a stupid question.
 
I wanted to comment on Keen sandals. They're pretty good dry, and pretty good wet, but don't get mud on the inside of the sandals. One, it's a nightmare to get all the mud out of the toe cap area, and Two, you no longer have secure footing inside your sandals. It could just be me, but I have strange feet; they're narrow-heeled, size 9 wide forefoot, and short toed. I almost twisted my ankle last weekend because my feet were sliding around inside the otherwise secure sandal. Also, the Newport's traction in mud is horrible; I have better mud traction bare foot.
 
I'm another one that doesn't like gortex-lined boots. On the other hand, I really like gortex socks for this very reason. The socks are usually tight enough that on full emersion, where the boot waterlogs, the socks usually stay dry (within reason of course). Alternatively, you just keep you gortex socks in your pack. When you get to the point of - screw it, go full emersion, do so with your boots. When you are done, remove your socks, and put a fresh pair on and then add on the gortex socks. The gortex will keep your waterlogged boots from wetting your feet. At the same time, your hiking and heat from your foot will facilitate drying your boots.
 
if you have the right boots/shoes- you can cross streams at will- wet feet will not kill you, breathable boots (read non-gortex, read non-waterproof) paired w/ a quality light to medium wool sock will dry out very quickly

taking the time to swap footwear is wasted effort/time and extra footwear is extra weight

there are a few things you can do if you know your going to be making a lot of crossings (or otherwise have wet feet)- one is use a product like hydropel or sportslick on your feet- long distance trail runners use this "trick"- so do many ultralight backpackers

the other is always have a dry pair of socks for camp- and get the wet ones drying- they dry quite nicely in your sleeping bag :)

I have a trip this spring in the Gila Wilderness where we will be making 50+ crossing a day (for three days of the trip anyways)- breathable boots (NF Moab's) and a light wool sock (Darn Tough), some Hydropel and we won't be diddle-dalying at every crossing :D
 
If it looks like you will not be able to cross a stream without getting your boots soaked, then make sure you bring 2 pairs of socks, preferably wool.

Take your boots off, cross the stream (the wool is not slippery - like wading boot felt) and then remove the wet socks, dry your feet. put on the dry socks and boots, tie your wet socks to the bag to dry, and proceed with hiking.
 
I haven't used these but they might help your prob.
http://www.facewest.co.uk/Dryzone-Boot-Dryers.html
I scavenge the little silica gel packs from work and throw them in my knife cabinet Periodically i throw them on a oven tray after I have turned the oven off and it is cooling down to expel the moisture they have picked up.
Also remember form another forum quiet a while ago a SAR bloke from Canada used to carry thick Cotton socks that he would put on AFTER a boot dunking and a couple miles later back into his wrung out wool socks. The cotton had drawn alot of the wet out of his boots.
Carl
 
I like G-tex boots. They seem to work well. For deep water you are going to get wet no matter what. When you get across, empty the water out of your boots, air your feet, and put on dry socks (wool, always wool). Sock liners help too.

If the skin on your feet starts to "prune" or get wrinkled from water you need to dry your feet and footwear thoroughly. Take care of your feet.

Trench foot occurs when feet become water sodden and the skin breaks down. And gets infected. And rots.
 
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