Goretex How cold and snowy does it need to be?

[Scott Bentz]

Seal Skinz are waterproof but not breathable like Goretex. My son took a high school trip last winter to the Yosemite Institute. I posted a question on the board regarding what to do. I did not want to buy a pair of $100.00+ boots for a 4 day trip.

Many suggested GTX socks. Since I got started late I could not get them locally. They also cost $60.00 or so. So, I found Seal Skinz for a bout $15.00 and he took them. They worked for him because he was not doing a lot of work. They spent one night out in a snow cave but did not do a lot of hiking. His counselor was intrigued and thought they were cool. He stayed nice and dry even while being in snow all day long each day.

I would not use them if you were planning on doing a lot of miles or if you sweat a lot as the moisture has nowhere to go. Of course, the other suggestion was to use bread bags. Not a bad piece of insurance.

[Spruce Goose]

>>Has anyone tried the SealSkinz socks?<<

I have a pair. They're OK for dayhikes, but for multi-day trips I don't like them. They're nearly impossible to dry out, and get really stinky.

My perfect setup for the New England shoulder seasons is a Smartwool liner sock, a Reynolds oven bag, a heavier wool sock, and mesh trail runners. More versatile than anything else I've tried.

Just got back from a 60 mile weekend in the Whites, where the snowline was about 3000 ft, with about 4 inches of snow on the peaks. Worked like a charm, as always.

[BlackHatGuy]

"My perfect setup for the New England shoulder seasons is a Smartwool liner sock, a Reynolds oven bag, a heavier wool sock, and mesh trail runners. More versatile than anything else I've tried."

Do you wear them in that order, with the heavier wool on the outside of the oven bag? And the oven bag doesn't rip (I had small trash bags rip within a day!)?

Thanks!

[Spruce Goose]

>>Do you wear them in that order, with the heavier wool on the outside of the oven bag? And the oven bag doesn't rip (I had small trash bags rip within a day!)?<<

Yeah, in that order. In really cold weather, I've tried bags right against my feet, but I just don't like the feel…even though I know they say VBLs should be worn right against the skin. My (non-scientific) experiments led me to just us as thin a sock as possible under the non-breathable layer.

I get a LOTS of miles (maybe 100 or 200? – not exactly sure) out of those oven bags. They're way stronger than grocery bags…and a good deal stronger than the bread bags I've tried. The only part that ever breaks is the seam, and it's never been a catastrophic break…just a small tear. I keep the seam under my foot (that's kinda the only way it fits on your foot), so water can't really rush in or anything.

This weekend, I removed the bags when I got back below snow line, and jogged out the last 10 miles or so. By the time I got back to my car, I had pumped out the residual moisture from my sweat, and my socks and shoes were 99.9% dry…and more importantly, they remained warm all weekend. The same could not be said for my friend, who was wearing Gore-Tex runners.

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