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As Will reported in his Spotlite review of the Keen Shellrock e-Vent trail shoe, they aren't waterproof—-not even close. As Will suggests, perhaps e-Vent, for all of its positive attributes for apparel, doesn't perform in shoes.
I've tried Gore WPB shoes, and they are too hot for my feet—not breathable enough.
Are we perhaps asking too much to have a WPB shoe?
maybe if they used fabrics like scholler that are inherently water resistant and a good DWR we could have good water repellency and still have quick drying
Marketing, marketing, marketing. I could see tall waterproof boots, but making waterproof low top shoes is like locking your car doors with the convertible top down– you're only going to keep short thieves (or shallow puddles) out.
I can remember running around the woods in pac boots when I was a kid– those tall, all rubber lace-up boots. Great if you were standing in water and mud all day, but they were worn with a couple pairs of thick socks to soak up the sweat.
Two weeks ago I wore my Vasque Breeze shoes (the non-Goretex version) with Rocky Goretex socks and Thorlo backpacker socks. I was in sloppy, wet snow all day and was completely warm and dry the whole time, even though the shoes got wet. Not even any perspiration from the inside out.
This weekend I wore my leather Zamberlans (with Goretex liners), the Thorlo backpacker socks, and some liners. I was in sloppy, wet snow only half of the day and got very wet. I am so impressed with the Rocky socks that I plan to use them with both the "waterproof" boots and the breathable shoes any time there's a chance of wetness, which is about 360 days of the year around here.
Read following press release:
http://www.p2i-labs.co.uk/NewsArchiveIonmaskforsportsshoes.html
Could be a very interesting development.
> Read following press release:
Great marketing. Believe it at your peril. Any layer that thin won't last more than one day on the trail before the substrate wears off.
Look, NO shoe is waterproof. Nope, not even your favourite one. EVERY shoe has this great big hole at the top where your foot goes in. Water WILL wick down your trousers and socks into your shoe. Now you have a 'waterproof' bucket full of water. Congrats.
I have a pair of eVent mountaineering BOOTS (Kay Land) that have kept me dry on rainy assents through brush and slush. I don’t think shoes are the right "chassis" for waterproof. Like a watch that’s waterproof but non submersible; they’d only be good if you didn’t really get wet. I just use something that won’t take too long to dry off, and more importantly, something that is comfortable while wet. Just keep one pair of dry socks for camp.
Roger,
I understand your point. I'm sceptical too about all that is promised and history has learned that almost nothing works as good as advertised. Still, I wonder if this could lead to a big improvement in DWR.
Following URL has an article on p30 with the owner of the company. It's biased of course and what he promises seems just to good te be true, but it's an interesting read.
Hi Tom
I'm sceptical too … :-)
Actually, I am a bit willing to believe what he says about the performance of the surface coating he has developed. My disbelief comes when that coating is applied to shoes.
Imagine a super-hard coating you could put on shaped metal to make lathe tools for a machinery shop. It might increase the life of the cutting edge by a factor of 5. Great. But what happens if the substrate under the coating is soft, and deforms under a real-life load? The coating is then unsupported, and flakes off. It's a bit like the hard chocolate coating on a melting icecream! (That's why it's no use trying to use a hard anodising on soft aluminium…)
In the same way, I have my doubts that the coating they have developed will stay attached to the surface fabric and rubber of a trail shoe when the shoe is worn under harsh/wet/rocky/scrubby conditions. The substrate will give way, and flake off, taking the coating with it.
A classic example of this problem is the EPIC coating on a natural fibre. They do this, and I have no idea why. Marketing appeal I guess. The trouble is that as soon as you take this stuff out into the field, the EPIC coating gets abraded off the surface fibres. The cotton fibre substrate then absorbs water, and … it all goes to pieces. I have a nice bushwhacking shell top I made from EPIC-coated cotton fabric in my cupboard … Um – no, I think I eventually threw it out as useless.
We await real products for testing!
Cheers
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