Fabric for Winter Overboots

Found this for sole material http://www.diyfootwear.com/vibram-cherry-6mm/ Maybe this heavyweight WPB fabric for the uppers (sounds like neoprene soaks up too much water) http://www.rockywoods.com/Fabrics-Kits/Heavyweight-Abrasion-Resistant-WPB-Fabrics/Waterproof-Breathable-with-a-300-Denier-Polyester-Outer-Shell-Navy-Blue

Neoprene would definitely soak up a lot of water. Another option for the sole is Hypalon, which would work if using them in snow shoes. Might not be durable for straight up walking. But it's grippier than a lot of fabrics so I think it would work in the shoes just fine. It would be a lot lighter than the sole material you linked to so I thought I'd mention it. It's pretty durable stuff. Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics has it in 16 and 32 oz/yd^2 weights. I use small pieces of it for a lot of little things (zipper garages, etc).

Fo snowshoes, even common silnylon would work very well. But you WILL get condensation inside any membrane fabric in those conditions, which WILl make your shoes wet. One could argue for a slightly heavier non-membrane fabric with a very good DWR. Cheers

I'm reading a 2×2 grid in your stated scope with snowshoes in one column, hiking in the another and the rows being below freezing and above freezing. Very challenging for a single solution … likely impossibly challenging, especially if you will be out multiple days. Snowshoes below freezing I'd opt for waterproof material down low and non-membrane DWR material above and use VBL socks inside that go as least as high as the waterproof. Hiking below freezing … I can't imagine wanting to hike (posthole)in deep snow so I'd just use VBL sock inside and waterproof overboots Above freezing in snow is just plain hard to handle. I can't think of a solution other than waterproof overboots and VBL socks inside the trail runners. That will be uncomfortably wet inside the VBL all day but your shoes and socks will stay dry/warm and skin on your feet can dry out in sleep socks while you are bedded down for the night. Note I've been saying "in snow" … highly consolidated snow or windblown snow dense enough to walk "on" as opposed to "in" is outside my experience.

Thanks so much for ideas. I'll have to look at Hypalon more closely, looks interesting. I should clarify by stating that I'll have two different systems going on, a bit heavier than one system but more versatile and I'll be pulling a sled anyways. My tent is heated so I can dry stuff out at night pretty well. Below 25 degrees I'll be going with mukluks and a felt liner for breath-ability. The mukluks will either be leather bottoms/DWR tops or WPB bottoms/DWR tops with a rubber sole. At this temp I shouldn't have to worry about water coming in, just releasing perspiration. The 25 – 45 degree window will be for the other system, trail runners with an overboot. This is the trickiest temp range and probably the one that I hike in most in the winter. I have been using Tingley overboots over trail runners but at 28 oz a pair I'm looking for something lighter. I like the silnylon idea, that paired with a rubber or hypalon sole should be really light, my feet will get wet from perspiration but at this temp if I keep moving it should be warm enough. I can always use a VBL sock to minimize wetting out my shoes as well. At the end of the day I should probably have the same amount of wetness as a WPB material anyways. Thanks again for the thoughts!

If i was working on such a project, i'd probably consider EPIC treated nylon fabric. Usually significantly more breathable than the most breathable WPB fabrics, the DWR lasts a long time and only needs to be rinsed to restore, but usually has enough HH to deal effectively with snow. Also, like silnylon, the fabric becomes a bit stronger/more durable with an EPIC or EPIC like treatment. As far as weight of fabric is concerned, with such small amounts of fabric, there will not be a huge variance between various different fabrics. Here, i would consider more performance and characteristics over weight. I've heard that EPIC fabric can be troublesome when used in a bivy or tent like manner during more extreme cold, where the fabric won't be exposed to enough body heat but a lot of cold though. The condensation and water vapor can freeze inside the spaces of the fibers (interstices) and thus become very non breathable. A factor to consider, and may also apply to over boots, though i suspect it would be less of an issue. 3 layer WPB membrane fabrics don't tend to have problems with this.