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Recommendations for winter shoe options for canoeing

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PostedNov 14, 2009 at 12:48 pm

Hello!

I'm looking for the best option for shoes/boots for winter canoeing. I ask this here, as the paddling community generally doesn't give ultralight options. Originally I was looking at Pac Boots, but these are very heavy, hard to swim in, and can get slogged with water easily.

I'm looking at below freezing weather.

What might you be considering if you were in my situations?
I'm now looking at Mukluks, and neoprene alternatives like the NRS Boundary Shoe.

My problem with Muks and Neoprene shoes are that they don't work well for hiking around. I'll be hiking and walking about a lot when I canoe, and having two different pairs of footwear seems like added weight.

Weather wise I'm looking at

PostedNov 14, 2009 at 5:02 pm

Your post about the weather got cut off. If the water is cold, then immersion is a serious risk and swimming with boots would be really hard or impossible.

As you noted, NRS has several options that are more boot like for better hiking. Chota makes paddling muklaks that are similar to the boundry shoe, and so worth looking for. I have a pair of muck boots.

http://www.muckbootcompany.com/outdoor-sporting

I use them around in the yard and garden and to walk the dog, etc. But they are pretty warm, and I wear them out in the winter too. They are also waterproof and light (ish) and they float. I have thought that if I do an early spring paddle trip, where mud and cold water would be a serious concern, I may try to use them. They wouldn't be great for a portage, but with good socks they are pretty comfortable (not sure about wearing them all day, but that will be true about any of the waterproof options).

PostedNov 14, 2009 at 8:13 pm

Tim Smith, a Maine canoe guide and wilderness skills instructor, likes knee-length Tingley rubber overboots with mukluk liners and felt + mesh insoles. They have a loose fit which allows for improved circulation, but they feel a little weird hiking in them. I haven't yet tried them on a long hike.

You could also probably get a pair to fit over your hiking footwear, but this wouldn't be as warm.

The boots, liners, and insoles weigh about the same as a pair of all-leather GoreTex hiking boots.

http://www.jackmtn.com/gear.html#footwear

PostedNov 15, 2009 at 9:54 pm

As a sea kayaker who has kayaked in winter I can say unequivocaly: you MUST have a dry suit W/ thick fleece insulation under it. Plus a thick neoprene diver's balaclava for your head, thick neoprene booties and neoprene mittens. PERIOD, no exceptions.

Cold water immersion kills people every year. Don't take this advice and, especially in a canoe, you will be putting your life at high risk. I am a wilderness canoist and held an American Canoe Assoc. Moving Water Instructor's Certificate so I do know whereof I speak.

Even in summer immersion hypothermia killls. In the late '70s a U.S. Boy Scout canoe group had several deaths on Hunter Lake in Quebec's Kippiwa Game Preserve when their canoes were upset in a sudden storm. Boys and adult were found dead, floating in their PFDs. All died of hypothermia.

BTW, I've canoed Hunter Lake. It's COLD even in summer.
None of the advice I've seen on this thread addresses the extreme danger you will be in. I'm not trying to be an alarmist. I'm trying to get you to do some SERIOUS research on the subject before you become a statistic.

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