Stegger mukluks?

Do they wear well? Yes. They are meant to be worn on snow. Use them as appropriate and they will wear forever.

Can the upper be sprayed? Depends on the model. Stegger sells a water proofer, you can probably use it on all of the models but the “navajo”, which is made with a wool blanket so probably wouldnt benefit too much from the waterproofer.

Do they get bigger? All leather will stretch some.

Thank you for the info. It fits with my impressions. Are they worn around town at all without damage?

I’ve worn mine around, actually to a Christmas party last year among other things but I do use them in the the snow.
I had a shoe shop stretch the toe box a little, you need a good shop to carefully do this.

Are they worn around town at all without damage?

You should be able to wear them plenty without any significant damage. Not all Steggers are made for off trail use. Several are definatly city boots, like the “Jackie” or “Many Mountains” models for example. However for the longest life for your muks, wear them on snow.

Yes – they are a very good piece of winter footwear. I use them for dogsledding all the time. As long as you are not standing around in temps below -20C for hours, they work great. They are really meant for active use in winter – and perform excpetionally well at doing that. Hopefully you sized up so you can fit another sole liner in, as this can boost the temp rating a lot.

They are not entirely suited for city use, as getting petroleum based products on the sole wears away at the rubber. After a few weeks of use, they will be perfectly molded to your foot.

Thanks for the info. It gives that security that my perceptions are not wrong, more is welcome.

At the price I need to make sure they are worth it. (We could always return them for like 30 days, if not soiled.) So far, my pair is great, I think they call it the Arctic model — moose and canvas uppers.

I wish I could go dogsledding. (I believe my cousin won or at least participated in the Ididerod [sp?] in the early 60s.) We don’t get below zero temps often or at all in any given winter. Do get down to zero. (Thus the concern about whether they will last. In above zero temps a lot of the time the snow melts and we will be walking in mush or dirt/mud.)

I wore them all last night around the house, went out in the snow and was impressed at the warmth. They really are comfortable and warm.

Now, I only wonder about the size and the foot pads fitting in the Arctic model. I assume it will fit, when they are worn in with the right socks — since the right foot is a bit tight in the Men’s size 9, wide version.

Otherwise, they are beautiful … wish I had the skill and time to create my own version … but that is what this site is for … getting it all together, without reinventing the wheel … karma or otherwise.

Nicholas –

How do you control the freezing air when you breathe? It seems to build up on my Mountain Hardwear balaclava … not good.

Also, my relatives in AK used coats/parkas with wolverine fur, as I recall … is there a substitute that works? bd

If your having problems with the fit, you might look into the muks made by Empire Canvas Works. They are Bison and Canvas or Supplex, with replaceable hard-rubber soles, and are lace-to-toe for extra adjustability.

Edit – heres the link: http://www.empirecanvasworks.com/magneticnorthboots.htm

I have a friend who lives in DEEP interior Alaska. He is a subsistence hunter and runs his lines on a dog sled. I asked him once what the best clothes for really bone chilling cold was, and he said to wear wool, in layers, and cover it with a good windblocking parka with a fur ruff around the hood. He has more than plenty of access to furs and skins and such… he wears wool and canvas.

Way cool. That site and boots rocks. Now let’s hope I can apply this knowledge. Email me if you want. B.D.

BD – There are special cold weather respirators/facemasks that help with frost buildup, but often they are more hassle than they are worth. Ive found most success from simple fleece balaclavas – frost does build up over time, but I’m usually able to just brush it off.

I havent had a chance to use it, but I have heard super good things about the Gorilla Balaclava by Outdoor Research (http://orgear.com/home/style/home/headware/cold_hats/balaclavas/85130). Its super adjustable and has different layers that can be taken off and such.

There are tonnes of subsitutes for high quality fur. Are you wanting a synthetic ruff or a less expensive fur version? Coyote is a much cheaper fur. I would suggest the Alaska Fur Exchange for getting any ruffs (http://www.alaskafurexchange.com/). There is absolutely no substitute for a high quality wolverine and wolf fur ruff though – they are worth their high price. Its not really worth getting one if youre not facing biting cold temperatures and winds though.

Nicholas —

(Just a side question: do you buy the fur trim and then sew it on a parka, instead of buying it already on a parka? Are there not too expensive parkas you would recommend that already have like a coyote fur lining?)

The OR balaclava looks good, velco allows it to be tight or loose, fleece lining, face mask for harsher conditions which fits with goggles. It is on sale for $35 (for the next 11 hours), instead of $45 at TravelCountry.com — but there is a shipping fee unless you order more than $50 worth of stuff. The OR site says it only weighs 2.8 oz.

http://www.travelcountry.com/shop/SessionId/17740bec25d9342c2cbf701ef646615f/Action/Vendor_Prod/CatId/166/ProdId/1549

>It is on sale for $35 (for the next 11 hours), instead of $45 at TravelCountry.com.

SOLD OUT

I have the older Moonlite Pile version of the OR Gorilla Balaclava (3.8 oz), and it is really useful. It is highly adjustable (everything from open-face to just eyes and mouth), made of very breathable material (not sure about the new Windstopper material, although my other Windstopper hats breathe well enough), it’s warm and not itchy (I wear it day and night).

In biting high wind it can get a bit cool, which is why I sometimes add a Windstopper earband over it. The Windstopper version should handle high wind better.

The majority of the people I know, including myself opt to purchase a ruff and sew it on. I have a number of different winter jackets for different conditions, and so I have actually sewn a zipper onto my ruff, as well as a zipper onto all the hoods of my jackets. This makes is super easy to switch jackets without having to purchase multiple ruffs. As for jackets that come with coyote ruffs already – the only company I can think of right now is Canada Goose (http://www.canada-goose.com/). Like most down gear, their stuff is quite expensive. I’m sure there are alternatives out there. I can’t provide any info on their gear quality, as most dog mushers dont use down gear. The nature of the sport has you in periods of heavy exertion, mixed with standing around for hours, and sweating in down gear is no fun at all…

There are many high quality winter coats out there that you can sew a ruff on though. Northern Outfitters, Rab, Buffalo Systems – all good stuff to start with.

Coyote ruffs are not that expensive either. The company I suggested sells them for $85 – and I’m sure you can find much cheaper on places like eBay.

EDIT : A good alternative to purchasing an expensive down parka is to buy a quality anorak or any other wind blocking layer and simply use the insulating layers you already own. I’ve purchased a Canadian military surplus anorak and have had great success with it. Once again…I’m sure there are many great alternatives out there if you did a little sleuthing.

Also – Cabelas seems to make some good parkas with fur ruffs. Much less expensive than other stuff out there as well. I see many people that use their Trans-Alaska Anorak, which comes with a coyote ruff. The guy that just won the Iditarod (Jeff King), uses this jacket a lot.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0040283921809a&type=product&cm_mmc=CRR-_-RLP-_-921809-_-productname_link&cmCat=CRR

What a beautiful feeling to walk in the Stegers (I got the Arctic model and I got my partner the beautiful Navajo). She was really leary. So first I wore mine around the outside of the house and we took the dogs down to the creek to walk around.

She was wearing her normal leather boots. Tight fitting and merino wool socks like we normally wear. Her feet got cold. Mine got warmer and not uncomfortable but really very comfortable the more we walked. And, with the mukluk soles you don’t really need snow shoes to go through snow up to 6 or 8″ powdery. So she tried hers on and we just got back from walking around Manzanita Lake at the base of Mt. Lassen.

Never experienced that much comfort, warmth, pure fun at walking in the snow. You feel like your in your element with these mukluks. Wish I could try the other brand that was recommended, but my partner will have me on death row if I dare to order another pair (think I gotta wait till next year to try those.)

Highly recommend them and thanks to Nicholas, Doug, Larry, and JR for the encouragement and advice — without it we would have never ended up with this wonderful gear — its a whole new experience of trekking and walking in snow. WOW!

Nicholas — thanks for the advice on the ruff, I can’t wait to get system set up so I feel comfortable and safe in wind and snowing conditions, or just plain low temps — we got down to 0 F last week at night. I am gonna check out the already manufactured with a ruff stuff, and am tending towards your idea — get a coyote ruff — since I’m not in sub-zero conditions at all or very often — and sew it on a wind and water proof anorak/parka/jacket. Thanks and if you think of any more advice keep it coming, its great. I am sure I will have more questions —

Like, what kind of pants do you wear for outters? Canvas? That seems good for sub-freezing temps, but here it fluctuates above and below so there is frequently melt or sloshy conditions and canvas doesn’t seem like the best???

Re: “I have the older Moonlite Pile version of the OR Gorilla Balaclava (3.8 oz), and it is really useful.” I also own that model, but what I usually end up using is a neoprene face mask, usually sold to skiers. The Gorilla tends to fog up my goggles or sun glasses. So do a lot of the neoprene masks, so I cut away the nose covering. The chain reaction to this is that the mask tends to slip down off my face, so I make sure I buy only neoprene masks that are manufactured already a part of a thin balaclava that goes over the head, which holds up the neoprene part without the nose piece. I added a foam flap to my Smith battery-powered Turbo anti-fog goggles, to cover the tiny tip of the nose left exposed.

BD

If your concerned about using canvas, there are plenty of synthetic options.

Empire Canvas makes anoraks and pants out of Canvas, but will make supplex versions if you special order them.

“Wintergreen Designs” sells very nice Supplex shell anorak and shell pants, but they are REALLY expensive… they will put a zip on/off coyote ruff on their anorak for an additional $125.

“Northern Outfitters” makes a decent set of shell jacket and pants out of Versatech. The price isnt bad on these.

If you can sew, check out the Cagoule and Rainpants pattern from “The Rain Shed”. I really like these patterns and they make good gear if you pick the right fabric and sew them well. The cagoule hood could use some refinement, but it works.

Finally, you can purchase an old M51 Fishtail parka removable hood. Just sew on buttons at appropriate locations around the neck of whatever jacket you want, and you can button on that hood which comes with a very effective synthetic ruff.

BD – I’m glad to hear that you are very happy with your purchase. Glad to have helped. One note – be sure to clean them after every season. It helps the breathability out a lot.

As for pants – I have two systems I use. Both are from the same company: Northern Outfitters (NO). Their gear is made from closed cell foam, a great insulator, and a great way to deal with body moisture. After a long day of sledding, I come home bone dry in this gear. Most, if not all mushers use, or are extremeley familiar with this companies stuff. Due to the fact that I am usually in extreme temps of -20 to -40, sometimes even colder, I use there EXP Pant, which is rated to -60. If your temperature is fluctuating above and below freezing though, I would suggest the other NO gear I use – the EXP Waterproof Pant. It is an exceptional piece of equipment – durable, breathable, and waterproof. Good stuff. Combined with either your own insulation, or the thinner insulations provided by NO, you can be out in winter conditions for months of end with no worry about being cold, wet, etc.

Yes – I wouldnt suggest canvas equipment if you are dealing with sloshy conditions. They can withstand it to a point, but eventually it gives out. Unless they are waxed….

You can check out the NO pant stuff at http://northernoutfitters.com/default.aspx

Once again I am sure there are a number of other wonderful and quite viable options out there. I have heard many great things about the Pertex/Pile system by Buffalo Systems (http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/). Both the NO and Buffalo gear systems are proven stuff for the harshest of conditions in the world, so I would look at them first.

Feel free to ask an more questions… dogsledding leads on to seek out the best of the best gear wise: durable, reliable, warm, breathable. While most of this stuff would not be considered ultralight by any means, the fabrics that go along with the movement would not be able to withstand the claws of a jumping Canadian Inuit Dog anyways. I’m not sure if you’re looking for the lightest of the light, as the stuff I suggested would not be the best choice in that case. I’m sure others would be able to help you if you are.

EDIT: I dont want to fuel your winter footwear addiction :)…. but I have another great suggestion that I use for conditions that will not be going above freezing. Norwegian wool felt boots (Lobbens ) are an excellent, and proven piece of equipment (http://www.winterboots.net/). Quite stylish as well…..cause thats what matters in the middle of winter, in the middle of nowhere.

Thanks Nicholas.

NO is just what I was looking for. Now I gotta decide which pants to get, since I don’t wanna freeze to death or suffer much when it does get down to 0 F and below here. Your experience is jumping me miles ahead and making this a real pleasure.

EDIT: The Lobbens are incredible, beautiful. Thank you so much. Now I gotta make some more money to get this great snow gear. (Yer right … my foot comfort is so important to me that it could easily be labelled an addiction … but a good one — I am just working on getting my first set of safe, functional, comfortable and durable gear for snow since I never lived in it before — I never thought I would I used to hate it — but it is so clean, quiet and just plain wonderful, a total natural world experience). I can’t wait to get a picture like yours of me in my OR Gorilla, my MH beanie, my military surplus synthetic fur lined coat, and snow goggles … I feel so happy I might just go out and sleep in the snow tonight — my goal is to make up for weight by using a UL tent in the snow — I’m working on a system for that in light or no wind and storm conditions … for example, a guy from the local mountaineering store turned me onto a plastic/bubble wrap type packing material in sheets that comes with their bicycles when they are unloaded. It has a heavier blue plastic outter shell. Cut to fit under my two wall Tri-lite tent or a Squall Classic/Rainshadow I am experimenting with it. It really works to insulate from the snow and only weighs a few ounces. Then with closed cell foam padding inside the tent so far there is not heat loss or cold in a Marmot 0 degree bag. Next attempt is to put a REI 32 F bag inside a light weight bivy on top of the ground cover, tent bottom, and closed cell foam pads and see if it will keep me warm to 20 F – 0 F. That saves enough ounces of pack weight to make up for the better and heavier gear that I wear. I am also looking at a synthetic light weight 0 – 32 F sleeping bag to keep cutting down weight and improving the safety factor. One thing I have learned up here on the mountain — no amount of weight saving is worth freezing my behind or toes, nose and ears off.)

EDIT #2: My cousin moved up to Alaska when he was a kid in the mid 50s. He went into Alaska like an angel into heaven, never been back to the continental US. He became a bush pilot and guide. He got into sledding, I never really talked to him but his sister told me. He did the Ididerod and I think she said he won it in about 63, whatever.

But, the reason I am adding this edit … you mentioned the dog claws of a Canadian Inuit dog. He was using huskies of some kine and they were basically only manageable by him, according to his sister. One time some strangers came up and fed them something and they started fighting over it. He went in to break it up and they chewed up his calf muscle pretty bad because of the frenzy. So I can imagine I would be real careful using UL fabric when you are dealing with working dogs willing to pull you and a sled all over nowhere in the middle of winter.

I have been more of an ocean person until we moved up here on Mt. Lassen. Now I love the cold and snow, walk around in a T-shirt at 20 F, which I never before imagined possible. But, while I would scuba anywhere anytime on the drop of a hat … snow and cold still spook me to be careful. Can’t imagine what it would be like to have bad or weak gear and get caught in a sub-zero storm or bad situation.

Sailed in some rough conditions and it never bothered me, but snow makes me think.

The pic of me is on the deck of the replica of Columbus’ ship the Nina (used in the movie ‘1492’ or whatever it ended up being called) when we brought her “up the hill” from SF to Portland one time. Hit a bad storm, 13 second following seas, 23 feet seas, wind all night. The tiller was 14′ long and banged around from the waves so bad I had bruises all over my side. The guy steering was sorta tied to it kind of so you could hold it when it whipped around, and had to move it so that you slid down the waves and then shift it the opposite direction to climb back up the next one. One guy almost died of seasickness that night. We lashed him on deck and my friend the captain had to kick him every 1/2 hour or so to make him moan, tied in his sleeping bag, to make sure he was still alive. The Coast Guard couldn’t have reached us because of the wind conditions so it was the only way to manage the boat and keep him with us. It turned out OK, but was a real thrilling trip … if you’re into seeing if you can get yourself killed in nature. Almost lost her, the boat, knocked the stuffing out of her caravel planking … but never was afraid of the ocean like the cold and snow. That’s another story.

Posted this on the Gear Deals topic:

Thanks to JR and Nicholas I am getting my first real winter gear. So this coat has a lining that comes out, weighs 3 1/2 lbs., not UL but great for my experiments, and has a detachable fur lined hood that JR pointed out could be buttoned to any shell. Dont know what the hood weighs, yet. First try I found the whole thing at $22 at

http://west.loadup.com/military/surplus/66381.html

Your idea was great JR. This will be this winters experimental coat, lining, and hood. Since I never used fur I am not ready to go to the NO professional gear that Nicholas referred me to. You guys are great. Thank you so much. Thank you twice.

Glad you could make some use out of it all.

You might have to pay me back one day though. Ive got an uber low-tech transpacific sail planned out – – on a teeny tiny solo kayak/trimaran/sailboat hybrid thingy. I might press you into service as a sounding board one day. You’ve been warned.

:D

Robert,

Rain-X Anti-fog (in the BLACK bottle, NOT the yellow bottle) works well in the humid NE to prevent fogging of glasses in warmer months as well as in the winter when wearing a Clava.

I’ve used it for yrs and have NOT damaged a single pair of polycarbonate presciption lenses as a result of using it.

Don’t use the Rain-X in the yellow bottle. I’ve never tried, but others have claimed that it damaged their lenses.

In a pinch you could also try what i used to do when SCUBA diving, i.e. use your own saliva to genly wipe on the lenses. I’ve never tried, so i don’t know if this will leave an undesireable residue on the lenses. Divers usually very gently rinse the saliva out of the facemask after spreading their saliva over the faceplate of the mask. UL-er’s probably wouldn’t want to waste any water doing this rinse “cycle”.

Too bad we didn’t meet when I was younger and was crazy enough to have thought of the same sailing trip. The advice and learnings I got are from a young charter captain who taught me most of what little I know:

First Rule — don’t over sail, sail safely. Safe sailing means sailing within your ability and the ability of your boat and gear given the conditions.

Second Rule — be prepared for everything that shouldn’t happen. For example, fog. Seems benign but in the SF Bay Area it can come in, you can’t see, your boat is drifting or has headway … and it is a shipping lane with no mercy … a large tanker takes a mile or two to slow to a stop so they aren’t gonna be able to move or stop all of a sudden. Or, there is a theory that some of the best world class soloists who disappeared fell overboard as a result of seasickness. It can hit anyone at anytime, totally unexpectedly — especially in cold weather — and the Pacific is bone chilling, piercing cold when you are going up wind on a sunny day. Deceptive bugger the Pacific.

Third Rule: Always, always, always, always and always — have the proper EPerb emergency beacon on your body at night or in rough seas, wear a proper offshore life vest (inflatables are great), and especially have a good life line attached to your harness — summarized in the rule — one hand for the boat, one for yourself — then have the radio to send out a mayday — if you have ever heard one it is a chilling thing to hear — the back and forth between the Coast Guard and a fishing boat going down off the mouth of the Columbia River was my intro to the stark reality of going down.

Corrollary to Third Rule: Know where you are and the nearest available safe harbor, landing or beaching shore, and Coast Guard or other rescue locations. There is no there out there, only down.

If you look at the Klepper West site (http://www.klepperwest.com/) you can order the book about a crazy German doctors solo acrosss the Atlantic in the 1950s, as I recall, in a Klepper double —

Peter, the owner of Klepper West is a great guy and a fountain of info … he loves to talk small folding kayak and insane boat trips. Don’t tell him yer goin transpac unless you want him to think yer as crazy as I do … unless yer plannin on takin the Queen Mary … b.d.

Thanks for the info.

I stated a thread down in water travel about this project a few months ago. I got recommended the “Alone at Sea” book there too… sounds like something I really need to check out. Im trying to get my library to buy it, but no joy as of yet.

re: first rule – I got a nice cozy berth and a sealable cockpit drawn in for when the weather gets rough. Lock down and ride storms out, sleep often, run like the devil when Im awake enough to do it.

re: second rule – I plan to stay away from major shipping lanes and there is a redundant rope system that I can tie into to keep me onboard. I can do everything but lock down the cockpit from inside while tied in, and there is a 3rd line inside for that (just in case – and it acts as a reminder when going on top to retie in to the main lines). Emergency gear is basically a full redundancy of my primary gear and in most cases is mounted directly to my person at all times. Including a small but serviceable liferaft, a large EPIRB for the main boat, and a smaller one for man overboard.

re: third rule, the trip is planned to be low-tech as much as possible, but I plan to carry one of these http://www.humanedgetech.com/shop/product.php?productid=80&cat=10&page=1 on board for communication, a VHF radio, and redundant GPS… plus lots of info on star nav.

My route is basically US to NZ and back.

Nichoas & JR …

If you are still out there … here is a pic of me in the military surplus cold weather jacket with the fur lining (synthetic) that JR referred me to. My mukluks are in the house, but it was so hot in this gear that I didn't have the energy to go put the mukluks on just to take a picture of the gear — MH lightweight balaclava, MH lighweight dome beanie, snow goggles, polypropelene glove liners for hands, and underlayer of capilene lightweight long sleve crew, Western Mountaineering Flash vest, then high loft Polartec military style zip pullover top … I was boiling in about 5 minutes and it was 35 F out, now is up to 40 today.

Anyway thanks for the advice if you are still out there. Once I get the hang of using a fur line hood in really cold and heavy weather (snowing) then I will get a fur lining, a light weight jacet and hood, and set up a zipper system like Nicholas was talking about. Thanks a lot you guys … stay in touch.