Boots with loose Goretex Liners

[Diana Michaels]

Hello All
My partner and I have lashed out and bought lovely Zamberlan lightweight hiking boots for our August JMT hike but I'm worried that the Goretex lining material is not firmly attached to the leather outside of the shoe and is already sagging and wrinkling in places. I've only had them a few days so only a couple of hours of combined use … I'm worried that these little folds will be like a wrinkle in my socks and cause pressure points and sore toenails… I haven't bought Goretex lined boots before but I do have trail shoes and the lining seems firmly attached in those. Does anyone have any wisdom or experiences to share? I don't know if this is normal and will work out with use, or whether the boots are faulty and should be returned. It's weird that both pairs of the boots are like this, though! BTW it's impossible to contact Zamberlan – they have a contact form on their website which doesn't work…

[Ty Ty]

I would return the boots, buy some trail shoes without gore-tex liners. If you must have goretex buy the socks. Goretex eventually leaks so at least that way it wont be sewn into your shoes.

What most people here do instead is wear shoes with minimal leather, more mesh and thin socks and just let their feet get went and dry as they walk.

I have an expensive pair of Zamberlan boots in my closet that gave me blisters and a black toenail before I gave them up and switched to hiking shoes (low top, like tennis shoes with better tread) and I have never regretted it.

[Diana Michaels]

Thanks for response. I have always worn shoes up to now, but won't bore you with my reasons for wanting to try boots… it's medical. I would buy boots without Goretex liners if these were available in Australia… (sigh). I can only get leather lined boots online (and my feet are so hard to fit I wouldn't want to waste postage money on this!) So I'm hoping someone in the backpackinglight community has or is familiar with these laminated fabric linings and can tell me if it's normal for them to be wrinkly and loose, or whether they are normally bonded securely to the actual shoe… Y'know I phoned the retailer to ask this and they didn't know! (Of course I could take them back and get a refund but I really really like them apart from this and if it's just par for the course, maybe I won't do any better…)

[Ken Thompson]

Your feet will cook in those boots in Aug. You'll do fine in trail runners or mids. The few pair of lined shoes/boots that I have had have not had any bagginess to the linings. Wrinkles give blisters.

[Travis Leanna]

Donna,
Sharing your medical reason for wanting/needing Gore Tex boots may help people when they consider footwear options to discuss with you. It would hardly bore this community!

Of course, your medical needs are truly personal and so I don't mean to pry. As long as you're comfortable sharing though, it would probably help.

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Donna

I think you may regret the boots.
Feel free to email me – I'm in Sydney.

Cheers
roger@backpackinglight.

[Ty Ty]

Well then the shoes/boots I have had with goretex liners did not have any wrinkles.

Couple more options…

Zamberlan has a couple models without goretex, I had a pair of Baltero? maybe? That did not have liners. Another idea would be to just cut them out and use without.

[Diana Michaels]

Thanks all, that's very helpful. sounds like the liners are faulty then, it's at least good to be armed with that information. I really didn't want to get into a big discussion about whether I should wear boots or shoes, that wasn't my intention with the post. As I say, I have always worn shoes up to now, but I'm not an ultralight packer. I know many people have strong opinions on these types of topics, but I think we all have to do what suits us. There are just as many people who swear by boots as those who curse them, we just have to try things out and do what works for us, hey? On other sites you will find the opposite, people who always hiked in shoes and now swear by boots – different strokes for different folks. I do like shoes though, and have Oboz, Columbia and Helly Hansen lightweight hikers and trail runners. I'm also a keen barefoot walker. All things have their place!

[Diana Michaels]

Oh thanks Travis very sweet (and I love your photo!!) and a tempting offer to a hypochondriac. (I think it was Colin Fletcher who said that he felt sorry for folk who weren't hypochondriacs, they didn't know what pleasures they were missing out on!) but honestly my foot/leg/back quirks would even bore ME if I had to write about them! Bad enough having to entertain and accommodate them and take them off to visit various expensive professionals! But we all have these quirky things, just takes up more mind space when you like to be very active in remote locations! Anyway I don't need GORETEX boots (does anyone?), it was more the BOOTS per se that I'm wanting to try out… And so far, apart from liner issues, I have to say I'm loving them!!!! Anyway I'm not totally committed to using the boots on the JMT, might still use my shoes… see how I feel closer to the date. I don't want COOKED feet!!!!

[Sam Farrington]

It may have more than anything else to do with all the outsourcing of manufacturing.
But no more on that – enough threads on that already.

Despite strong tempations to switch to trail shoes, I still use mids, because they are high enough on the sides to not take in water with every other puddle. I really can go through slosh in the rain all day without my sox getting more than slightly damp. Right now using the Keen Targhee mids, which wear out fairly quickly, but no sign yet of the waterproof breathable (WPB) liners ('Keen-Dry') wrinkling or bunching up. The Revive-X Gel is great for the leather, and Tectron boot spray lasts for several days of wet at least.

So IMO it is poor manufacture – try out some other WPBs, mids if available.

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