Heresy? High Topped Gore-tex Shoe!

[Stephen Barber]

Since being converted to the Gospel of BLP according to St. Mike of the C!, I've been faithful to always wear only low-topped non-gore-tex trail runners that were ultra breathable.

But in finding runners that fit really well, I discovered that New Balance actually lists their lasts, and once you find a last that fits well (RL-3 for me), you can easily identify other shoes that are all but guaranteed to fit well.

And I found some mostly leather, high topped, gore-tex lined boots, I mean shoes, that NB made on the RL-3 last! Oh dear! What a temptation! Perhaps they would stop stones and grit from getting in without the Dirty Girl gaiters! Maybe they would keep out the fine dust that always turns to mud when it sifts onto my sweaty toes!

So I sinned, bought them, and wore them on my latest hike!

And they fit fine, kept out grit and dust, didn't result in an abundance of wet sweat, and when I took them off at camp to check, my toes were CLEAN! (Just a bit sweaty!) My socks were clean too! Amazing!

So I've switched Patron Saints, and am now following St. Nick of Gate L, who always said that gore-tex keeps fine dust out of your toes!

Sorry Mike!

[Todd T]

I too hike in Gore Tex; mine are 3/4 tops. The lack of dust working through the uppers is one of the main reasons I like Gore Tex. I wear Dirty Girls with them, and after using them for two seasons now, the insides and insoles look almost like they did when I pulled them out of the box. The shoes last longer, socks last longer, feet last longer. I do believe some people's feet just sweat too much to make waterproof shoes practical, but for those of us without that problem there's a real benefit that has nothing to do with water.

[M B]

Dirty feet and socks, do suck. If you dont change/wash socks, it will actually begin abrading the foot after a couple days because of the dirt. In fairly non-dusty conditions I get 2 days out of a pair of socks. In sandy/dusty desert conditions, I dont even want to think about it.

But the tradeoff is being able to walk thru water, and having cool,non-sweaty feet.
Whatever works for an individual, is whats important.

Short duration trips with low mileage is different from longer duration /high mileage. Easy flat terrain different from rough.

Many people have footwear system that works on 3 day trip with 10 miles per day in moderate terrain, and think they have feet licked. Then they try a week with 15 mpd in rocky rough terrain and end up crippled with blisters.

So far, trailrunners and light socks havent let me down, but they do give me dirty feet.

Recent foray my hiking buddy came down with blister the size of a quarter on the bottom of one of his feet after 3 days, high mileage. He was wearing low mid goretex boot, with sock and liner. When he pulled his sock off the skin under his foot was noticably white-ish and soft looking. I hinted that maybe he should try it with just the liner sock, but hint wasnt taken.

[James Marco]

Gore-tex doesn't really work well when it gets dirty or wet. Like most water proof/breathable fabrics, it mostly acts as a wicking layer to prevent your feet from getting too wet. I used trail runners for three different fairly long distance hikes. Three differnt shoes, resorting to a full size over what was called for. They really tore up my feet en every case. I went back to my standard mids. These are also gortex lined, but, like I say, it really doesn't work that well.

But for keeping out dust and water from trail puddles and such, they work well. And they really protect my ankles against rocks, sticks, and other trail debris. So, yes, I am a complete heritic. I don't really care that they weigh 1#7 instead of 14oz. I can put on 20mi per day on most terrain without pain. To me, this is more important than putting on 22mi in pain. Nothing wrong with tryiing to be comfortable as I hike.

[Jen Churchward]

I much prefer to wear boots with a Gore-Tex or eVent liner for the same reason… I hate having dirty feet! No matter how many other pairs of boots or shoes I try, I always come back to boots that don't let the dirt in.

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