Boots vs Shoes – South Coast Track (SCT) Tasmania

[Rod Dickfos]

Hi, six of us are doing the SCT in December and we are in the middle of a serious flame war about boots vs shoes on the track. We will be travelling light with a 7-10kg pack inc 7 days food.
Has anyone down the walk in shoes (I have Salomon XT Wings 3 or Inov8 TERRAFLY 313 GTX) both great shoes)
And short gaiters (Montbelll semi-spats and Dirty Girl gaiters)
Any experience with the mud and short gaiters? (I don't care about getting muddy.)
I am trying to do this SUL but only down to a 3kg base weight.
BTW we are old farts….thx

[Adam Kilpatrick]

Just do it. Shoes won't be a problem. Just make sure you do them up tight so you don't lose them in a bog.

Wearing light shoes and carrying a light pack you'll contribute less to the bog problem.

Shoes will dry out quicker. Your feet will get wet whatever you wear.

Gaiters don't matter either way. The short ones you mention might help hold your shoes on in a bog better than not having a gaiter at all.

Enjoy :-)

[Roger Caffin]

Hi Rick

Shoes, or joggers, will work fine. Just do it. Some of the Taswegians will be horrified of course, but we are used to their reaction.
Short gaiters – just fine.
Mud – yes, I do believe there could be some in a few places … :-)

Cheers

[Author]

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