Looking for a “barefoot” style winter boot for hiking. Oversized trail runners w/ waterproof socks? Any other ideas?

"How about an oversized pair of trail runners with waterproof socks, perhaps?"

If you went that route, you would need two VBL's. One closer to your skin to protect insulation from your body moisture, and then another one on the outside of the insulating layers to protect them from outside moisture.

If you sew, it would be easy and quick project with some silnylon. You don't have to get fancy with silnylon VBL socks/booties.

Another idea is to just do one silnylon booty and sew some evazote foam onto it while it's still opened up, and that takes care of both insulation and waterproofness. I don't know how well evazote foam would sew though. The longer the stitch the better.

How any of this would work in the real world, i don't know, as i've yet to try it myself. Still waiting on snow or even just cold temps around these parts.

Hopefully you will get some responses from members who live in areas that have more 'winter' than we do here in Tucson – but since you mentioned Trail Runners and Waterproof socks I thought I would share my experiences from last winter and a few hikes this winter.

I have used Seal Skinz branded waterproof socks purchased ~1.5 years ago with trail runners (Breatho Trail, Fellraiser, Superior, Lone Peak, Trailroc 245/255…) for around 15 hikes/runs at least partly in the snow, all 'day' hikes and probably nothing longer than 8 hours, mostly in what I think is fair to describe as very moderate temperatures.

What I found:
-The socks didn't take up as much room as I thought they would, but getting a roomier fit would be appealing for more frequent/longer/dedicated use.
-Either from foot sweat, leaking or water in from the top (when wearing 3/4 tights) my feet seem to feel damp after an hour or so (I have never tried to sort out which/what combination of those cause the dampness)
-I now wear a light or medium weight wool blend sock inside, the ultralight wool socks I often like to use feel wet too quickly and I like the extra insulation of the thicker sock
-The waterproof socks are definitely damp and in need of drying out at the end of the day
-In the temps I am in my feet are often damp but not so often cold with the light/med weight sock, ymmv esp. in colder temps!

It would be ideal if my feet stayed drier in these socks and it would be interesting to try other brands/models/systems – but I haven't been motivated to do that because this has been a good-enough-for-me compromise here in Southern Arizona and for the amount I hike in the snow I have not been motivated to tweak this part of my kit.

CM

The vivobarefoot shoes don't have enough underfoot insulation. I've done thick wool socks with rocky goretex socks in vivobarefoot neo trails around freezing in sloppy wet snow conditions and I could feel the cold ground sucking away the heat.

I'm still in the process of figuring out how minimal I can go with underfoot insulation without loosing too much heat to the snow.

Take a look at the 40 below light energy TR overboots. I have some but haven't had a chance to use them yet. You can stick the foam insoles in there for more underfoot insulation.

Thanks for the input, guys!