Leather Boots

[BPLwiia]

In the past 5 weeks, I’ve had the misfortune of being in the strike zone of two Timber Rattlers. Several years ago, when I encountered my first Timber rattler, I bought Turtleskins which are snakeproof gaiters.

I am comfortable that wearing my Turtleskins will successfully defend against a strike in the gaiter region. After the past two encounters, I’ve discovered my feet are at risk because I wear INOV-8s which are easily penetrated. I’ve decided get a pair of leather hiking boots to wear when in this area.

I’ve searched high and low and can’t find any benchmarks for leather thickness needed. 2mm, 2.4mm, more? Does anyone have a suggestion for where I could search, or what organization to call, to determine the leather thickness needed to protect against a rattlesnake bite?

[Jacob]

I’m under the vague impression that ‘snake-proof’ leather footwear is lined with turtleskin.

Try searching for turtleskin boots or snake armor boots. Most of those products are tall though…

Good luck!

[David Thomas]

It’s a spectrum.  How big a snake, the angle of attack, if it was a dry bite anyway, etc.

Personally, if I’ve got even trail runners on, I feel I’ve greatly reduced risk to my feet and should focus on my ankles and ESPECIALLY my hands and where I place them.

The first thing that popped up when I Googled:

“85 percent of bites are to the fingers and hands. 13 percent of snakebites occur on the feet and legs, rarely above the ankle. 57 percent of snakebite victims were handling the snake at the time of the bite”.

So never scramble up rocks using handholds in snake country.  And use your trekking pole to rustle around before setting up a tent, placing tent stakes, digging a cat hole, etc.  And don’t pick them up!  Those are only two times I’ve come even close to being bitten.

Any full-grain leather boot would seem like plenty of protection.  Remember it is much tougher now that it has been cured into leather than when it was a cow’s skin.  But here in Alaska, with no snakes, I only put my full-grain 35-year-old Danner boots on when I’m using a chainsaw.

 

[Bruce Tolley]

Say what??? “57 percent of snakebite victims were handling the snake at the time of the bite”.

Is that all snakebites including those by poisonous snakes?

 

[BPLwiia]

I’ve done a fair amount of research and a lot of people get bitten trying to get close to the snake which is why the bites on the hand. Alcohol also play into a number of those.  The fang of a Timber Rattler is ~1/2″ and is hollow. Still, it’s like a hypodermic needle and I want to assured it won’t bite through.

This week, I’ve been trying a number of full-grain leather boots.  Here are a few:

Merrill Wilderness – a classic boot and would fully protect

Kenetrek Hardscrabble – solid boot

Hanwag Bergler – looks great but little info about it

Vasque Sundowner – classic and comfortable

I ordered the Hardscrabble but it hasn’t arrived yet so I don’t know how it will feel. The Hangwag Bergler looks interesting but haven’t tried it on either.

Any thoughts about these?

[Author]

Posts