Traditional Winter Moccasins

[Caelan D]

Hello!

Does anyone here use traditional leather and canvas winter moccasins with wool felt liners (such as those made by Steger)? I like how light and traditional they are, but was wondering how practical they really are for extended travel in cold weather. I would just be using them primarily with snowshoes traveling over frozen lakes. I’ve found a few resources online on how to make my own, and have considered that as well.

Also has anyone experimented with using vapor barrier liners, or closed cell foam insoles under the felt liners?

thanks!

[Edward John M]

Never used them myself but I have a mate who does.
It’s imperative that you carry a spare set of liners and dry out the worn pair overnight.
My mate uses an old fashioned canvas hot tent with wood stove and he has no problems but if you are cold tenting it might be hard to dry out the liners in a single night.
Have you thought about making the exterior mukluk to fit Intuition moulded liners?
The Intuition moulded liners are very warm and while meant to go over very thin ski socks perhaps you could have them moulded over a thick woollen sock combination to cope with temperatures below -25C
CCF foam collapses quickly which is why woollen felt and mesh frost plugs are still the preferred under foot insulation layers, although with Intuition liners the frost plugs are probably redundant they would still give 2mm of dead air space

[Stumphges]

I wear Steger Yukon’s with the arctic soles. Good for anything from 30F on down by varying sock thickness and adding additional wool insole in the box. Difficulty with snowshoes might be binding compatibility.

[Luke Schmidt]

I wear them in Alaska. Very warm. A few downsides.

<li style=”text-align: left;”>First the fit is a but sloppy. Not great on steep hills. In deep snow it’s a non issue.
• Soft sole, good usually but it might be uncomfortable if you are using modern snowshoes with a metal crampon.

Aside from that I love them in cold snowy conditions. In the shoulder seasons I use waterproof hiking boots. This solves the problem of slushy snow and traction on steep bare ground. If you choose to use them just consider the risk of overflow and wet feet.

[AK Granola]

I’ve also worn Stegers in Alaska for the last 30 years (two pairs during this time). But, they are too warm for above zero hiking, and my feet get sweaty. They are also pretty warm for use while snowshoeing; my feet just get too hot. I use either my regular Salomon goretex mids, or my new boots, just purchased, the Salomon toundras; they are also too warm for 20F or above. I really like having my mukluks at camp, for a dry warm pair of feet after exercise, so I’ll strap them to the top of my sled load. Or I’ll use them while watching a race, standing around in the cold.

[Stumphges]

Karen, have you tried wearing only liner socks in? I’m ok hiking at 30F if my socks are light enough. (They are sloppy like this but I don’t mind that for flat walking.)

[David Thomas]

My wife and I each have a pair of Steger mukluks with suede and cotton (like a light canvas) uppers.  This model:

We put their recommended water-resistance treatment on the leather portion.

They’re comfy – more than other warm boots.  The soles are more flexible than any other warm boots I have, so not as good for kicking steps or walking on rough ground (like a trail that’s re-frozen after someone someone else has walked it).

I find them too warm at 15-20-25F and I’d never wear them for long near freezing because the cotton absorbs water.

Below 10F, I like them.  They take a while to put on and take off with those long laces to thread up and tighten.

Because you can pull the felt liners out, they dry faster than anything else on a Peet boot dryer (or in a hot tent).

[SIMULACRA]

Here’s the 2021 version of those David. Sadly they don’t have a mens version

[Dave @ Oware]

I have made inner boots from 3/8″ evazote foam and tricot. Copy the felt inners and use Barge Cement or other contract cement to glue the edges together then cover over by gluing on the tricot. They don’t last as long as felt, but they absorb no moisture and are very light. Used them in Sorels and in old plastic double boots.

 

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