Shoreline mud rubber boot recommendations?

[Thorne]

http://www.luckhardt.com/lk_son109-5.jpg
I'm tired of getting muck and rocks in the boating shoes -

Any recommendations for tall rubber boots suitable for small boat use? Don't need the smooth-sole ones designed for decks as my small boats don't have decks.

Just looking for reasonably-priced (under $70) tall rubber boots with
aggressive lug soles for mud, but that won't mark the floorboards and thwarts. A design that straps on tightly enough to not pull off in serious muck would be nice, too...

Anyone try the LaCrosse boots?
http://www.qcsupply.com/Products/10070.aspx

[TerryLL]

Easy, Xtratufs.


http://www.xtratufboots.com/img/XtraTufCollage.jpg

Comfortable enough to wear all day. Standard footgear for the Alaska commercial fisheries.

[Iceboy]

Those uninsulated LaCross boots are fine. I have a pair for mucking about in. Jim...

[boylesboats]

what about these puddle jumpers? http://www.lacrossefootwear.com/product/waterproof+boots/rubber+boots/alpha+lite+mule+od+green+hunting+boots.do

Hip boots? http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20564-cat280030&id=0021419830424a&navCount=4&podId=0021419&parentId=cat280030&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=QX&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat601233&hasJS=true Don't let any water get in these...

Chest waders is too much work involved gettin' on and off

Or just go barefooted...

[rbgarr]

We need much more detail.

What kind of mud will you be walking in? Will it be for pleasure or work? What kind of waterfront is it? Salt, fresh or brackish? Are you at all concerned with aesthetics? Would used boots do? Have you considered making your own? Others will come along with suggested designs with photos and computer generated renderings if they know how to post them. There's a guy who will explain how to do it if they don't.

He always shows up when that happens. I think he wears a funny hat.


http://i42.tinypic.com/255lwnb.jpg

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

.
Speaking for myself, I just used a pair of light canvas deckshoes with a hole cut out at the big-toe to allow the water to drain away.

My mud was greyer than yours though.

Mike

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Welly Boots - As made famous by "The Big Yin"
http://www.eshoe.co.uk/ekmps/shops/gr8fashion/images/k_wellie_gpw_flower3.jpg

[Terrence Gilhuly]

I have a pair of Gill deck boots that I love. They do have deck soles but the best thing is the hug my feet so the mud won't pull them off. Most of the ones with lug soles seem to be made to be able to step out of easily. Only a good thing if you want to step out.

[Thorne]

We need much more detail.

What kind of mud will you be walking in? Will it be for pleasure or work? What kind of waterfront is it? Salt, fresh or brackish? Are you at all concerned with aesthetics? Would used boots do? Have you considered making your own? Others will come along with suggested designs with photos and computer generated renderings if they know how to post them. There's a guy who will explain how to do it if they don't.

He always shows up when that happens. I think he wears a funny hat.


Ouch!! -- Hoist with me own petard, I be!

;0 )

Answers: All sorts. Pleasure. River, Bay and Delta. All. Sorta, no twee flower patterns, please. Want new, had bad luck buying used. Not on yer life, mate.

Funny hats, I LIKES 'em!


Seriously, thanks for the suggestions. After falling multiple times in the clay shore mud of Lake Sonoma, I'm looking for serious traction, but the boots need to stay on the feet, too.

[TerryLL]

The Xtraufs are a bit stretchy and fit snug around the ankle, so they really stay on. The traction is super, hence their widespread use on fishing boats with slippery decks. My sweetie has the LaCross boots and they are very slippery on wet rocks.

[Canoeyawl]

I think the cheap "farmer boots" may be the best for inshore boat work. The Lacross and the x-tra tuffs have an aggresive tread that pick up so many beach pebbles that when you you get aboard you can't put your feet down without scratching the finish. Sort of like 6-grit abrasives... bad for canvas decks and varnish, really bad, it'll make you cry.
Sperry used to make a high boot with a boat sole but it's long discontinued. For me the Gill boots are just the wrong height as they capsized everytime I stepped off the boat - too short. The farmer boots pull right off and stay in the deep mud then you are right back where you started - naked. It's a compromise - shoal draft or deep keel, ballast or unballasted, Ketch or Yawl?
I use the Lacross and ground the bottoms smooth with a sander, then razor cut them with a few single edged blades taped together. At Marshall beach last year we had a sole trimming party. I don't think this can be done while sober -lol

[Paul Pless]

We need much more detail.stoh...:D :D :D

I wear this everyday at work year round... for years now... they are to me, the most comfortable waterproof boot. rubber bottom, neoprene upper... with a cloth liner. Warm but not hot

http://www.muckbootcompany.com/images/EWH-333T_high.jpg

they make a shorter pair marketed to canoeists...

http://www.muckbootcompany.com/images/CIB-TAN_high.jpg

[Canoez]

we need much more detail.

What kind of mud will you be walking in? Will it be for pleasure or work? What kind of waterfront is it? Salt, fresh or brackish? Are you at all concerned with aesthetics? Would used boots do? Have you considered making your own? Others will come along with suggested designs with photos and computer generated renderings if they know how to post them. There's a guy who will explain how to do it if they don't.

He always shows up when that happens. I think he wears a funny hat.


http://i42.tinypic.com/255lwnb.jpg

:d :d :d

[Terrence Gilhuly]

Hey Canoeyawl you must be a very tall fellow.
My Gill boots stand 17.5 inches tall, any thing taller would cover my knee.

[Thorne]

Canoeyawl IS a tall fellow, and worse, he's got the Bay Area franchise on the white lobstah-man rubber boots -- anyone else who wears 'em would be an obvious copycat (darn!)...

;0 )

I hear the issues with the pebbles in the treads, which is why so many rubber boots have relatively solid soles -- perhaps I should rethink my "agressive tread" requirements.

Luckily nobody was there to watch me unloading my boat at Lake Sonoma -- a cross between Wiley J. Coyote stepping on a banana peel, and "a hog on ice" as my father used to say. MAN that clay was sliiiiick...

[boylesboats]

Hey Thorne, :D
Luckily nobody was there to watch me unloading my boat at Lake Sonoma -- a cross between Wiley J. Coyote stepping on a banana peel, and "a hog on ice" as my father used to say. MAN that clay was sliiiiick...
I wish that I could see that on utube :D Naaa just kidding..
We got some sticky gumbo here.. Sticks to everything, and hell yeah it's slicker than snot....Once dried, its like concrete...
Oop! I forgot you're from Missouri... you knows what it like....

[Thorne]

Well, I went with the LaCrosse 18" boots, so we shall see if I have to drink beer and trim the soles this September or not...
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31X6D3VA9XL._SS500_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/LaCrosse%C2%AE-Grange-Hunting-Boots-Green/dp/B0002A7GK0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=shoes&qid=1233684798&sr=1-1

[Canoeyawl]

"Tall" has nothing to do with it...
How deep is the BS? is the problem :)

[David G]

"Tall" has nothing to do with it...
How deep is the BS? is the problem :)

CY - Since you know my Twin, you'll realize that the issues are intertwined. Deep IS the issue when he's around :p

tWIN - I've got mid-calf height La Crosse boots, but have filled them up too many times. My next upgrade will be to waders. You remember the ones Lou was wearing at Timothy Lake?

http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t4/auroradan/Timothy%20Lake%202008/?action=view&current=PICT3029.jpg


"Quicly, bring me a beaker of wine, that I might wet my mind and say something clever" -- Aristophanes

[Bob Triggs]

I will second the mention of Muck Boots. I have tried everything else, including all mentioned above and then some. I do a lot of nearshore walking and shallow wading, low tide areas etc,in and out of boats and canoes etc, and I spend a lot of time in boggy areas in volunteer fisheries habitat restoration work. Just about everyone is using the Muck Boots. The Wetlands model is most often seen in these situations. Cabelas offers them with some Cabelas style versions that I am going to try out next winter. One caution- dont get the insulated Muck Boots unless you really need them. The insulation is fantastic.

[Yeadon]

I see that the voting has closed on the matter, but if had voted, I would have voted for the xtra tufs.

[boylesboats]

Thorne,
that looks fine.. at least you're not out sloppin' in hog pens

[Thorne]

The Xtratuffs looked great, as did some others -- but all were over my budget of $70. Otherwise I'd have bought 'em in a flash.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

Twin -- Hamilton's has waders for under $80. I hear ya about getting in over the top...of the boots, of course. We'll see how the 18" LaCrosse boots work out.

[Steve Lansdowne]

No matter how tall the boot, it would seem to me that sinking 14" into the mud would be a problem. Has anyone tried some version of a snow shoe type attachment, though not that big, to keep from sinking in and getting stuck? I assume some these boots attempt to solve this problem with a larger sole, but how well does this work?

[Thorne]

Mud Pattens are what you are describing:

http://www.btinternet.com/~clive.elliston/ladwaca/mud_pattens.htm (http://www.btinternet.com/%7Eclive.elliston/ladwaca/mud_pattens.htm)
http://www.btinternet.com/%7Eclive.elliston/ladwaca/images/mudpatterns.gif

I've never worn mud pattens, although I've worked farms and feedlots where the manure was so deep we used ATV's to get around as the tractors would get stuck, bulldozers would just sink.

Of course some clay mud will build its own pattens -- the stuff gloms onto your feet or boots and builds up huge, heavy balls o' muck. No fun to walk in, though...

Pattens were very popular additions to footware about 500 years ago, but find rare use these days.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattens

What are in effect snowshoes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowshoe) for mud, as used by wildfowlers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfowler), boatmen, and Coast Guards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coast_Guard) may also be called pattens, or "mud-pattens". These are shaped boards attached to the sole of a shoe, which extend sideways well beyond the shape of the foot, and are therefore a different sort of footwear from those discussed here. They are used to walk on mud on river-banks etc.

[rbgarr]

I wear the Muck low cut shoes almost every day here in winter. The insulation is perfect for my cold feet but I may have to get new ones next fall. The tread pattern has almost been worn smooth!!

[Bob Smalser]

As I suspect you prefer things classic, next time around try these:

Le Chameau Leather-Lined Men's Chasseur boots. $395.00 plus shipping.

http://images2.orvis.com/orvis_assets/prodimg/207ZL7HS.jpg

The appropriate tweed breeks, hose and garters are around $300 extra.

http://images2.orvis.com/orvis_assets/prodimg/64L6M7HH.jpg

;)

[Wooden Boat Fittings]

Mud Pattens are what you are describing:


... called "splatchers" by Arthur Ransome in his book "Secret Water," set on the East Coast.

Some years ago I made some somewhat-unsuccessful elliptical ones for use in the mud of Western Port. Were I still there I might be tempted to try making the square ones you describe.

However, with all due respect to the author of the article, I don't think anyone using splatchers would find them as simple to walk in as he describes. My experience was that they have a great tendency to slide around on the mud, even with cleats fastened to the undersides, and that it's very easy to have them disappear from under you while you're thinking about something else....

Mike

[Clencher]

Having spent 50 years or more messing about in glutinous estuary mud with small boats, this is what I do:

In the summer when it’s warm wear a simple pair of canvas shoes, lace up, snug fit with a thin pair of socks under. Tie them on tight so they don’t pull off.

When its cold a pair of cheap thigh waders with straps you can hook through your belt. Don’t mess about with mud pattens/splatchers, they are more trouble than worth, as Wooden Boat Fittings says. But you must tie the boots on if in sticky mud or they will pull off, or half off, and you’ll fall over. Get two bits of thin rope and loop under the sole over the instep and tie a simple overhand. Then back behind the heel, another simple overhand, pass back round to the front and a simple reef knot at the instep. Use man made fibre rope or with cold hands you’ll never untie them and may have to sleep in your waders.

Cheap shoes and waders because I’ve found that you damage/puncture them on barnacle covered stones, buried old bits of iron, even oyster shells long before you wear them out so they need replacing fairly often.

You won’t win any fashion parades and will get strange looks from the “yellow welly” brigade.

[Canoeyawl]

Another note about “Boat Boots” and deep water (or mud, or BS)…

When I first went to sea I shipped out of Astoria, Oregon and worked offshore on a big salmon troller. I was a young green hand and the skipper took me in to town and helped me get outfitted with oilies and the other prerequisite gear – a proper knife, sou’wester and etc. I had little money and it was just run of the mill stuff (Helly Hansons) but *Special Attention was given to the boots. These were discussed at length with the old man finally saying “buy them at least one size too big.” “But - but - they are uncomfortable like that”.
He was adamant about this, no talking him out of it, “You won’t be walking very far in them, just do it. You may have to swim out of them” Hmmm… what?
Well, he was footing the bill - to be taken from my pay at the end of the trip, so I went with his recommendations. Well it never came up on that trip or even for a few years after that but eventually I was capsized in breaking seas on a bar entrance and sure enough - you can’t swim with big rubber boots on and the oilies don’t help either. But after about three kicks they were gone, slipped right off, and I was able to swim ashore.
I still thank that Old Man for that advice. Although I am a good swimmer, He may have saved my life.

[TerryLL]

How about these:

http://www.rei.com/zoom/856941.jpg/150

They'd go great with your hat, which I do like, by the way.

[Thorne]

Great advice, Canoeyawl -- I usually buy boots at least a size large anyway, and then add a felt or running shoe innersole.

Terry -- you are right, they'd go great with the helmet -- but I'd have to glue some horns onto the sides first...

I DO have a hat with horns, shown here at the Folsom Ren Faire during an awards ceremony -- lovely, ain't it?
http://www.luckhardt.com/horn-hat-thorne.jpg

[redbopeep]

stoh...:D :D :D

I wear this everyday at work year round... for years now... they are to me, the most comfortable waterproof boot. rubber bottom, neoprene upper... with a cloth liner. Warm but not hot
they make a shorter pair marketed to canoeists...



I'm a mess when it comes to mucking about in/out of a canoe on a muddy shore side. Always have been. I've never been able to keep the water from getting into the boot--no matter how high the boot goes up my leg. I suppose thigh-high waders would do but I though that overkill.

So, I now have a pair of neoprene booties that look like the bottom ones Paul Pless posted above. I purchased them because my old Vietnam era combat boots were no longer made/available via the Army/Navy surplus stores. Also, we have a boat on a mooring that we get to by canoing--with low tide, it is very mucky. After launching the canoe, I can stick my feet in the water swishing around and get the mud off before getting to the sailboat.

I wish someone made combat boots like those old ones. They were canvas topped, grommet holes for water egress, laced up nice and tall. The "new" version of them that I've seen is totally worthless Goretex...

I wore my old ones out while spending many happy (younger) days spelunking and river canoing. The spelunking involved going back and forth between rappelling/climbing into and out of caves and walking, crawling, generally mucking about in mud in other caves. In all cases, the sturdy sole and fairly lightweight nature of the boots was great.