I am looking for recommendations for new portage boots. The factors I am interested in are: 1) comfort, 2) traction on wet granite, mud, the typical stuff found on Q portages. I am looking for MAXIMUM TRACTION. 3) Durability. I'd like to get a few canoe trips out of them. 4) Ankle/foot support/protection.

I am not interested in sandals, so don't try to sell me any. I also wet-foot, so I don't care if it's waterproof or not. Fast-drying would be a plus. Tell me what works for you. Keep in mind, I'm looking for portage boots, not camp comfy footwear. Thanks in advance!

OS 

OS,
i've had good luck with the TEVA brand water shoes, not to be confused with there sandals
i check the web and get a deal on the last year model.
I got 3 yrs on first pair, still look good, but sole has lost some grip.
this year i got the Gamma pro for $30 on sale.
Only drawback, is there only ankle height, same as running shoes??
Something, you may or may not know??
WHEN people talk about ankle support, what there really telling you is they have WEAKNESS" in there supporting muscles around the foot area.
IF you have that problem and want to fix it and not just hide it with high boots and restrictive lacing techniques, you can go to a running store and buy a balance trainer and that will fix you right up!
its basically a circular piece of wood with a central pivot point that you can adjust for angle.
The idea is to strengthen the weak muscles by balancing yourself on it a few minutes each day.
In over 25 yrs of exercise classes, aerobics,step and outdoor pursuits, i've never worn a shoe higher than ankle height and never had a problem??
TEVA shoes are also sticky as all get out, so that helps with the bashing your feet can endure, if your slipping and sliding down the portage trail!!
I know your a gore-tex sock guy, so if worse comes to worse, you have a camp fishing day shoe that will double as portage shoe if you need it

OS, I like my Chota Quetico Trekkers also. I've used them  6 trips and will be wearing them this year.

solotripper wrote on Mar 12^th, 2007 at 9:08pm:

Hey.  That's good to know.  Here I thought it was the result of broken bones (helicoptered one ankle skiing in the rockies), ankle sprains that turned blue to my knee (that happens when you play basketball and you go up for a rebound and the first thing that contacts the floor on the way down is your knee) and strained ligaments that didn't return "home" after the injury healed (that popping sound you hear when I walk is one of those).

OS -

You may still loose traction, even with Chota Mukluks.  (One of my recent ankle sprains was when wearing the Nunavut II models and stepped up on a wet granite rock with a canoe over my head.  That one was on Keats Lake headed to PP.  That one only turned blue to about mid-calf, but I had a wonderfully diverse set of colors from one toe to the next.)  But that aside, I'm still wearing them for spring trips where I'm not interested in wet footing.  I do wear elastic ankle supports on both ankles when wearing the boots.  The pattern is sock liner (usually UltraMax), ankle support, cushion (wool) sock, then boot, then snug up with the lacing system.  They may seem a bit loose still, but you'll be able to pull your foot up with the boot still on when in boot sucking mud over the top of the boot.  (My boots also have a cinch at the top to minimize the amount of water that gets down inside from the top.  I've had them submerged more than once and the result was just damp socks.)

For warmer weather, I wear something called Play Boots from Patagonia.  I'm not sure they are still in production, but db and tripper turned me on to them a couple of years ago and they work well--good traction and drainage.  However, if you suffer from "tender feet" you may want to add some padding in the foot bed ... you know what you are stepping on.

dd

Quote:

Old, beat up and crotchety would be more like it.  After all, I didn't get by 'copia fix this year! 

dd