mastertangler wrote on Nov 9^th, 2013 at 12:20am:


I go in Sept. but I don't seem to get cold feet.  I am very happy to take the boots and socks off when I get to camp but I don't really think about bein' wet. The abyss boots hold no water so you're basically just damp. I prefer that to hot and sweaty anyday. I would get uncomfortably sweaty in my Bean boots and that's one reason I made the switch.

HighnDry wrote on Nov 11^th, 2013 at 1:05am:


Haven't tried them, but my personal experience with Velcro straps in portage type situations hasn't been good.
Mud/debris can make weaken the Velcro seal, and I'd worry about the boots side zippers for the same reason?
If you were doing just short mostly rocky jumps along a river, I'd say they'd be fine.
A long muddy slog in canoe country might be another thing altogether.

You could probably deal with the Velcro instep strap getting clogged, but a damaged boot zipper could render them unusable.

HighnDry wrote on Nov 11^th, 2013 at 3:31pm:


In cooler weather, I wear Brookie-knee high neoprene socks and my footwear of choice, normally low-cut lace up water shoe with sticky soles and drainage ports.

You need to size up your footwear, but I like them for their versatility. They come up to your knees so you can get in/out on rocky landings.
Depending on water temp, you can either wear a thin liner sock alone, or a liner with wool sock over.
Great on mud hole portages. Get a little warm if temps rise to much while in canoe, so I roll the top down like a Fireman's boot.

I take comfortable camp shoe and turn the Brookies inside out at night to dry.

Not a bad combo if they fit your needs and style of tripping.

Planning my first trip to the BWCA for the first week of June, 2014.  I suspect spring will arrive late and water temps will be in the upper 50s at best.  Not excited about going wet-foot under these conditions, especially if air temps are cooler than normal as well.  Has anyone here ever tried old-fashioned hip waders during the shoulder season?  Several companies now make light-weight hippers with rugged soles and good traction, reasonable (though not hiking-boot level) ankle support, and nylon tops that will keep you dry above the knee at borderline portage landings but easily roll down to knee level for warm, sunny afternoon paddling.  Being a neophyte, I suspect there is a reason more people don't do this, but can someone enlighten me?

These are very cool
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