skysix
Adventurer
All you EVER wanted to know about boots for the arctic/antarctic...
All the types mentioned would freeze your toes below zero. The toe box is too small - and the lack of breathability in some will cause sweat to condense on the inside of the boot, run down the material and freeze into ice under your sole). Not to mention soaking your socks (all the better to conduct the heat away from your feet).
The Canadian Army's mukluks are the best for pure cold weather - good to -60 if active, -40 if not. Providing they are worn properly, and are dry. I have used a pair of Acton Chimo's (civilian version of the same design - mostly)with the Milspec 1/2" thick felt insole and dual 1/4" thick mesh insoles (one on each side of the felt insole - allows breathing space for air circulation as well as a place for condensation to collect and freeze without soaking the felt). Kept my feet warm at -48 (-74 with wind chill!) Need to wear a thin (silk is best) sock inside a heavy wool one (Icelandic 100% is good - or any thick 85% or better wool sock) to prevent blisters. Carry a total of 4 pairs of each sock and 2 sets of felt/mesh insoles and duffle liners in case you break through the overflow on an ice crossing etc.
As to getting fluids on the Acton's - simply strip the double wool duffel inner liner and the insoles from the boot (and remove the laces) then toss in a washing machine on gentle - let air dry. Avoid spilling naptha (evaporation = instant frostbite) or gas/diesel on them - will make your feet cold quickly and are hard to clean. Dirt = less breathability = moister = colder. My oldest pair is 18 years or so and has survived literally countless washings. The upper is actually really quite water repellant - unless you stand in it - so in a splash situation I doubt any will penetrate. And polyester doesn't absorb moisture itself. Even if it does penetrate there is another 3/4" or so of layers to penetrate before touching skin... They also make a black version for mine and oilpatch workers, and I have seen a navy blue version the RCMP ordered once upon a time. Given the choice I'd take the milspec version over the commercial one as the components are sturdier. The commercial version is actually warmer (civilians tend to be allowed to stand around more...) but the mil version's components are far more durable and easy to clean/maintain. Just change out the standard laces for ones that will not absorb moisture or they can freeze into a knot if they get wet.
http://www.actoncanada.ca/products/index.p...ompletedata/76/
I've tried the US military "Bunny Boot" (made by BATA, originally a Czech company that moved to Canada after the communists nationalized their holdings behind the Iron Curtain) which are good to -30 in actual practice if you are not very actively moving around, and they are totally waterproof (rubber to 6" above ankle). They rely on a wool duffle filled air bladder (so NEVER let water get into the bladder - by leaving valve open when wearing for instance - or they are actually dangerous to wear!) between two layers of rubber for insulation so are not practicle for flight as you constantly have to vent or passively allow the bladder to inflate. They have a black version ("Mickey") which has less insulation and is good to -10 or so. Both can rapidly cause you to get trenchfoot as your feet are constantly wet so you better have spare socks with you and be able to change them out whenever your feet get sweated or every 2 hours or so if active. But they are ideal in southern or coastal regions where you can step into standing water a lot. Basically Bunny's for wet cold areas, Chimo's for dry cold.
http://www.bunnyboots.com/bunnyboot/faq.html
The warmest boots I have used are Kamiks - double layer sealskin mucklucks. Sometimes made with double duffle layers and a felt insole. No mesh insoles needed as the sealskin is like gortex - it breathes yet is waterproof. Better even than Gortex as temperature seems not to affect it - which is good for sweating seals in the arctic! (Gortex by the way is dangerous beow -25/-30 or so as the moisture condenses on the inside and soaks the inner layers of whatever it surrounds - not enough heat driven vapor pressure to overcome the conducted cold from the outside air) Unfortunately they are illegal to cross the US border with (coming from a marine mammal) and since no rigid sole can be hard on your feet when using stairs etc. Pic shows traditional outer and inner sealskin kamiks (skin reversed so fur inside facing bare feet - that's right, NO SOCKS, although again thin silk is best IMHO) sewn with seal sinew and actually waterproof... Caution - if you are not at temps of at least -30 these will be too hot! And since the skins are untanned (usually) they will rot in warm environments - keep them in the cold and you're fine (the ones I wore were kept in a freezer in the summer)
http://www.nativeaccess.com/ancestral/sealskin-2.html
Enough of the data dump!
All the types mentioned would freeze your toes below zero. The toe box is too small - and the lack of breathability in some will cause sweat to condense on the inside of the boot, run down the material and freeze into ice under your sole). Not to mention soaking your socks (all the better to conduct the heat away from your feet).
The Canadian Army's mukluks are the best for pure cold weather - good to -60 if active, -40 if not. Providing they are worn properly, and are dry. I have used a pair of Acton Chimo's (civilian version of the same design - mostly)with the Milspec 1/2" thick felt insole and dual 1/4" thick mesh insoles (one on each side of the felt insole - allows breathing space for air circulation as well as a place for condensation to collect and freeze without soaking the felt). Kept my feet warm at -48 (-74 with wind chill!) Need to wear a thin (silk is best) sock inside a heavy wool one (Icelandic 100% is good - or any thick 85% or better wool sock) to prevent blisters. Carry a total of 4 pairs of each sock and 2 sets of felt/mesh insoles and duffle liners in case you break through the overflow on an ice crossing etc.
As to getting fluids on the Acton's - simply strip the double wool duffel inner liner and the insoles from the boot (and remove the laces) then toss in a washing machine on gentle - let air dry. Avoid spilling naptha (evaporation = instant frostbite) or gas/diesel on them - will make your feet cold quickly and are hard to clean. Dirt = less breathability = moister = colder. My oldest pair is 18 years or so and has survived literally countless washings. The upper is actually really quite water repellant - unless you stand in it - so in a splash situation I doubt any will penetrate. And polyester doesn't absorb moisture itself. Even if it does penetrate there is another 3/4" or so of layers to penetrate before touching skin... They also make a black version for mine and oilpatch workers, and I have seen a navy blue version the RCMP ordered once upon a time. Given the choice I'd take the milspec version over the commercial one as the components are sturdier. The commercial version is actually warmer (civilians tend to be allowed to stand around more...) but the mil version's components are far more durable and easy to clean/maintain. Just change out the standard laces for ones that will not absorb moisture or they can freeze into a knot if they get wet.
http://www.actoncanada.ca/products/index.p...ompletedata/76/
I've tried the US military "Bunny Boot" (made by BATA, originally a Czech company that moved to Canada after the communists nationalized their holdings behind the Iron Curtain) which are good to -30 in actual practice if you are not very actively moving around, and they are totally waterproof (rubber to 6" above ankle). They rely on a wool duffle filled air bladder (so NEVER let water get into the bladder - by leaving valve open when wearing for instance - or they are actually dangerous to wear!) between two layers of rubber for insulation so are not practicle for flight as you constantly have to vent or passively allow the bladder to inflate. They have a black version ("Mickey") which has less insulation and is good to -10 or so. Both can rapidly cause you to get trenchfoot as your feet are constantly wet so you better have spare socks with you and be able to change them out whenever your feet get sweated or every 2 hours or so if active. But they are ideal in southern or coastal regions where you can step into standing water a lot. Basically Bunny's for wet cold areas, Chimo's for dry cold.
http://www.bunnyboots.com/bunnyboot/faq.html
The warmest boots I have used are Kamiks - double layer sealskin mucklucks. Sometimes made with double duffle layers and a felt insole. No mesh insoles needed as the sealskin is like gortex - it breathes yet is waterproof. Better even than Gortex as temperature seems not to affect it - which is good for sweating seals in the arctic! (Gortex by the way is dangerous beow -25/-30 or so as the moisture condenses on the inside and soaks the inner layers of whatever it surrounds - not enough heat driven vapor pressure to overcome the conducted cold from the outside air) Unfortunately they are illegal to cross the US border with (coming from a marine mammal) and since no rigid sole can be hard on your feet when using stairs etc. Pic shows traditional outer and inner sealskin kamiks (skin reversed so fur inside facing bare feet - that's right, NO SOCKS, although again thin silk is best IMHO) sewn with seal sinew and actually waterproof... Caution - if you are not at temps of at least -30 these will be too hot! And since the skins are untanned (usually) they will rot in warm environments - keep them in the cold and you're fine (the ones I wore were kept in a freezer in the summer)
http://www.nativeaccess.com/ancestral/sealskin-2.html
Enough of the data dump!
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. They have held up for several week long back trips in the Sierra as well as 2 full Chukar seasons. For those that don't know chasing Chukar around is hell on boots.
