Boot leak question

Rubbin_Is_Racin

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I have a pair of $400 boots, non-insulated, that I bought new in January of 2018. These are full leather type with a rubber rand. I haven't nailed down the problem so I don't want to name the brand. I have about 250-300 miles on them. I was on an elk hunt in Idaho toward the end of September this year and on the last day I chased 2 bulls and helped a buddy pack out a cow. It was snowing most of the day and I was walking through wet snow the whole time that day. I totaled about 12 miles that day. My right foot was soaked at the end of the day while my left was still pretty dry. I was wearing rain pants the whole day that covered the top of my boots, my pants under those were dry so I know water/snow didn't get in from the top. Is this normal, and by that I mean, I assume there is a breaking point for the gore-tex, would you have expected them to have leaked in this situation? And more importantly, I'm concerned that the gore-tex may be compromised on that boot and I could experience this more frequently in the future.

Second part to this is that I have gone to the manufacturer and their response is that this is not normal but that they are outside of the warranty and have directed me to gore-tex. I contacted gore-tex and they responded immediately, took some info, requested pictures, and told me to stand-by until they determine if they are eligible (I'm in the middle of this process right now). So far all of this is fine with me but my concern is, the boots are broken in, its the middle of the season, and if this is halfway normal I'd almost rather not deal with the hassle of getting new boots. Should I just cut my loss re-treat the leather and keep on truckin'?
 
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12 miles in wet snow is probably pushing the saturation point for any gore Tex boot in my opinion. Only thing that might have helped to to have run gaiters. Just my opinion.
 
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I don't think treating the leather is going to solve your problems, and I doubt the gortex liner failed in that short amount of time. I'd put money on a bad seam somewhere and most likely at the rand or tongue stitch. Try a penetrating sealer anywhere two materials are joined. Post a pic, it's not throwing the boot company under the bus in my opinion. Unless they are sending you a free or highly discounted pair of new boots, your loyalty to them ended the same day the warranty did. Product failed. Period. Shit happens.
 

wapitibob

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In my experience, walking with a boot that’s saturated at the toe box hinge point will force water thru a goretex membrane by simple hydraulics and the fact that the liner is a semi permeable membrane. Kind of like wringing out a towel.
I have also found no correlation between boot cost and waterproofness; ie they all leak from $70 to $380.

127511
 
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madkaw284

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View attachment 127524Seam sealer
Hand rubbed snow seal
Spray waterproofing.

I do all 3.

Not to change the subject, but what types of sellers are you using? I have a good pair of Gor-Tex nubuck boots that are finally starting to take on water. I’ve tried nicwax, scotchgaurd spray and just got some rust oleum never wet that I haven’t tried yet because it has an extremely strong smell. Haven’t had great results with the others either. Thanks


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Rubbin_Is_Racin

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Not to change the subject, but what types of sellers are you using? I have a good pair of Gor-Tex nubuck boots that are finally starting to take on water. I’ve tried nicwax, scotchgaurd spray and just got some rust oleum never wet that I haven’t tried yet because it has an extremely strong smell. Haven’t had great results with the others either. Thanks


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I've heard good things about sno seal. I used it years ago and remember it working pretty good on some non-waterproof boots. Maybe I should go back and try it again, Ha!

Thanks for the replies, I'm gonna see what gore-tex has to say but I'm pretty timid about just sending off my well broke in boots the more I think about it.
 

slingerHB

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What happens when you take a cordura breathable waterproof boot and cake it with sno-seal and other silicon sprays?
Loss of breathability?
Harm gortex membrane at all?
I have tried many different brands and not one boot seems to remain waterproof after the first season.

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To me if I get 300 miles out of a pair of boots there usually a tater bunch rags. I'd say your doing good there. And yes 12 miles in snow is alot.
I've experienced this in at least 10 different brands of high end boots. I'm sure some of it is sweat,condensation as well.
Honestly if I could find a completely unlined smoke jumper style boot without a logger heal I'd do it. But I def roll my ankle alot with the logger heal.
 

Krieg Hetzen

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When I worked on the North Slope I used full leather work boots. I had two pairs that I alternated. Everyday when I got back I would wax the pair I wore that day and run the other pair for the next day. It worked for me. With my kennetreks I clean and oil them after every trip. Running some mink oil or whatever waterproofing product the manufacturer recommends could work as a short term fix till Gor-Tex gets back to you.
 
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Rubbin_Is_Racin

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I haven't got any feedback from Gore-tex since I sent the photos but in the meantime I am going re-treat the leather and see how they work out. For 300 miles the boots look pretty good so I think I can get more miles out of them for sure.
 
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Rubbin_Is_Racin

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Update:

I asked Gore-tex if there was any test that I could do, before I send them in, and they suggested filling the boots with water and setting them on newspaper. I did this and found the right boot to leak within 20-30 minutes from the seams down near the rand while the left boot was bone dry on the outside for 4.5 hours, at which point I just stopped the test. I sent the boots to Gore-tex, they did their thing, and notified me that they were going to pay me back for the boots. So Gore-tex came through, which is awesome and makes me want to make sure my next boots are Gore-tex.

As for the boots, I don't know if they leaked due to a fault in the Gore-tex or if they had a manufacturing error that compromised the Gore-tex so I cannot conclusively blame them for this failure. That being said they were Crispi Nevada (non-insulated) boots.

The boots fit my feet pretty well but I think I would like to try another brand for the next go around. Does anyone have any experience with Crispi's that can suggest another brand that has a similar fit?
 

ChrisAU

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Update:

I asked Gore-tex if there was any test that I could do, before I send them in, and they suggested filling the boots with water and setting them on newspaper. I did this and found the right boot to leak within 20-30 minutes from the seams down near the rand while the left boot was bone dry on the outside for 4.5 hours, at which point I just stopped the test. I sent the boots to Gore-tex, they did their thing, and notified me that they were going to pay me back for the boots. So Gore-tex came through, which is awesome and makes me want to make sure my next boots are Gore-tex.

As for the boots, I don't know if they leaked due to a fault in the Gore-tex or if they had a manufacturing error that compromised the Gore-tex so I cannot conclusively blame them for this failure. That being said they were Crispi Nevada (non-insulated) boots.

The boots fit my feet pretty well but I think I would like to try another brand for the next go around. Does anyone have any experience with Crispi's that can suggest another brand that has a similar fit?

Glad to see Gore Tex recommended you do that, I tested mine the exact same way last night and they failed miserably. UA Infil Ops GTX I took a chance on after a recommendation here. Light weight, comfortable, supportive, but on the last day of my hunt a couple weeks ago I suspected the water proofing was failing. Last night I filled them up one at a time in my sink in my shop...they leaked so fast with so much volume you could hear the water draining in the sink. This was with right around 100 miles on them, bought new in August. UA was very quick to make it right, they are refunding me via an electronic gift card that I can use to get a new pair or sell the gift card. Gonna look hard at Schnees...
 
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I was told that after 100-150 miles you can kiss the waterproofness goodbye. I would try Schnees Beartooth II instead of the Crispi Nevadas. Crispi's are extremely over-hyped and are only popular due to YouTube and great marketing, IMO.
 
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Rubbin_Is_Racin

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I will say that, other than the waterproofing snafu those Crispi boots were great. I really like the rubber they used for the tread, I found it to be one of the quietest boots I've had considering how stiff it is. I think it was a vibram tread but I still liked it. For 300 miles they looked pretty good and I had assumed that I could get another 300 out of them. I never had really bad blisters other than my little toe which on anything more than a 2 or 3 day deal I would pre-tape.

I liked the looks of the schnaes boots but I didnt see that it had gore-tex, it looked like something else. The gore-tex warranty is now a pretty big selling point for me. Does the schnaes have any extended warranty with their system?
 

IdahoElk

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I was told that after 100-150 miles you can kiss the waterproofness goodbye. I would try Schnees Beartooth II instead of the Crispi Nevadas. Crispi's are extremely over-hyped and are only popular due to YouTube and great marketing, IMO.

They are over double the weight of the Crispi boots,bummer because I'd love to try them.
 
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