These last couple of seasons I have been wearing a pair of minimalist trail runners from New Balance, bought cheap from Sportsman's Guide. I have 4E wide feet so over the years I have become an NB fan.
In camp I wear Bean Mocs. I like that they keep my feet dry and warm and I could use them for paddling if I damage or lose another shoe to the river or wildlife.
There is likewise something I find agreeable about Trail Runners. I grew up with knock-off Jack Purcells and for 50 years bought really good hiking boots and really cheap “sneakers”. I found a pair of wide Goretex trail runners on an REI deal and realized I’d been penny foolish to too dang long.
Good to know New Balance offers extra wide size. I stomp 11 ½ or 12’s in EEEE with flipper feet that will quickly bust out the toes on most footwear.
Gotta love moccasins. I prefer drive barefoot. Big flipper feet, small pedals; I feel I have a better tactile sense on the gas or brake when barefoot, so on long trips I have a pair of mocs in the truck for gas and diner pit stops.
To reinforce stitching on new shoes, I had great luck with seamgrip, I even put a thin layer over the steel toe of my boots to prevent the leather to abrade in that area, it last for the entire life of the boot!!
I like that boot trick. My work boots, even my hiking boots, always end up with a mysterious amount of abrasion wear atop the toe box. Which is a testament to “dang I’m glad I had boots on”.
One downside to some Mukluk designs is that the neoprene will stretch and begin to weep at the stitching, especially awful because it happens on those first calf deep steps into the water before the material has wetted and swelled shut.
I’ve had really good results coating the stitches in neoprene on Muks with an Aquaseal/Cotol mix. The Cotol makes it set up faster, but it also makes the Aquaseal initially less viscous and probably helps it seep into the stitching.
There used to be a Chota that worked well. I liked it, so of course it went away.
Of course.
I wonder if that was the Chota Nunavut? I was sorry to see those discontinued. They were the most hike-able Mukluks, with an aggressive tread and a stacked heel. Even so they had enough neoprene that they were kneel-able.
Chota finally brought them back some years later in a similar version, with higher rubbers and less neoprene, the Chota Marsh Boot. Those don’t kneel as well, but neither do I with size 12 flippers in boots.
And, of course, those too went extinct a couple of years ago.
I have a 10 year old pair of Aquasealed-dry Nunavuts and the last of the Marsh Boots. I haven’t had to Aquaseal the Marsh boot stitching yet, so I figure I can keep them going for another decade, when Chota will again reintroduce a Mukluk better suited for canoeists.
And then discontinue them a year later.
