• Happy Mathematics Day! ❌📐♾️

Canoe tripping footwear

Anyway, with that all done I got up the nerve to weed out the extra bits and pieces of car camping questionables from our gear. Two milk crates full of pieces of gear we haven't used in years and are unlikely to. I set the yard sale castoffs aside and commanded-begged my wife to "get in here (please) and agree with me (pretty please) that we don't need this stuff." Some of it had family memories, like the bungee clothesline, partially melted plastic spaghetti fork, rusty soup ladle...but in the end it was easier than I'd anticipated.

We have a tradition of spending an evening in the basement gear room every year with boxes ready for the Goodwill gear and a large trashcan for the junk. A ruthless evening, enlivened by a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket.

Ruthlessness is key (the second bottle of champagne helps in that regard), but there are some junk items that, after consideration, have gone back in storage every year.

Do we really need metal spoons beaten flat with rock, fashioned into crude pancake flipping spatulas?

“Spoons” mind you, plural. We have two, and have kept both of them.
 
...and then there are the "treasures" you find, to add to your domestic hoard. I'll only confess to one, and I feel really happy/guilty doing so, but bear with me.
On one trip with our kids we found a metal spatula. It was "practically brand new" (the rationale for keeping it). We cleaned it up and seriously considered adding it to our camping kitchen gear (waaay better than our melted plastic one). Except that when we got home we found that it matched perfectly the "good" kitchen set hanging above the kitchen counter. Hmmm. To make the kids happy I gently bent the tip of the handle so it could hang in it's new home. No more camping trips for it. It still resides with our mismatched "good" kitchen set. Whenever one of our grown kids have stayed over, and are frying up bacon and eggs in the morning, they pause holding the spatula and say "Do you remember when we found this?! Wasn't that a great trip!!?"
This is one piece of old gear I can't bear to part with. It doesn't function any differently than any other "egg-bacon-pancake flipper", but there are very few pieces of old junk that pulls at heart string memories like that.
 
Perhaps not the best choice for Northern wear, but in my climate my 3 season favorite is Chuck Taylor Hightops

They are close toed and provide protection from glass, fish hooks, rusty cans, sharps rocks, oyster shells, etc.

In their day, they were Nike before Nike. The best professional basketball athletes of the day wore them - Wilt, Bill Russell, Jerry West, Bob Cousey, etc. An extremely flexible sole (no stiffeners) and great grip for making sharps cuts on the basketball floor. The high tops provide very good ankle support for scrambling over uneven surfaces you will find riverside. The canvas high tops keep gravel out, only fine sand remains, one drainage hole near the bottom. Wear with thin liner socks, or wool when chilly. When lacing up near the top of the shoe I skip alternate holes - that allows excellent range of ankle motion when kneeling.


At the end of the day hang them off the canoe for the ride home and they'll be mostly dry. At $45 they are a great value. They went out of production for several years and when reintroduced a few years back I bought two pair so I'd have a spare when the first ones wear out. They dry out well and hold up well from use.



37839-p-MULTIVIEW.jpg
 
Oh no. Those Chuck Taylors look like boys gym sneakers when I was in grade school.. But they weren't $45 way back then!
 
I have been reading the posts trying to figure out the best shoes. I then I saw the Chuck Taylor post, wow this is the one. When I was a kid I wore them for canoeing and portaging (actually I wore them everywhere) and I think I liked them. I had given some thought to buying a pair for an earlier trip a few years ago, but I didn't do it. I think for next year I'll get a pair, it will be the only retro item I use.
 
When I was a teenager, they were(convers all star) really popular, and I use to wear them, but my feet would rot in them.... So I never wore them ever since!
 
Seeing those hi tops took me back to my childhood. I had 2 pairs of footwear. Rubber boots and running shoes. That was it. They got me through 12 months of whatever life could throw at a kid. Newspapers and plastic bags helped "winterize" the rubber boots. Those canvas hi tops rarely lasted beyond autumn. I've looked on the internet to try to find the brand but without success. Not Keds, not Chucks...maybe PF Flyers? I dunno. I remember there being a white rubber cup protecting my inner ankle bone; probably against the supersonic high speed friction caused by my blistering pace. Yeah, that was why. I also remember the canvas wearing out sometimes and splitting down near the sole. The precursor to the water shoe? Probably worn out from my superhuman jumping. Yeah, that was why.
I'll give those hi tops some thought. Sure would be comfortable on trips.
 
I have been reading the posts trying to figure out the best shoes. I then I saw the Chuck Taylor post, wow this is the one. When I was a kid I wore them for canoeing and portaging (actually I wore them everywhere) and I think I liked them. I had given some thought to buying a pair for an earlier trip a few years ago, but I didn't do it. I think for next year I'll get a pair, it will be the only retro item I use.

:rolleyes: Will your wife let you model them at the store? No fair going next door to Wallymort. This I gotta see...;)
 
I'll give those hi tops some thought. Sure would be comfortable on trips.

I know of 2 professional musicians playing stand up instruments that wear them during their stage time. That has to speak to comfortable, after all, they're on their feet for quite a while.

When Wilt Chamberlain was playing you two color choices - white or black "Chucks". Today there is a wide range of colors and those musicians have styling choices.
 
I used to dream of PF Flyers ! Never got the PFs but a pair of knock offs, and a pair of Penny loafers got me through a year.

Yeah the memories. It was the suction cups that gave you the traction on those Basket ball shoes !

Jim
 
All depends on the weather/month... Here in LA, and in NY in the summer (say up til September), I wear wool socks with watershoes and don't care if my feet get wet. I carry a pair of Merrill Moab Ventilators (sneaker-like comfort, dry quickly) for camp/hiking. Once it gets colder, I just bring a pair of pack boots (the Merrill's stay the same). Actually, I used to go barefoot down here until I ran into a water moc once, which scared me pretty good... I know they can bite through the watershoe, but psychologically, it's important to me. In July/Aug in NY, if it's nice and warm, i'll go barefoot, and just put socks on in the canoe to keep the sun off my feet.

I tried wearing my Palladiums (fancy brand name, similar to an old Converse tennis shoe) in NY once, with no "dry" shoe to swap into... just that one pair for the whole trip... they got wet and stayed wet... even with wools socks, it was not fun. didn't hurt my feet any, but not fun.
 
Early spring I take the tall rubber boots and watch my step to keep my feet dry. Summer trips I have been using this boothttp://www.batesfootwear.com/US/en/8"-water-resistant-tactical-sport-boot/20080M.html .They were from a garage sale but they have been through so much that when they fail I may buy a new pair. I drilled several holes around the bottom for drainage. Mine are 9 inch and a little tough to put on the first week but slip on easily after that. I have had them 4 years and have probably used them about 110 days on canoe trips. The outside is still fine but the inner cloth lining is starting to come apart but still there. The stitching shows little sign of wear. I change into dry camp shoes at the end of the day and sometimes start my day with the campshoe until I need to get wet. On extra long portages that are dry I will change out of the Bates but not because they do not work just fine. I like to give my feet as much dry time as possible. I am usually wet footing and love the convenience but to keep my feet healthy I get them off when possible. Lunch breaks I usually go barefoot if it is a safe spot for that.
 
I drilled several holes around the bottom for drainage.

I was wondering about that possibility. Nice to know someone has done it without, I assume, problem. Did you drill up through the sole or into the side of the boot.

Alan
 
I was wondering about that possibility. Nice to know someone has done it without, I assume, problem. Did you drill up through the sole or into the side of the boot.

Alan
I drilled into the side of the boot just through the outer layer with about a .25 bit in at least 4 places. I often paddle away from the portage with my feet over the gunnel and let the water drain out there instead of in the canoe. A sponge kept in the bailing jug under seat helps keep things dry and tidy too.
 
I have tried Dexshell neoprene socks. Thin and not very warm by themselves. dry though, and they might work fine inside a boot. they seem durable.

I went to NRS Boundary Shoes, for days where I am just in the canoe. They probably don't hold up to any long portaging, but they are warm and flexible for kneeling, which is what I typically do. The shoes (boots) consist of 5mm neoprene uppers and a 7mm neoprene inner sole. A strap over the arch of the foot and around the calf can be tightened comfortably. The foot strap gives the, otherwise floppy, neoprene boot the feel of sturdier foot-wear and prevents losing the boot in muck, or during an involuntary swim. The boot features other pleasant details, such as pads at the talus bone (ankle bumps), and all seams are glued, stitched and taped.

Now, wearing Dexshell waterproof socks inside the NRS Boundary Shoes? That might be a good solution for warm feet, even in really cold conditions.
 
As I have endeavoured to lighten my load, last year I actually went with a 3 footwear program. My requirements are something that will not cut off circulation in my feet while paddling from the kneeling position, something that offers decent support over the portages, and something that is good in camp after all the paddling and portaging is done. I have typically worn Keens for the past several years and late 2014 bought a new pair. After buying them I started to see allot of people who had bought new ones as well complaining about the falling apart. After 1 season this is what happened to mine as well. So what I ended up doing was mending the soles on my old pair of Keens with some Shoe Goo and using those for entry in and out of the canoe. These were the wet shoes. Wading in the river, wet entries and short portages these would do. I also brought along a pair of lightweight hunting boots. These I would change into for the portages. Good grippy soles and waterproof up over the ankles. Good ankle support as well and felt very secure carrying loads through the woods. In camp I have a pair moccasins with crepe soles. Very comfortable and easy to slip on and off getting in and out of the hammock.

It takes a little extra time on portages changing footwear but didn't mind the extra time, I am trying to slow down a bit anyways. It's not a race. I would like to replace the Keens but am hesitant to spend money on more specialized foot wear when a simple cheap pair of tennis shoes will do the trick.
 
Back
Top