[Electric-Mayhem]

I just got back from a Grand Canyon trip a week ago and picked up a pair of Muck Boots on my way down. All I gotta say is they were a total life saver and I was kicking myself for not getting a pair and using them on the river sooner. I wore them every day and usually most of the day. Its so nice being to just hop out of the boat and not worry about getting your feet wet. Just gotta make sure water doesn't go over the top of the boot. Even then, at least with the pair I got, only a tiny bit of water would get in since they are pretty tight around the top. I'd use a cam strap sometimes to make sure. I never had them leak through the Neoprene uppers. I'd even wear them during the day while going downriver since I was rowing my Dory and it always has a bit of water in the captains footwell. They even make pretty good hiking boots as long as you don't need to climb up stuff with tiny toe holds.

The only real downside is they trap whatever moisture does get into the boot all day, whether its just sweat or if you get a bit of water in. I wore a pair of wool socks in them, and it definitely felt a bit swampy and gross at the end of the day. My feet haven't stunk that bad since middle school gym class. I felt the need to wash those socks more then I would have thought and my feet too. Super Salve was surprisingly helpful but was still just a bandaid. Still totally worth it.

I think that was by far my best pre-trip purchase and I was so glad to have them. I never really felt all that cold and I give most of the credit to those boots. Combined with some synthetic down booties...my feet were basically toasty warm the whole trip.

The ones I ended up getting were the Cabelas 5mm Muck Boots. Plenty of other options there, but the rest felt like overkill. The $79 price tag was just what I was looking for too. Cabela's Outdoor Rubber Boots for Men | Cabela's

I wore them through Lava over my Drysuit... Celebrating at Tequila Beach with toasty warm toes(the Tequila helped...but I was still super comfortable)...

I definitely got water in my boots that day...but it was nearly as much as you would think after running the "biggest rapid in the canyon" (that we didn't scout and all did awesome) and then trudged around in the water, hiked up to watch another group go through up the bank...and so on. Maybe had half a cup of water in each boot...probably less.

So....highly recommend getting a pair especially for cold weather or water trips. Just make sure you bring something to combat the stink since it is FOR REAL.

 

[Electric-Mayhem]

I think I was the one who mentioned the swampy stinky feet thing with these. I used to have that be a problem back in the day, but in general its not too bad. Except with these boots.

I used Merino wool socks with these...and I'd maybe get a day or two out of them before some serious stank would come out of it. I also had that "swamp foot" thing going on where you can tell your skin is moisture saturated. I'm sure some was just from getting water in a bit and some with sweat too.

I'll have to try the spray on anti-persperant, but I found that the best thing I had on hand was Super Salve. This product is a Grand Canyon staple on most trips... but if you haven't used it in the past its an all natural salve made with olive oil as a base with a bunch of herbs and extracts. Its great for cracked skin and stuff as a primary use...but it has anti-fungal and first aid use too. Its also pretty strong smelling...so helps combat the stank. I'd get another day out of the socks before needing to wash if I used it.

So...at least for me it was a notable occurance with Muck boots that I hadn't had to deal with since I was a teenager.

I agree...the Neoprene on my boots and everyone else on the trips didn't soak through...its much more waterproof then a wetsuit.

 

[Electric-Mayhem]

I got a set of arctic weight neoprene chore boots for Christmas. Too heavy/bulky for camp and rigging use? Was waiting to use or exchange them for moderate weight ones. thoughts?

@Electric-Mayhem said he used his Mucks all trip for a November Grand trip and loved them.

The ones I got are 5mm Neoprene and rubber lowers and are fairly similar to the ones Marshall posted except for the laces. I'd call them medium level insulation. I think they might be a bit much for summer trips but will work well for anything below 70 degree air temps. I typically wore a pair of medium weight wool socks in them. I definitely had some sweaty feet by the end of the day and funk was serious as laid out in a previous post...but still wore them all day most days. I'd rather have some funky sweaty feet then them doing the wet dry cycle in cold water all day.

I wore them over my drysuit on Lava day (early December...maybe 45-55 degree air temp... down mid to high 20's at night) and felt like it was the perfect "goldilocks". Didn't overheat and I was able to walk around in the water. My drysuit is a Hydrus one with the fabric booties/socks, so my feet stayed warm and dry. There definitely was some water in the muck boots at the end of the day...but leaving them upside down in a tree overnight dried them out completely. I got a pair of OR Aerogel Synthetic Down Booties before this trip, and would wear those when the boots needed drying (they work great for late night groover trips too). I've never been a boots kinda guy and usually stick to lighter duty footwear, but these will double duty as my snow boots for now too. They are pretty easy to take on and off, so I dig it.

I may consider getting a pair of light duty ones for summer time...but if the water is a comfortable temp I'm usually barefoot for 90% of trips and don't mind getting my feet wet. My feet get pretty hammered on a summertime Grand Trip trip though...so maybe I should consider trying to keep them dry more often. My feet were defintely the best off they have been on a Grand trip this time and I'm sure most of that was because my feet weren't going through the wet dry cycle 100 times a day because of the muck boots.

Seems like concrete work might be about the harshest thing you could do to a pair of boots with the possible exception of steel foundry work or taking samples in a volcano. I definitely don't think the boots I got would hold up, but I also don't think they were intended to. They work great on the river and have been holding up fine so far. Long term I guess we'll see...but so far so good.