Larry Meyer
Wooden Canoes are in the Blood
I posted on this once before, but for a reason soon to show, want to revisit the subject of good canoe shoes.
What I am looking for in a good warm weather canoe shoe is a shoe (not a boot) that a. can be worn without socks, b. that has good wet traction (on shore bottom mud, mossy rocks) c. dries after full immersion in, say, a half hour or so, and d, lasts more than one season of paddling.
Here’s a good canoe shoe scenario. You paddle up to a rocky New England shore and bring your canoe alongside. You step out of the canoe in about a foot of water. You hoist 3-4 packs up on the shore, while standing in the water, or just on dry land. You set up camp. By the time you get up camp, say a half hour, your shoes are dry again.
I had a good canoe shoe, one from Sperry, that did all this. The first pair lasted 3-4 years. When I bought a second pair, production quality had so far declined that they were trash in 2 months. Sperry doesn’t make them anymore.
What doesn’t work.
Tall bean boots. Great for some things canoeing, but if you go in over the tops, you are carrying 20 pounds of water and they take 2 days to dry. You need socks too.
Ankle length bean boots. Pretty much ditto.
Water sandals. I have some. When soaking wet, you might as well be walking on a hockey rink. Mine expand to four sizes too big.
I have been looking around for good canoe shoes. What is true of technology is now true of camping equipment. The yen for “innovation” results in an enormous selection of new products, featuring the latest technology. So of course none have actually been field tested and all of them will be replaced in next year’s catalogue by something “new.” In short, promises, promises, promises.
What I have seen that looks most promising is the Chota Middle Fork Felt Alternative Wading Shoe. This seems to be made primarily for fly fishermen, who are conservative and picky about their equipment, I would assume. Sperry, which should know something about boats and water, offers something called a Wetlands Low Waterproof that features “Seam Sealed Construction that Keeps Feet Dry in Wet Conditions.”
What have you folks field tested (or river tested)?
What I am looking for in a good warm weather canoe shoe is a shoe (not a boot) that a. can be worn without socks, b. that has good wet traction (on shore bottom mud, mossy rocks) c. dries after full immersion in, say, a half hour or so, and d, lasts more than one season of paddling.
Here’s a good canoe shoe scenario. You paddle up to a rocky New England shore and bring your canoe alongside. You step out of the canoe in about a foot of water. You hoist 3-4 packs up on the shore, while standing in the water, or just on dry land. You set up camp. By the time you get up camp, say a half hour, your shoes are dry again.
I had a good canoe shoe, one from Sperry, that did all this. The first pair lasted 3-4 years. When I bought a second pair, production quality had so far declined that they were trash in 2 months. Sperry doesn’t make them anymore.
What doesn’t work.
Tall bean boots. Great for some things canoeing, but if you go in over the tops, you are carrying 20 pounds of water and they take 2 days to dry. You need socks too.
Ankle length bean boots. Pretty much ditto.
Water sandals. I have some. When soaking wet, you might as well be walking on a hockey rink. Mine expand to four sizes too big.
I have been looking around for good canoe shoes. What is true of technology is now true of camping equipment. The yen for “innovation” results in an enormous selection of new products, featuring the latest technology. So of course none have actually been field tested and all of them will be replaced in next year’s catalogue by something “new.” In short, promises, promises, promises.
What I have seen that looks most promising is the Chota Middle Fork Felt Alternative Wading Shoe. This seems to be made primarily for fly fishermen, who are conservative and picky about their equipment, I would assume. Sperry, which should know something about boats and water, offers something called a Wetlands Low Waterproof that features “Seam Sealed Construction that Keeps Feet Dry in Wet Conditions.”
What have you folks field tested (or river tested)?