After hours of on-line searching for the perfect kayak
boot to accompany a latex footed dry suit I finally settled on
these as a compromise.
My requirements were:
1. Wide opening to permit easy donning without latex suit foot
squashing up the toes.
2. Velcro fastening for speed and ease with 2 part purchase to
permit tensioning (Strap through slot and back again)
3. High enough to provide ankle support and protection for latex
suit foot.
4. Not too stiff or heavy.
As you can see these don't make numbers 1 or 2(!) but they do 3 and
4.
The boots have a 3mm neoprene non removeable liner. The
outer is also neoprene with some sort of vinyl reinforcing around
the edges. There is rubber protection at the heel and the toe with
an effective looking fin strap retainer on the heel. (Not
tested)
The fastening is by a fairly thick lace which was long enough to
pass right around the ankle before tying.
Findings after my first afternoon out on the water with them:
The
good.
Very, very comfortable - something like and old pair of basketball
boots.
The laces slacken off and tighten very easily through the webbing
eyelets. Unlike others I looked at the laces are thick enough not
to tangle easily.
They feel lightweight and supportive.
Struggled through ankle deep mud during the trial and virtually
none entered the boots.
While some water must have entered the boots it was not enough to
detect - walked though the street to cashpoint and absolutely no
'sloshing'!
I walked over sand, stones, mud and pavement and had no problem
with the soles - I do have 'problem' feet and had no problem at all
even running up the stony / pebbley bits.
The not so
good
Numbers 1 and 2!
While the neoprene liner was very soft and stretchy they were still
not easy to put on. They weren't hard to put on but it did take a
couple of attempts to get my foot in without my toes ending up
scrunched up by the latex suit foot. Better than stand alone single
skin neoprene boots I've used probably because the neoprene can be
softer and stretchier due to having an outer shell to provide the
support.
The laces proved to be an acceptable substitute for velcro as they
tightened so easily and were long enough to take a turn around the
ankle over the boot.
Size wise I normally take a size 11 but just over my regular socks
the 10/11's seemed a little small, the 12/13's were fine though
even over the latex.
While they are not perfect they were only £35 which didn't seem at
all bad when some of the other stuff I've looked at was more than
double that and still didn't meet the 4 requirements.
Last but not least I think they actually look pretty good too -
maybe even a bit of 'special ops' about
them
