Nice article. I'm a big fan of principle #4. This past summer I got into the routine of taking off my shoes and socks and letting my feet air out every time I took a break. Definitely a nice little recharge each time.

Edited by csteutterman on 02/23/2012 15:14:50 MST.

Sorry, slight deviating comment to follow:

“April in Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho.”

What? I didn’t see you there? Of course it was kind of empty. I was with my cousin there at the same time.
You get the nice foot workout there:

This is one of the few times I will not be spotted with sandals because of continuous 20F cold. I used boots!! Sometimes, in the winter I wear North Face Nuptse boots. Yes, my winter weight footwear is LIGHTER than my 3-season wear:
10oz for North Face Nuptse
12oz for Teva TerraFi3.

I like your point of fitting to thin and thick socks w/o blood strangualtion. One of the joys of my footwear is I can go from a thin nylon sock to a thick wool sock with a down bootie pulled over that! And then I can quickly cinch firm for backpacking; and totally loosen up at rest for a comfy slipper feel.

May everyone find their footwear zen,
-Barry

Awesome Barry, glad someone else is backpacking there in spring. My wife and I are looking forward to doing another trip this year. A bit out of the way, but very much worth the effort.

Nothing truly new in the article that hasn't been hashed out before.

I simply wear these with non-gortex shoes and tall gaiters in those conditions and it works well in the Northern Rockies. I use a 0.4oz liner sock under the gortex socks:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/rocky_gore-tex_sock_spotlite_review.html

But it would have been nice for a few photos of shoes-N-socks and such. OK, back to the thread. Or NM.

Edited by WarrenGreer on 02/23/2012 21:14:19 MST.

I agree Warren, but based on a few posts this was apparently a re-hash of an old article. Maybe that is why there were no relevant photos.

"rehash" or not this is the kind of article I appreciate and had previously come to expect from BPL; I've been unable to solicit any feedback previously regarding the recent article quality, but it's been my impression that the subject matter of too many of the articles in the past year have been peripheral to the core audience. Thanks for the article Dave, here's hoping for more for the core.

The core of this article was first publicly presented in the aforementioned blog post (in the fall of 2010). Since then my experience has only confirmed most of the core tenants, ergo I saw no need to change them. Nor rewrite them, as I was quite pleased with my original efforts. I have more recently been experimenting with ever more minimalist shoes, as well as discussing how other hikers have found this sock system. Just about the only reason anyone who actually tried it didn't like it was if their preferred hiking pace and/or circulatory issues demanded more warmth.

As for pictures of socks and beat up shoes, I trust in Google to guide readers. It's harder to evoke things like a mountain snowpack in full melt to folks who have never seen it. That and my ongoing goal to be at least as inspirational in gear articles as I am informative and descriptive.

Perhaps I should have embedded this video to make the point more emphatic: https://vimeo.com/11957531

Edited by DaveC on 02/25/2012 16:10:43 MST.

Minimalist highly breathable shoes paired with a liner sock, thicker wool sock, and gortex sock

This was a strategy I first learned from Dave's blog. For what it's worth, the X-country is way too narrow a shoe for my foot, but I really like oversized MT 101s for winter. Just enough of stiffness for snowshoeing.

The article doesn't have to be new to be highly relevant to our community. I'm sure there are many out there who are investing in expensive boots for winter when they could be going cheaper, lighter, and more comfortably this way. These are the kinds of technique-oriented articles that make BPL worth the money for me.

No the article does not have to be new. But these ideas were espoused by Ryan J and others years ago. Mike C! also discusses these ideas in length in various posts over the years. This is a good article for newbies; not for those that live these conditions consistently. We figured out this stuff a long time ago.

David: what kind of articles are you looking for from BPL going forward?

Kurt - I would like to see less a definitive approach and instead alternative approaches to these conditions. Shoulder season means snow for me and a gortex shoe works in this environment. As do tall gaiters. In wet conditions I use a gortex sock. A bit too many generalizations in this article for my taste but I appear to be a minority. I do chuckle at the sudden running to Dave's defence, however. I didn't get anything from the article - sorry about that - and am simply voicing my opinion on the article, not on Dave or BPL.

@Dave:

My I ask if you have to deal with many river / creek crossing where your shoes and socks will be fully emerged in water?

Neoprene socks make more sense for me in such situation, and the article was based on that.

As far as I remember the older similar articles had a stronger emphasis on goretex or vbl socks for shoulder seasons.

I'm with David Ure, the article was pretty general and no new info was imparted.

I used to live in Erie, Pennsylvania and THAT is "shoulder season" counry, wet and cold for 6 months every year and merely wet most of the other 6 months.
Accordingly for hiking and hunting I found Gore-Tex lined boots, whether ankle high or calf high, to be the answer. GTX knee high gaiters helped for warmth and Quickly crossing small streams.

I used 2 mm neoprene seam sealed sox only as a VBL in the winter for my felt packs and hard shell backcountry ski boots but they would work well in scenarios mentioned in other posts too where you KNOW water will get in your boots.

I have a pair of fleece socks that have saved my feet in the wet and snow on several occasions. They are warmer than wool and dry out fast; probably the least expensive but most valuable gear I own. Never tried NRS socks, didn't like sealskin gloves but maybe they deserve another look.

I liked the article. It's our website; We should be submitting articles that we have written.

"I have a pair of fleece socks that have saved my feet in the wet and snow on several occasions. They are warmer than wool and dry out fast"

Is there any way we can know the brand and model?

Thanx,
-Barry

I just got mine from llbean but Sierra Trading Post also sells them and I also have a pair of acorn fleece socks I got on Amazon. Nothing fancy but a lot of warmth in wet conditions. I also use them at night in my sleeping bag.

To those "complaining" (I use that word lightly) about this article being rehashed, I ask - who cares?

The information is great. BPL is not going to be around long term if it doesn't attract new people. And for new members, articles of all sorts are worthwhile. What is one member's old news is a new member's revelation. Not everyone that reads these articles have been BPL members for years.

I personally have been a BPL member for less than a year and found this article both relevant and helpful - so thank you for posting it!

Dave,
You mentioned inserting your own plastic rock plate. What do you use for plastic? Does it go full length of shoe?

The plates I made were full length. I played with a number of different plastics, just about anything will work. One of the softer pairs I made from 2 liter soda bottles; after a bit of use they flatted out and were easier to work with.