Guys, I'm truly grateful for all of your posts, but I feel bad that I didn't say from the get-go that the boots I wear are from Le Chameau, are leather (tops and bottom "shoe"), nu-buck in between, and lined with Gore-Tex.
They're about knee-high, or just below the kneecap. My wife bought them for me for an insanely low price about 9 or 10 years ago. They're great: as light as my Browning kangaroo leather boots but much more protection, and much lighter than my Danners that I bought from Cabelas in 1990 and used for only 3 seasons or so. They also work well with breeks, which I find extremely comfortable to wear as well as more maneuverable than my much loved old double tin Filson pants.
I just started feeling guilty because from the first time I wore them to hunt in I NEVER prepped them in any kind of protective way. It's true that they've held up remarkably well considering the terrain I hunt in - and have NEVER let me down by leaking or any other kind of way boots can fail.
So I got them out recently and cleaned them up even though I did that before putting them away, and I just felt like such a slug for never bothering to give them any kind of protection to keep them going forever. I think these kind of boots are meant to be worn in conditions like I wear them in but I bet 90% of the guys who wear them basically stick to clear moors and dirt roads only. No water to wade through, no blackthorns to rip at the leather. You know the type - the posers who've got the money for the expensive gear but heavens to Betsy they should soil or bump or scratch any of it!
And 1cdog, I read the article you mention just a couple nights ago. For what it's worth I have a pair of Hunter's rubber "Wellies" and I gotta say they're not too bad. The thing I like in my hunting boots is HEIGHT. 9 or 10 inches just ain't gonna make it for the places I hunt. It's a major reason I mothballed the Danners and the Browning Kangaroo's.
So I feel like I should apologize for leading everyone blind because I was too much in a hurry to specify exactly what the boots in question are. Guys, I apologize for doing this.
I must say, though, that the thread is genuinely good reading packed with good information.
I can't recall who recommended Picards, but I have a tub of that on my bench and I think I'll just smear it around the seams and work it in. Maybe then I can feel good that my boots will outlast me!
Again, a big THANKS to all of you!
