Re: How to avoid boots full of water?

nottinghillx wrote:

My GoreTex (NorthFace) waterproof trousers which have concealed zips
down the legs arent waterproof. They started leaking round the knees
after 30 minutes, then felt wet all over after 60 minutes. Once water
got inside it soaked my Rohan trousers.

So I suspect that water then ran down onto my wool socks which wicked
the water inside my boots.

Probably most of the problem, though as Sandy pointed out you want your gaiters /under/ the trousers or water running down the outside of the trousers will get inside the gaiters and be channeled directly into your boots!

Do I need new boots, trousers, or to treat then with waterproofer? Or
do I need to wear gaiters over my socks to stop them getting wet from
my trousers?

The trousers sound like a lot of the problem. If Goretex is leaking then it's a job for the bin: treatments are just to help water bead on the outside so they breathe better, but don't affect the basic waterproofing.

But beyond new overtrousers some attention to the under-trousers may help. The less water they hold the less it will wick down them to your socks. Rohan make all sorts of different trousers so it's difficult to be sure offhand the extent to which you might improve things, but I find Ronhill Tracksters deal with water far better than just about any "walking trousers". Aside from the material being less prone to wetting out, being close to your skin helps them dry out from body heat much quicker, sometimes as fast they get wet.

My own preferred gambit at this time of year, before it's got too chilly, is just forget about keeping my feet dry. If I'm in sandals then they get wet... but that has zero comfort impact, and if the rain stops they're dry in a few minutes. If I'm in fell shoes the wet doesn't impact the comfort much, and I'm lugging about much less weight than heavy boots. Similarly, a pair of running shorts will dry out a lot quicker than just about any trousers on the planet, and your legs rather faster as well. Starts getting a bit of bore if it's cold though :-(

While on the subject of waterproofing is there a way to waterproof
Deuter daysacks in case you dont have a chance to put the rain covers
on (bit tricky in a 40 knot wind when you can barely stand up).

Use an internal waterproof liner: not affected at all by external winds, and don't make getting into the sack to start with a faff. You can buy a "proper" one or just use plastic bags, but if you go down the plastic bag route then something like a rubble sack won't tear nearly as easily as a binliner. Another advantage is that when you take off all your wet stuff at the end of the monsoon you can pack it outside the liner so all the stuff that's still inside it doesn't get soaking wet. IMHO a much better solution.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net p.j.clinch@xxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/
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