I love everything about being in the outdoors, but few things can truly crush my will to stick it out outside like wet, aching feet.. There’s something so immediate about the discomfort and once my feet get wet, I’ve found there’s no escape. A combination of overheated, soaked, aching feet have ended more days spent hiking, fishing, gardening, and walking in the woods than I’d like to admit. I’ve tried waterproof hiking boots, but on rainy days, they just won’t cut it. Thankfully, I recently found a rain boot that protects my feet from the elements better than any other I’ve tried.
Muck boots are made with the durability and waterproofing required of actual farmers and outdoorsmen, which means they can handle pretty much any terrain. I first noticed a friend of mine wearing them, and while he looked a little silly, he swore by them. He was right—Muck boots come in several different styles and lengths (you can buy a snakebite proof pair if that’s a persistent problem you face in your life—God help you), but I think the best option is the ankle-height version. The neoprene bootie goes up to your ankle and the sole and shoe are composed of the most resilient rubber I’ve come across in a piece of footwear. The waterproofing is absolute, something relatively rare in actually affordable outdoor footwear, and better yet, it lasts over time. I’ve been wearing a pair I bought in 2016 and still haven’t noticed cracked rubber or a loose seam. They're breathable in a way that you would think would retard the waterproofing, but, through the use of Neoprene in the upper of the boot, they have never failed to prevent all kinds of wet conditions from reaching my socks. The toe and heel of the boot are reinforced three and four times respectively, and somehow, someway, they are actually easy to take off, too. The heel was designed for you to kick off one boot after the other while wobbling on either leg right after you get home.
In my experience, other boots that advertise themselves as waterproof are always just hollow echoes of the real thing. When you wear these boots you feel exempt from the problems that field workers and forest wanderers have suffered from for ages. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that pulling on these boots early in the morning before a long day outside feels much like what I imagine having a superpower feels like: I feel invulnerable.
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