re: Question on boot insulation

While not hunting per se, I taught skiing for close to 20 years. I know a thing or two about cold feet.

Before I say anything else, I'll say that cold feet is very individualized. Different people get cold feet for different reasons. So it helps to know WHY you're getting cold feet and attack that problem. For example, I've been out in conditions where frostbitten my toes more than once. As a result I've got poor circulation in my feet/toes due to damaged capillaries in my toes.

The WORST thing you can do if you're prone to cold feet is put too much on your feet. Weather that's too thick a boot, sock, too many pairs of socks etc. This causes your feet to sweat which leads to evaporative cooling of the feet. Even on the coldest days here (Negative single digits) I would only wear 1 pair of socks. But I would either put anti-perspirant or baby powder on my feet to absorb sweat. On those days, I wear my boots as loose as possible. That really helps me because of my circulation issues.

Another thing that really helps cold is keeping your core and legs warm. Your hands and feet get cold when the body starts constricting your blood vessels to keep your core warm. Additionally as your blood travels down your legs on a cold day, it cools off. By the time it gets to your feet it's colder than 98.6. As it comes back up to the heart/core it's even colder. Since arteries and veins run beside each other, the blood in the veins also cools the blood in our arteries (it works great in the summer, not so much in the winter). By putting an extra layer on your legs, you can help mitigate this "counter current cooling" and keep your feet much warmer.

Anyway, just a few trick/tips for now to help keep your feet warm. If I think of any others I'll post them.

quote:

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I was wearing cotton

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Doesn't wick and deyhdrates you.

Cotton kills.

Gotcha. Yeah I’ll be in a stand/shooting house for the most part. I don’t hunt a lot probably 5-6 hunts a season but I got tired of my feet going numb after a hour haha.

Muck Artic Pro are good for the days in south LA that don't get above 40

^^^^
Yep.
This opened up a whole new world for me.

Wife accidentally bought me a pair of insulated Lacrosse rubber boots that are one size too big. This turned out to be a GAME CHANGER . The extra room makes all the difference in the world, at least it did for me.
For really cold hunts here in Ky, I put on a regular pair of socks, then put on those stick on Toasty toes, and another pair of regular socks. With the one size too big boots, I have warm comfortable feet in any weather. It’s been down in the teens before on opening day of deer gun season and I was able to enjoy it with out cold feet.

I have always struggled with cold feet but not anymore.