Listen as Scott chats with North Shore Radio host, Mark Abrahamson, about the pros and cons of mukluks and the best type of cold weather to wear mukluks.
Pack & Paddle: Pros and Cons of Mukluks Transcript
0:00:00.1 Mark: WTIP feature Pack & Paddle with Scott Oeth is up next. Scott is a registered Maine guide, an Eagle Scout and Minnesota master naturalist. He's an instructor for the Okpik National Cold Weather Leader School. He joins us now by phone to talk to us about mukluks. Welcome, Scott.
0:00:18.1 Scott Oeth: Good morning, Mark.
0:00:19.5 Mark: Alright. Now for our listeners that aren't familiar with mukluks, tell us what they are.
0:00:25.7 SO: Yeah. Well, I imagine a lot of WTIP region listeners are somewhat familiar with them or are big fans because... You like having nice warm and dry feet, Mark?
0:00:37.3 Mark: I do.
0:00:38.5 SO: You do. And the feeling of wearing some nice comfy slippers around?
0:00:44.0 Mark: Yes, I like that a lot.
0:00:46.1 SO: Great. That's what mukluks are and that's part of the reason I am big fan for cold conditions. They are light, they are flexible, and a big issue when we're in the cold and we're dealing with winter camping or spending time out in the cold is moisture management. They breath. They allow your foot perspiration to get away from your body. So mukluks are a traditional winter footwear of the North, of the Native peoples, and there's a couple of different names depending on the exact region or styles. But traditionally, typically, they have a leather bottom around the foot, usually moose hide or caribou, and then an upper that would either be leather or fur, and in later years canvas, and then an insulating liner. Back in the old days the Native folks would use sedge or dry grass to make an insole and wrap their foot in, and then sometimes wool blankets or what not. But there's been many more modern spins on these. But they're light, they're warm with the insulation, and a big part of the reason why they're warm is they allow good circulation. They let your foot flex and bend and move, and they breath, they get that moisture away, whereas most winter boots have a rubber encased bottom and they trap that sweat in there, which eventually ends up getting your feet to be cold.
0:02:07.8 Mark: Now, what kind of materials are in the feet on most mukluks that do wick moisture or keep that moisture off your feet? How does that work?
0:02:17.7 SO: Well, what you see very common is smoked moose hide, and it's a tough, durable leather. It's really tough, but it does allow that moisture to escape because your foot is 98.6 degrees, give or take, and outside is zero. There's that big temperature differential and the material is porous, and it lets that water vapor essentially be sucked outside and that helps keep your sock and your liner and your installation nice and dry. But, there are some other mukluks. Canadian military ones are just a lightweight nylon. There's some US military ones that are like a canvas, and so they're both very porous and breathable and they that foot vapor out.
0:03:04.9 Mark: Now, let's talk about pros and cons versus other boots. There are so many different kind of boots on the market for being out in the ice and snow and things like that, let's talk about what the pros are mukluks compared.
0:03:17.3 SO: Yeah, right. So with winter footwear I think what you're dealing with is compromises, and you have to look at your conditions and how you're gonna be using them to decide what's the best boot. I think what I've come to, and probably a lot of people have, is there is no one perfect boot. Frequently I'm taking two with me and I'm looking at my activity. The big drawback with mukluks is that they really work very well when it's cold enough that it’s dry outside. If it's consistently below, say, 15 degrees or 20 degrees Fahrenheit, so you're not worried about wet snow, you're not worried about rain, you're not worried about slush or puddles, because what makes mukluks work so well is their breathability. That's also their drawback. If you're running into wet conditions, your feet are gonna get wet in mukluks and that's not ideal either.
0:04:05.6 SO: So they're really for what we'd call a dry cold, where we're worried about body moistures, the main issue in getting that away from your body. So if it's a wet cold or you're dealing with varying conditions where it's warmer during the day then cools off, or even the boundary waters, it can be very cold, but you can have slush on lakes if you're pulling a toboggan, or you're traveling to lakes, and those Lake edges or underneath the snow, if you get the overflow. Those are tricky conditions and some people bring an entirely second set of boots. I've actually come to that.
0:04:38.7 SO: What I've done is just a tall pair of rubber, our grandparents might call them galoshes, a thin weight 16 inch high rubber boot and I put a felt insole in there and then a felt liner, and it's actually similar in feel to a mukluk. It's very nice and light, flexible and very warm. But that's my wet condition boot. Or you can get the low rubber over shoe and put that over the foot part of your mukluk and that works fairly well. And then there's a great debate as to whether or not you should actually treat them with a waterproofing material. The Perce, they know these are for dry conditions, and if you put any type of water-proofing sealant on there that inhibit the ability to breathe and takes away part of what makes mukluks so good. Other people say no, no, if you use the right type of stuff that works well, and in fact, there are some native groups used different types of fat or otter oil or things like that to treat their mukluk soles.
0:05:33.5 Mark: So if I see a person wearing mukluks down a slushy street in rainy day in January, it's more of a fashion statement than actually using the mukluks to their best ability?
0:05:45.5 SO: Yeah, I think so. They've become kind of a Minnesota cool look in the winter and you see folks wearing them in town. I think that's fine. I do that sometimes when I'm traveling to or from, 'cause they are nice in the car. If you're in winter and you're wearing a traditional winter boot, that rubber bottom, that's not great, your feet are gonna get hot sweaty in the vehicle. Whereas mukluks works pretty well. But what I'll usually do in that situation is wear those low-cut rubber over shoes over the bottom in case I'm getting out in the slush or having to pump gas or something like that, because it's not just the moisture, that's not good, but if they get dirty and grimy, they won't breathe as well either. In fact, I was reading an older book from a fellow that had lived his whole life in the Yukon, and he was saying the Native folks there, they would actually hang their mukluks up outside their dwelling, their shelter, before they would go inside and they'd have another pair of moccasins to put on when they went inside because they didn't want anything other than just clean white snow touching the bottom of their mukluks. No sawdust, no dirt, no grime, anything like that that could get in the pores and ruin the breathability. So, I try not to wear mine in town, or if I do, I wear the rubber over shoes over the bottom to protect them.
0:06:57.3 Mark: We're talking with Scott Oeth. Scott any other recommendations about mukluks? And I would imagine you have something on Pack and Paddle about Mukluks and brands and things like that?
0:07:07.7 SO: Yeah. Actually, last year in December, you and I talked about just keeping your feet warm in the winter, in general. A lot of the principles on keeping your body warm and circulation and all that, so that is on the bullmoosepatrol.com site. I've got the link up there and some other articles about keeping your feet dry. It's on WTIP from a year ago, and I think a lot of these things play hand in hand, it's not just the boot, but overall, the science of staying warm. But there in there, certainly on the bullmoosepatrol website, on Facebook. I've have had many discussions about winter footwear and favorites.
0:07:44.0 Mark: Alright, Scott, thank you so much for speaking with us this morning and anything else that you wanna add today?
0:07:49.8 SO: It's been a great talking with you, looking forward to next month. Stay warm.
0:07:52.3 Mark: Alright Scott, thank you so much, have a great holiday.
0:07:55.1 Mark: Thanks a lot. You as well, Mark.
0:07:57.4 Mark: You can follow Scott's adventures at www.bullmoosepatrol.com.