Re: WINTER RIDING

["Code-Co, Byron Harward" <byron@code-co.com>]

>What is a pack boot? A packer boot? Like the packers wear?

A pack boot and cowboy boots that are called "packers" are NOT the same
thing. "Packers" are generally leather boots with no lining that have a
high cowboy boot style heel and have laces.

A pack boot is generally a boot with a liner, often a felt liner, and a
rubber or plastic water proof foot.  (The upper part is sometimes leather.)
They have a tread of some sort to let you get traction in the snow and mud.
They are almost always lace-up boots. It is a boot that farmers and
construction workers use to work out in the cold, wet weather. They are
made for a variety of conditions and are often rated as effective to some
temperature like -5 or -20 or -30 degrees. (In practical fact your feet can
start to get uncomfortable at temperatures above the rated temperatures.)

By keeping your feet dry as well as having a liner, these kind of boots are
very much better at keeping your feet warm than a regular boot either an
English or western riding boot.

There are chain store shoes that mimic the look of a pack boot but don't
have a very effective liner in them. Then the only benefit is that these
kind of shoes are water proof. The insulation has to come only from the
socks you wear.

If you want to buy a pack boot, I would first buy the socks that you want
to wear and then go shopping for the boots. That way you can try on the
pack boots with the thick socks you are going to wear and make sure you get
a boot that will fit when you have the thick socks on. (Multiple layers are
always better than any single sock. I use a thin polypropylene sock, then a
thick tightly woven wool sock then a Thorlo "extreme condition" thick knit
sock.)

I hope this is useful to you.

Byron Harward