Waterproofing hunting boots

I need to re waterproof my Irish setter hunting boots. I’ve seen several different kinds of stuff out there. Wax and spray seem to be common. What do you recommend?

Mucks!

But seriously, I’ve tried the spray stuff on my Danners with poor results. I think waterproofing should be changed to water repelling. It worked descent enough in wet conditions but not submerging.

Maybe the wax is better.

I think the most you can accomplish is keeping the leather in decent condition. Unless your boots are goretex or rubber they won’t be waterproof. I use Danner paste on mine.

Suzuki is right – waterproof is probably too strong a word for most boots. I have used Obenauf’s LP leather conditioner which is wax on my leather boots. It works ok. My old man uses silicone which definitely works a bit better.

One other thing to consider is gaiters. If your pants are wet and you are hiking/walking that moisture is likely to work into your socks and boots. A gaiter is relatively cheap and will reduce the likelihood of soggy socks come end of day.

What Irish Setters do you have? And do you know where the water is getting in or is it preventative? Mine started leaking thru the soles after about 15 years/1000 miles, so I just finally updated them. Leather and Gore-Tex will require different treatments obviously.

I’m personally a big fan of the original Snow-seal. It works best if you heat the boot slightly in the oven ( On lowest temp ) or with a hair dryer first. This allows the bee’s wax to sink well into the pores and then expand slightly when the boot cools. What ever you do don’t use any mink oil or other products made from animal fat. There products will cause the leather to break down even faster. I use to think that Mink oil was a good product until doing some research on the subject. I’ve had much better luck keeping or restoring the ” Water repelling nature ” of boots with the snow-seal.

Bear fat! heat it up and then rub it on your boots. This will waterproof your boots.

Sno-seal will get you a couple more years out of a worn boot. Works good but long term it sorta deteriorate seams. Obenaufs is the best boot/leather dressing made. Developed and used by smoke jumpers on their coats, boots, and gloves. Stuff is great