Gore-tex Surround footwear?

[keithy]

Anyone have shoes with Gore-tex Surround tech? Does it work? or is it too early to tell?

http://www.gore-tex.com.au/keep-dry-kee ... bl-product

Some models have footbed vents and sole vents which I think could be interesting.

I was looking at the Salewa Alp Flow boot https://www.gore-tex.com/product/salewa ... 317972958/ and it has venting in the lower part of the shoe, might also help with water drainage.

[wayno]

eventually the gore tex tears then you cant stop the water getting in from below...

[GPSGuided]

Anyone have shoes with Gore-tex Surround tech? ... might also help with water drainage.

Aren't they contradictory objectives?

[keithy]

Anyone have shoes with Gore-tex Surround tech? ... might also help with water drainage.

Aren't they contradictory objectives?

Yea, I read an article on the weekend reviewing the Salewa, and I might have misinterpreted it, but I thought they said when they submerged the shoe, it let water out through the vents (but they could have meant water vapour).

I'd just never heard of this Gore-tex surround thing before.

Fair point on the Goretex eventually tearing. I haven't had that happen on my Goretex boots yet, but they are all within 2 years old.

[wayno]

Anyone have shoes with Gore-tex Surround tech? ... might also help with water drainage.

Aren't they contradictory objectives?

Yea, I read an article on the weekend reviewing the Salewa, and I might have misinterpreted it, but I thought they said when they submerged the shoe, it let water out through the vents (but they could have meant water vapour).

not sure how that would be possible, they'd have to have a chamber with some sort of valve sealing it or a double layer membrane with a gap for water to be able to get out when the shoe is submerged, but gore tex in footwear always fails under the forces that get applied to it. personally I think its probably marketing hype.

[GPSGuided]

I sense it's a bit of a late phase marketing spin, not as if past Gortex shoe membranes didn't cover the whole foot. As usual, their graph on foot humidity variance didn't have a scale. The improvement could have been trivial and of no real life significance. Fine if the boots are comfortable and of good quality but wouldn't pay extra just for that 'feature'.

[keithy]

This is what I read on the weekend http://www.coolhunting.com/design/testi ... l-clothing

Just a one liner on the salewa ... " Especially impressive, once entirely submerged, the boot released moisture through the vents. "

You're probably right about the marketing spin though.

[wayno]

if the outside of the goretex membrane is wet, it cannot possibly let moisture out, for membranes to work the moisture level outside has to be lower than on the inside, and its technically possible for water to come in especially when put under pressure such as when you're standing or sitting on the membrane... remember once gore tex's moto was "guaranteed to keep you dry" even though anyone with much experience with the product will know that's often not true, sometimes more often than not... given its often hard to stay dry in a shirt when you're hiking on a dry day, putting a waterproof membrane over the top makes that task a lot harder..
gore tex has a massive marketing budget and the marketers are going to try and push their claims as far as they can get away with and as far as people will let them get away with... all the performance stats around waterproof membranes come out of laboratories not the real world. the only time you'll be dry in gore tex footwear is on a cold dry day, I've never found it capable of coping with the sweat from a foot walking on a warm dry day. let alone in the rain.. someone decided that in theory the footwear will breathe more if you have footwear that breathes through the sole as well and they decided to market the footwear based on that. I have my doubts about how much better it will be, it will only be better under specific conditions.

[slparker]

I saw some zamberlans with this system last week. the 'vents' were not perforating the goretex, but perforating the sole and outside of the shoe (covered with come kind of mesh). the idea is that the gore-tex is exposed to the open air, allowing moisture to transfer.
This would only work in the dry but as far as I can understand it is designed to make the shoes more tolerable on dry warm days i.e. to let water vapour out.
As wayno has pointed out nothing will help vapour transfer if the outside of the boot is wet - which is a problem with or without gore-tex, i suppose.

[wayno]

how does that work if mud gets through the mesh onto the gore tex? it' will stop breathing...

[GPSGuided]

Mass suffocation!

Going back to the design perspective of having vent hole/system in the under foot area, I have to question how it would affect the durability and barrier protection of the region. For me, if a decision is to wear full sized boots, then the condition is such that the terrain and ground surface is rough and I would want good protection and durability down there. For hotter days or situations where the surface is less rough, then one could choose low cut boots or even walking sandals. This really feels like one of those features that's driven by marketing than practical needs. Yet again, my feet don't sweat that much. Can see how some would find it 'beneficial'. As for the review mentioned above, it's just so typical of the 70-90% of informercial reviews we read out there. All part of the marketing.

[slparker]

how does that work if mud gets through the mesh onto the gore tex? it' will stop breathing...

Yes,
Just like any other kind of goretex or non goretex boot, when covered in mud it would stop breathing. so no further disadvantages with this boot and it just might be more permeable in warm dry weather. Or not.
It does look less robust with the cutouts though.

[slparker]

Mass suffocation!

Going back to the design perspective of having vent hole/system in the under foot area, I have to question how it would affect the durability and barrier protection of the region. For me, if a decision is to wear full sized boots, then the condition is such that the terrain and ground surface is rough and I would want good protection and durability down there. For hotter days or situations where the surface is less rough, then one could choose low cut boots or even walking sandals. This really feels like one of those features that's driven by marketing than practical needs. Yet again, my feet don't sweat that much. Can see how some would find it 'beneficial'. As for the review mentioned above, it's just so typical of the 70-90% of informercial reviews we read out there. All part of the marketing.

I reckon it is probably better for travelling where you don't get a quiver of boots to choose from. If you're going from snow to a dry warm country to the pub to wet streets it just might be the ticket.
As you say, if you definitely know that you're going on a warm climate walk why not just wear trail runners?

[GPSGuided]

I reckon it is probably better for travelling where you don't get a quiver of boots to choose from. If you're going from snow to a dry warm country to the pub to wet streets it just might be the ticket...

Ummm yeah... For the fashion market or the customer base of Kathmandu.

[slparker]

I reckon it is probably better for travelling where you don't get a quiver of boots to choose from. If you're going from snow to a dry warm country to the pub to wet streets it just might be the ticket...

Ummm yeah... For the fashion market or the customer base of Kathmandu.

Well possibly. I would consider footwear such as this for a holiday trip if I knew that I was going from hotel to the hinterland of QLD, or the pyrenees, or Mt Kinabalu or Macchu Picchu (or even WoJ or the Overland track) without wanting to look like a track trail guide whilst in the pub. Why would I need to take an 'official bushwalk.com approved boot' for this purpose?

That you consider the shoes a fashion item doesn't lessen their utility.

I'd rather be considered a 'kathmandu wearer' than take a 2 kilo pair of boots overseas when i don't need them. You see plenty of people walking in Europe, America and asia in this type of footwear. They are perfectly adequate for many applications. Not every walk is the Western Arthurs.

[wayno]

I took boots to japan because of one short trip trip on rocky ground when the rest of my trip was on easy trails, next time i'll just stick to running shoes, wasn't worth the hassle of taking the boots

[GPSGuided]

That you consider the shoes a fashion item doesn't lessen their utility.

I may be a sceptic, but unfortunately that's often the case when fashion/marketing objectives trump practicality in the design.

[findbuddha]

I have a pair of La Sportiva Core High GTX http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwe ... e-high-gtx

I've only had them for a couple of months and I've never owned goretex shoes before but so far I'm very happy with them. Haven't let water in, good grip with scrambling, not too hot / sweat provoking.