This past weekend I went out and got caught in the rain...my boots held up for a few hours but then out of nowhere they became NON-water-proof. Does this mean that my boots are now no longer water-proof unless I buy the nixwax stuff and re-water-proof them?

I'm trying to figure out if I need to do that for sure before my next trip.

I should say that I'm wearing Scarpa Kailash GTX boots. They're made of nylon and some other fabric.

Generally water proof isn't really the right term for foot wear. Most are water resistant at best. I've gone to the camp of not even trying to get water resistant boots and get the fully ventilated shoes, the dry much quicker and are lighter.

Yeah - unfortunately I've already sunk $250 into these boots and don't really care to invest in another pair at this point. I wasn't buying them for waterproof-ness though...bought them because I really like a lot of ankle support and these were really comfortable.

Based on the pictures I saw, I'm guessing rain/water went down the opening and got absorbed by the socks. Meaning, it ran down your legs into your feet. Happened to me before. Occasional mud puddles and small standing water you'll be fine, but in a down pour or if it goes above the top of shoes (where your leg is) then your sock absorb the water, then you feel like your shoes gave out! This has been normal in my experience. I've fell in a creek and my feet stayed dried because water didn't go above the top of the shoes, however, the same shoes in a rain storm I had sloshing feet...

If you want true waterproof boots, get rain boots and wear rain pants over the opening... And waterproof boots SUCKS!!!

I think I'd call Scarpa.

303-998-2895

I didn't call - but I did look up something on their website about waterproofing that said that it needed to be re-done periodically on all their boots. I don't want to crack on their CS too bad - but they're hard to get in touch with. Had to for another situation and took 3 days to get someone on the phone. They did fix that particular issue though and it didn't cost me anything.

Having eyeballed them on line, my SWAG is the outer materials (suede leather) became saturated to the point the GTEX lining failed, which is not unexpected with a WPB liner.

I'd clean them then use a DWR restorer or some sort of waterproofing appropriate to the suede. In the future, if you suspect luridly wet conditions, add good gaiters to your kit and I think you'll have better results.

Cheers,

Sweet! Thanks. That's what I'll do. I know I found on their website recommended a certain type of niKwax...

wesarnold,

I looked at your blog. It looks like you all had fun.