Well, I guess it’s about time I got a few posts up about my 2019 Alaska moose hunt. I’ll start off talking about some of the gear I took.

This year’s trip was a little different than last year’s. First of all, I had a lot more time to prepare. I knew I was going to go on this trip for a full year. Last year I didn’t know until about two weeks before the trip. Plus, having been on last year’s trip, I knew what to expect, so I was able to prepare with foreknowledge. That’s a big deal on a trip like this.

On last year’s trip, for footwear I took my favorite heavy-duty riding boots. They are Hathorne Explorer packer boots, made by White, the same company that is known for their excellent fire-fighter and logger boots.  I seldom ride in any other boots. They have very heavy rubber soles, cowboy heels, and heavy leather uppers. I treated them with neatsfoot oil and Fiebing’s Snow-Proof Weatherproofer to prepare them for the dampness they would carry me through. I had no idea, then, just how much water they would encounter and I ended up living with wet and cold feet almost from the start of the trip to the end. I spent nearly every evening trying to dry out my wool socks and the boots over the camp fire. I’ve said before that there is no way to keep water from penetrating leather with prolonged exposure. I knew that! What was I thinking?

So, last winter I bought myself a pair of Kenetrek Cowboy pac boots.

These boots have a waterproof heavy rubber foot with a leather upper and a heavy Thinsulate boot insert. The soles are configured to allow for easy insertion and removal from a stirrup. They fit into my stirrups and have a cowboy heel to keep them from going too far into the stirrups. They also have a good spur shelf. Just what the doctor ordered for a trip like this, right?

Well, here’s the test report.

Our hunt camp is 20 miles back into the backcountry of southeastern Alaska, in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. Our trailhead is actually in Canada, at Beaver Creek, Yukon Territory. We cross the border into Alaska after about 16 miles in the Yukon, by following Beaver Creek. There is no trail. We just follow the river bed. We crossed the river numerous times en route to our camp. My Kenetrek boots kept my feet warm and dry…at least for the first couple of miles. After that the leather uppers, despite my treating them with the Fiebing’s Weatherproofer beforehand, began to soak up the water and pass it through to the Thinsulate liner and eventually my wool socks like a sponge. The leather initially repelled the water, but after a few good wet river crossings in which they got splashed pretty well, they simply allowed water to pass through them almost unrestricted. Again, I had two “soakers” for much of the trip.

I had thought the leather uppers of the Kenetrek pac boots was silicone impregnated and would offer a high degree of water repellency, but that was not the case. They are simply high-quality heavy leather with almost no water resistance.

I will allow, however, that even though my feet were wet, the heavy  Thinsulate inserts kept my feet warm. The thickness and absorbency of the heavy inserts and my wool boot socks, in combination with my poly liner socks, kept my feet less wet than my leather Hathorne boots, but they were wet nevertheless. At least they weren’t terribly cold, which kept me from getting chilled.

Additionally, the Kenetreks, being pac boots, are not made for hiking around. They are very comfortable in the saddle, but quite heavy and bulky for walking around in camp or hiking around the hills. I normally wear a 9 or 9-1/2 D width boot, depending on the boot. When I plan on heavy socks, I sometimes go for size 10. Depends on the boot and the fit I want. I ordered my Kenetrek boots in size 10, as half-sizes were not offered. They were quite roomy, but felt good with heavy boot socks on, especially while in the saddle. They felt a little large and ungainly while on the ground.

The liners are removable, so I spent some evenings holding them over the fire to dry. However, drying out the inside of the rubber boot foot was difficult. There was no way to safely heat them up over the fire, without fear of overheating the rubber. There is an insole inside the boot that soaks up water and does not allow one to dry out the inside of the boot by using a towel. The insole is not removable. All I could do was to dry out the liner and just let it soak up the remaining moisture in the boot foot.

I have worn these boots on winter rides where there was snow on the ground and they performed perfectly, keeping my feet toasty warm and dry. That is what they are designed for. No complaints at all for that.

They are not well suited to direct exposure to water, at least not above the level of the rubber foot. These boots are, indeed, well-made boots, but they are most definitely not waterproof.

If I had a recommendation to Kenetrek to improve their boot, it would be to line the leather uppers with Goretex. For boots that price out at above $300, I would think that would not be too much to ask. They might also offer a Goretex boot liner sock to go over the boot liner as an accessory. In fact, I have been looking for an appropriate liner sock to do exactly that. So far I have only found Goretex socks that go over a bare foot.

So, I will give the Kenetrek Cowboy pac boots five stars if they are used for their intended purpose, which is pac boots for riding and work in cold weather and snow. But, for water resistance, they get 2 stars. They are not water resistant at all above the rubber foot, but they still kept my wet feet from getting too cold.

By the way, these Kenetrek Cowboy pac boots are also offered in women’s sizes.

TH