Main Discussion Area > Primitive Skills
Moccasins?
predatorcaller:
bare feet aint fun but once you make em tough enough not much gets through them...i like moccasins better though. ;D i walked about a quarter mile though thick brush and thorns barefoot while fishing with my friends and only got two thorns in my foot. HA ;D ;D
stickbender:
There are commercial leather water proofing stuff like sno pruf, etc. It has mink oil in it. You lightly heat the leather after smearing this stuff on it and it becomes like a liquid, and soaks in, and you wait a few minutes and reapply another coat on it. Worked great on my leather boots in Montana. But will it work for Moccasins? don't know. But as for waterproofing, why?
You are going to get wet in the early morning dew, and any damp boggy type terrain is just going to soak in anyway, and drops of water are going to drain down side of your foot anyway. The neoprene bootie would work. When I was a little boy, about five or so, I hardly ever wore shoes, and we lived on a shell rock road, and we would run up and down that road, and I never had a sharp rock or shell peirce, or cut my skin. I did have some nasty cuts from broken glass, and some nails that made it through. I saw a documentary on an island in the Pacific, where the natives would come running barefoot out to meet the boats comming in over the reefs, and the people getting out on the shallow reef, wearing rubber soled shoes, would have the soles of the shoes shredded in a couple of days, while the islanders, never had any cuts at all. Skin is an amazing organ! 8)
Wayne
hawkbow:
I can tell you that moccasins are the only way to go for stalking, but in the high country dried pine needles and slick mocs can and will cause serious slippage :'( i stumbled on this idea quite because of necessity.. while stalking a huge bull elk i found myself in a pine forest on a steep slope.. i couldn't even stay standing up. the immediate solution was to fix the problem.. sticky pine pitch from a bull pine and some dirt gave my slick soles very good traction on slick logs pine needles and rocks.. And i got the bull ;D at six yards. :o the pine pitch alone lasts for a few days.. walking many miles... good luck brother.. Hawk
stickbender:
Hawkbow, wow, six yards! :o couldn't you have have turned the mocs inside out, and used the sued or rough side? Or would that not work on pine needles? I definitely agree with you, they can be some kind of slick on smooth soled boots, and shoes!
But the pine sap, and dirt sounds like an excellent idea for better traction. ;)
Wayne
Clay Hayes:
One good way I've found to slow moisture coming up from the ground is to make an insole out of sheep skin. If you place the wool side down, it will help to slow the ground moisture reaching your sock. I also grease my braintan mocs with bear grease. Works well for me, but definatly not "water proof".
ch
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