Keepin' your feet happy for life...

I am no doctor but I believe that it is good sometimes to just walk around barefoot. Not through the school cause that's just nasty. But it's probably good to expose your feet to the outdoor elements ever so often so that your feet can build an immunity to all the harms. I always have a tough time walking through rocks barefoot and I  should work on this cause you never know when you have to run through rocks barefoot in a timely manner. Besides I look pretty lame  when I walk across rocks because my feet are sensitive and my arms are flying everywhere to compensate my balance. I also don't want to be that one guy who wears shoes during an ultimate Frisbee game when everyone else is running around barefoot.

Keepin' your feet happy in the stormy season or while irrigating...

Irrigation boots: pure rubber. They are not terrible uncomfortable and they keep your feet dry as long as the water doesn't get deeper than the brim of the boot which is normally calf height. One recommendation is that if they are not insulated, then wear wool socks. Then they are just as good a winter boot. Another plus to these are that you can go get really muddy and everything washes off by simply stepping in the ditch, creek or a quick rinse with the hose. The only downside of these is that they don't breath at all. They can get pretty toasty.

Keepin' your feet happy while shreddin on the resort...

When I go to the resorts I snow board. I use solomon snowboard boots. My feet have never gotten cold and have never been uncomfortable. Day one of using them I was tightening them and decided to put a little muscle into tightening them. The mechanism broke on the inside. O well... nothing gorilla glue can't fix. I probably could have returned them but the boot themselves were still good boots. My feet haven't grown so luckily Ill be with these boots for some time.

Keepin' your feet happy in the upper back country...

What I mean by the upper back country is when I go telle skiing up where there is snow, no lifts, and no people. It is really peaceful to go up there because it is only you. The skiing is always guaranteed to be fresh, deep, and fun. When I go telle skiing I use some old school leather tellemark boots that were probably used back in the 90s. I haven't upgraded to plastic yet, but I am still happy with the leather; so I will keep them. I don't know the brand but I could look if needed... Anyways leather boots for skiing are still good.

Keepin your feet happy for a year plus...

I am really tough on shoes. They do not last very long so I have to be careful on what I buy because I need them to last long enough so that when I ask my mom to go take me shoe shopping she doesnt have the right to say "didnt I just buy you shoes!" I have found that Nike makes a quality long lasting shoe. I am not completely sure what they are but I know they are Nike and I know they last a long time. It has been well over a year since I have had these shoes and they dont stink, they look semi-new, and they are still very comfortable.

Keepin your feet happy while shoveling horse poop...

The advantages to working on a farm is your outside, driving tractors, playing with the dogs, and feeding the animals. The disadvantages are you have to pick up after them. I have spent many hot hours in corrals, stables, and barns shoveling load after load of horse poop. After a while, the smell doesnt bother me as much after a while but then I remember what I am doing and I clinch my nostrels even tighter. Suprisingly enough there is a shoe that I make sure to be wearing while doing this chore. They are cowboy boots. Really they can be any type of boot without a fabric on the outside because that smell gets engraved into any type of fabric. I made the mistake of wearing my Nike shoes to work and they smelled really bad. Not to mention my shoes smelling bad, a lot of horse remains enter in to the shoe because of the low top. Anyways, cowboy boots dont let the smell get in and they keep the poo out.

Keepin' your feet happy around the lake...

Back to the Sea Style boots. They are not only great for river crossing but also walking around lakes. In the Windriver mtn range (stough creek basin) There were these lakes and I wanted to walk around them. There was an inlet and an outlet that had to be crossed on each end of the lake. No problem. In between the two, there were lots of rocks, glaciers, and cliffs that needed to be crossed. One would think that after walking in freezing cold water (by the way, these boots do keep your feet warm in icy waters) and going right into walking through snow and over glaciers, feet would freeze. Well actually my feet stayed warm the whole time. The most fun part about these boots is that when I climbed a small clif, there was a glacier that I had to slide down. I put these boots to the test, I skied down the glacier as if I had skis on. They actually worked!! I actually got a few S turns in.  If the climb wasn't so steep back up to the top I would have done it again. Well I have found that these boots are good for river crossing and skiing.