UKC

I am wondering if anyone has any experience of using vapour barrier techniques with ski boots. I am doing a lightweight tour in March, stying in unguarded huts, with little prospect of drying boots out. I'm using pretty thin liners- they are Scarpa Aliens- so would rather not get too cold feet.

Has anyone had any luck with VB socks/what did you use/any tips? I can see it could work well in ultra cold conditions, but -10 to zero might be more tricky. I welcome any suggestions. Cheers!

In reply to morganator:

I can strongly recommend these.
http://www.rbhdesigns.com/category/170&CFID=22522429&CFTOKEN=cc9aff...

Your inner boots remain dry at the end of the day.
I have used them on multi day alpine winter routes, week long ski tours and days out in Scotland. Fantastic for all. It doesn't need to be super cold for them to be worn. They stop your foot sweat wetting out your boots or liners.
James

In reply to morganator:

I used sandwich bags in Alaska last year and it was pretty grim- they ended up slipping down and felt horrible - I gave up in the end and just took spare socks - fortunately the weather was generally ok. it may have worked if I had tapped them to my ankles however I cant say I enjoyed the experience.

In reply to morganator:
I'm with Mr ebdon, I'm afraid. I can see the point of them but I didn't get on with them at all. I have a pair (FoC) of RBH ones you can have if you like.

In reply to GraB:

Hi Graham,

Thanks for that. Did you not get on with your RBH socks? I have used Sealskin socks for fell running and been really impressed. I guess these RBH ones are similar? If you don't them I'd love to give them a go= thanks!

In reply to morganator:

I tried to use RBH socks in ski boots and it was a complete failure, they are not really stretchy and dont fit your feet like a sock does, leaving uncomfortable folds and wrinkles. At least for me they completely destroyed the comfortably tight fit of my boots. I'd guess they'd cause blisters on an extended tour. I switched to thin plastic bin bags which worked well. And much cheaper...

In reply to morganator:

best way of drying boot liners on a trip like that is to take a small water bottle that you can put hot water in and will fit in your liner. put the liners in sleeping bag/under blankets and they will dry in about half an hour.

In reply to morganator:

Do peoples feet really sweat that much? I can't say I've ever noticed damp socks or liners through sweating. And wouldn't wet VBL socks still need to be dried?

In reply to morganator:

I tend to wear my inners in the evenings which dry them out - combined with being in my sleeping bag over night, this did for several days in a tent in Greenland last winter.

In reply to london_huddy:

People are different, mine are always wet through after a day touring.

In reply to morganator:

I use Exped VB socks all the time now with v thin synthetic socks next to skin and a thin second pair over the VB sock. You never get wet inners and you never get blisters (if that is an issue and it was for me!). I've used this system for day tours and multi day expeditions and will never go back.....Dan

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Yes. I can sometimes wring socks out after a long day skiing.

In reply to morganator:

Sorry, I missed your reply Jon. Will email you and you can let me have your address.

In reply to morganator:

http://www.dynafit.com/us/winter-guide-gore-tex-boot.html

Gore-tex boots

In reply to mtom91:
I think that's missing the point of what the OP is asking about. Its not wetting of the inners from outside but through sweating and extended use where they can't be easily dried out. Vapour barriers, whether its a plastic bag or RBH type socks, are there to keep the sweat against you feet and your boots dry. Sounds unpleasant ? It is (imho).

Seal skin socks would work the same, I guess ? I also use them for fell running too sometimes, as they help to keep my feet warmer and stop them from getting quite so trashed for long wet winter runs. But your obviously not trying to keep your shoes dry either.!

In reply to GraB:


Actually I seem to recall Seal skins products being breathable/waterproof, so they "should" let sweat out and also keep the outside muck out.


That said, pretty much all thermo-molded innerboots are actually semi- vaporbarrier. That is to say, that only the lining inside the inner will get moist and the sock.

I tried the vaporbarrier thing many moons ago, and to be honest it wasn't a real success... That was an artic skitouring trip for 1.5 weeks and sleeping in tents.

Nowadays I simply carry 2 thin liner socks and 2 slightly thicker oversocks. And swap during the evening to the "fresh" pair and sleep with the "old" socks under to lonjohns on me quads (to dry 'em). And again swap socks in the morning...

The normal way of "drying" the inners is to take them off as soon as possible and leave into sunshine... they often dry rather quickly. In case it's snowing, well then simply leave them in a sheltered location to cool down (moist of the moisture is actually sucked away) and take them inside the sleeping bag just before hitting the sack.

In reply to James Edwards:
With expedition teams these socks have worked for some but not for others. The problem seems to be that the seams aren't sealed so if there is a lot of sweat the boot inners will get wet. Better were the Integral designs VBL socks available from Needlesports, worn over a thinnish liner sock.