>>2453313>Also, screw you buddy. Nothing wrong with being a nature stroller.Correct. If more people realized this, the board would be a better place. It's when nature strollers imagine themselves to be snake eaters that we run into difficulties.
In MY opinion, insulated, waterproof hiking boots (with thermal socks) are for snowy conditions, and absolutely nothing else. At that point, you do need the protection and insulation, and stank is an inevitability. Note that this is also true of the European wool clothing I mentioned in my earlier analogy.
Otherwise, it's better to bend with the wind, like a reed. Allow your footwear and feet to get wet, then rinse and dry them at the earliest opportunity. Your feet can stay wet for hours if your footwear is breathable; in some conditions, you can even let the footwear dry on your feet. Always clean and dry them and your feet by day's end, though.
I've mistakenly stepped in duck grass beside very small streams and ended up ankle-deep in thick, wet mud. While wearing road runners or trail runners, this isn't a big deal; you simply step into the water to mostly rinse them out, and then later you rinse them properly and let them dry, which will happen fairly quickly.
Waterproof boots will keep the mud from squelching directly into your footwear, except they are now caked in mud and you have stank inside, anyway, so they will still need to be cleaned. And the mud may go well up over your calf.
Don't fall for the memes. Big, heavy, abrasive, non-breathable boots are miserable. Use them only when you must.
