why you have cold feet

NEVER ENDING COLD FEET

Einstein is credited with saying, and I quote; “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is insanity”.

For the past 30 years I have never spoken with men either face to face, on the telephone or via e mail, who have not had cold feet when they were wearing boots that were lined with any film noted as waterproof and breathable (should read vapor permeable) and a polypropylene form of insulation. I will let you put in the brand names of these two non-performing components.

About 15 years ago I spoke with the owner of Herman Survivors Boot Company about using Lamilite in boots without any form of film placed in the boot. He made several hundred pair for me which sold reasonable well. I made this investment to show him that Lamilite insulated boots could not only sell but would outperform what was on the market at the time. They sold okay and according to all who bought them out performed the boots available at the time. The buyers had already had experience with the other boots so I was not surprised when the said mine were better. That said Herman’s went out of business. A few years later I was doing some quilt work for a company named Wellco and I had surplus rolls of quilted Lamilite so I said I’ll ship it to them so they could make boots for me. They asked if I wanted Gore-Tex in the boots since they used it and I said no. Those boots sold much better than the Herman’s boots because I already had a following of sorts and of course they also out performed what was otherwise available in the market place. They too went out of business. I finally dealt with Bellville Boot because I had done quite a bit of business with them on a military program for extreme cold weather boots. According to them the boots were tested to -50 F and the military stopped testing since nobody had cold feet. So I asked them if they would make boots for me. Those you can see on the web site. They happen to have made the best of the boots. Again I bought a few hundred pair. At the time of the purchase they told me if I needed to fill in I would have to order 6 pair of a size, recently I called in an order for 24 pair. They did not get back with me as they said with an estimated time of delivery. So I called them and I was told their factory was maxed out for production and had no idea when the order would be filled. That was the word from the president of the company. I think of him as a despicable person now.

Over the years that I have had these boots I have learned that eliminating the film will allow moisture from your foot to migrate through the leather and by using Lamilite versus polypropylene (a theoretical form of insulation that also traps moisture) your feet stay warm. The low temperature that I have noted is about -10 degrees F, to go colder one would need my over boots or Muk Luks depending upon how cold an environment you are in. Armed with all of this knowledge I started contacting all of the boot companies in the country. All to no avail! At one time while looking through the Cabelas catalog I noted boots with these two components from a number of companies rated for use from -25 F to – 100 degrees F. I called each company to inquire how these boots were tested and I was told by most on machines and in one case they had two guys walk the Yukon Trail in January. Pathetic I thought, don’t they have any people on board that know how dangerous those temperatures are, but I guess not or they just ignored the situation. However, it was not long after those phone calls that the ridiculous rating disappeared from the Cabelas catalog and from the company web sites. I know that because I called Wolverine not too long ago inquiring about a particular boot and was ultimately told they do not rate the boots any more. However, the woman I was speaking with did not know about the ratings not applied until she was told that they had some law suits about ratings that were not accurate.

I most recently spoke with a product developer at Bates Shoe Company a division of Wolverine about learning about Lamilite and maybe using it. He told me the call was timely since they were working with the military on a new cold weather boot. I asked what he was starting to use now; would you believe Gore-Tex and 600 gram Thinsulate. I asked about the retention of moisture and he said he was aware of it. I suggested Lamilite without the use of Gore-Tex which would let the moisture migrate out of the boot through the leather which happens to be vapor permeable. He was intrigued and said he would have the purchasing department that bought samples contact me. So far I have heard nothing. I am not surprised.

What this fellow is ignorant of is the long term adverse effect that happens to people when their digits i.e. fingers and toes go through when they are subjected to cold; the capillaries in them shut down so the blood supply starts restricting itself to the core of the body. This is an action that is what the body does to protect itself and we have no control over it. When you enter a warm environment the capillaries warm and allow the blood to flow back into the fingers and toes. However, having experienced frost bite of my fingers when I was lost in the snow storm I now know that as the temperature drops below 40 degrees I feel the cold much faster than someone who has never had frost bite. When your toes experience cold to the point that you no longer want to stay outside that is a sure sign that even though you may not actually have frost bite they will react to a slightly higher temperature next time you out in the cold. My conclusion is if 30 years ago you had cold feet when the temperature was 15 degrees F now you will have cold feet when the temperature is 25 degrees F. from what I have experienced and discovered from others who have had frost bite even mild this degradation of capillaries is not reversible. All because the moisture, from your feet is retained within the footwear you are wearing. As I have written in the past the most efficient absorber of heat on the planet is water. That water trapped in your footwear is now your enemy. It makes no difference how well the rest of your body is insulated if your feet are cold you are in trouble if you are very far from a warm place.

I feel very sorry for the soldiers that may be issued these potentially new cold weather boots.

For 30 to 40 years all of the boot companies in the USA regardless of where they make the boots are trying to get different results using the same materials.

For those of you who already own boots constructed with these materials you should get the Lamilite socks so at the least allow the moisture to get away from your skin surface, just like wearing fishnet underwear and if you are in a temperature zone of 0 to -50 degrees F you should have either my over boots or Muk Luks.