Phil Cook wrote:
SMS wrote:

Today, it would be exceedingly foolish to purchase hiking boots or
trail shoes for wet conditions that were not GoreTex. Actaully if
they were full grain leather you could get away with the lack of
GoreTex by applying Sno-Seal or some other wax, but that affects
breath ability. For non-full-grain leather you can't apply those
waxes, so GoreTex is even more important.

Bottom line is that all the experts agree that you should _never_
purchase a pair of hiking boots, walking shoes, etc., that do not
have a GoreTex (or competing product) membrane, if you expect to
have them ever get wet.

I remain unconvinced that GoreTex is the wonder material you purport
it to be. My last pair of four season winter walking boots were sans
Tex and my current pair have it. I never noticed my feet getting wet
(from the outside) in the old pair despite a good many years in rather
"mixte" conditions. Bogs and slush can be wet in the extreme and both
tend to feature prominently in Scottish winter hillwalking. The reason
I bought my latest pair with Tex are that they fitted me better than
any alternative, the comfort was the killer application for me rather
than the liner.

What everybody agrees upon, experts and laymen alike, is that boots
or shoes that start uncomfortable will never become comfortable.

That is just plain wrong. One pair I got was a bit tight across
the top of the foot with one foot, and the wore in fine.

The reason I persisted with them was because I got that pair
for free as a warranty claim when the soles split and I got the
exchange by mail in and I didnt get to try them on.

Fit, fit and fit are the important things, all else is supplementary.

Yes, but your claim that that never become comfortable is just plain wrong.
That pair is now the most comfortable I have ever owned.