Sunday, November 15, 2009

Boots for winter painting



Cabela's® Trans-Alaska™ III Pac Boot

I am going to start a series of posts on winter painting equipment with one on boots. Every other part of your clothing needs for cold weather painting is negotiable, this works and that works. However when it comes to footwear I think most of what the average person thinks of as adequate gear won't cut it. Boots that might be OK for shoveling the walk or taking a winter hike will not allow you to stand in snow or on ice for hour after hour without getting cold feet. You have to keep your feet warm. Your Sorels will not cut it. I would impress on you that you think your boots are OK, but they will probably not be. You are going to ignore this and then your feet are going to be cold and you will be unable to work. "I won't be there for you to whine to, but if I was, I would say, Hey, I warned you!"

Here are the sort of boots I recommend for painting outside in the winter. There are a lot of different winter boots available but I think these are the ticket. Cabelas is a reasonably priced gear merchandiser mainly aimed at the hunters, rather than extreme sports, elitest gear freaks.
I think a woman could probably find boots of this sort there also.

If you can keep your feet warm standing out painting everything else is relatively easy. There are lots of good parkas and hats, snow pants and suits etc. But it doesn't seem to me that there are many boots that are as serious as these. I have lent mine to other guys who then bought them the next day. If you are worried about getting cold painting, buy these boots and everything else is just a matter adding layers of clothing. But if your boots don't cut it you can't add another pair.

Here is a link to the page on Cabelas site where you can find them.

There is one more day of the Boston International Fine Arts Fair, Sunday. If you live anywhere near Boston this is the place to see a whole lot of really good painting. Here is a link to the information on that.

12 comments:

T. A. Charron said...

My name is T. A. Charron and I am one of the "guys" that Stapleton lent his boots too. The boots mention above have kept my feet warm, standing in snow all day, in -23 degrees.
No more cold feet, by far, the best boot out there!

Marc Dalessio said...

I find those grabber hand-warmers tucked under the toes work well with regular hiking boots. Then again it doesn't get to -23 where I paint. Thanks for the suggestion.

Hands are also a problem. I notice you wear a kind of glove. What is your recommendation for gloves?

billspaintingmn said...

Well Stape, I trust your judgement,
looks like I'm off to cabelas.
(he'd give you the shirt off his back, and the shoes off his feet!)
What a guy!
Thanks for the advice!

Unknown said...

You'll probably cover this, but when I know I have to stand in snow, I'll bring along a small square of carpet - just putting that under my feet in the snow seems to enough of a barrier to lessen the impact of the cold.
Hands are my biggest problem though.

Stapleton Kearns said...

Hey, T.A.
I had no idea you were a reader.Thanks for stopping by.
..................Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Marc:
I will talk about gloves tonight.
.........Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

Bill:
I think you will make the cold feet problem go away for ever
.............Stape

Stapleton Kearns said...

I will probably mention that. I will do hands tonight.
........Stape

jeff said...

I noticed that there are few boots made by Cabela that have an extreme cold weather rating. Did you pick these because of the height of boot or 3" insulated sole?

The Cabela Predator™ Extreme Pac Boots seems like a pretty serious boot as well.

jeff said...

The other question I have is how do you deal with the paint stiffening when it drops below 20 degrees?

I guess you get use to it. I never went out in temperatures below 20 or 25 as the oil seems to start to get like taffy. -23 it must freeze, no?

alotter said...

The selection of women's boots does not include the nifty trans Alaska III. Indeed, the selection for women is decidedly more limited than that for the men. Seems that sedentary boots are made for ice fishing and most women just don't "get" ice fishing. A painter and an ice fisherman would make a compatible couple.

Stapleton Kearns said...

Jeff:
The boot I recomend I own and love. The other may be good too but I have not tried it so I can tell you for sure.

whip some medium into the paint to make it operate better in the cold. I have never been unable to paint because of the cold.But the wind has shut me down a time or two.
.......Stape