Snoseal, mink oil or nik wax for leather boots with gore tex membrane?

cchu518

cchu518

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Mar 6, 2013
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I just ordered a pair of traditional light hiking boots - Timberland Chocoruas. I wanted to take a step away from modern light hikers after not being able to find a replacement to my favorite pair the past 5 years which was the Nike Wildedge GTX trail sneaker.

Do you think I can get away with just using Camp Dry Mink oil vs going through the whole sno seal thing on these boots since it has a gore tex membrane. The boots will primarily be used for day hiking in wet weather, some mountain scrambling but not any heavy pack duties. Opinions on mink oil vs sno seal for gore tex boots?
 
I like mink oil on leather boots. Have used all of that stuff over the years. I recall gobbing on the snoseal before deer season (pre -gortex days) and letting the roast a bit the night before in front of a heat register.
 
I've been using Obenauf's LP for several years and it seems as good as anything to me. I tried mink oil for a while but it wore off too quickly for me.
 
It's got a goretex liner, it doesn't need sno seal. If you sno seal it the way you're supposed to use sno seal then you'll effectively plug up the goretex and you'll lose breathability. A little mink oil just to keep the leather from dry rotting is all you need.

BTW, for non goretex leather I love Obenauf's LP boot grease. It's much like sno seal but easier to work with and doesn't leave as ugly a finish on the leather.
 
I used to used mink oil, but it softens leather too much, sometimes causing boots to loose their shape or get "saggy." For many years, I preferred Sno-Seal. These days, I'm using NikWax. It's water based and you can even apply it to leather that's wet. I wouldn't use CampDry on GoreTex boots as I'd be afraid the solvents/carriers in it might harm the membrane. CampDry smells like it has some volatile solvents in it... don't know; just saying I wouldn't personally use it on GoreTex shoes.

Stay sharp,
desmobob
 
I believe all you are really looking for is something to treat the leather (keep it soft) and perhaps shed a bit of water like you might see as dew on grass. I would use mink oil myself with gortex membrane boots.
 
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