Footwear for river crossings

Fork from this thread .

Sabine wrote: Question: Who takes boots off to cross a river and who not and why?

Two tactics of mine: a)don't wear boots esp in summer - too heavy when wet, too much hassle in the rivers, approach shoes dry quickly b) keep shoes on when crossing rivers. You can take quick, frantic steps if necessary without pain and if you do get dragged downstrea,going shoes first is a good bet.

I de-shoe. Some photos may explain why (from my second overnight hike ever - the goal and the outcome where vastly different, but this was 5km from the end, somewhere on the Mzimude River):

1 X Ghaznavid trying to cross a river with shoes on - my shoes are so wet already, how much worse could this get anyway?


1 X Ghaznavid learning the hard way how much worse it could get (I will avoid posting the pic of what my feet looked like 5km later - it wasn't pleasant)


Although my current shoes (Hi-Tec Ion Masks) are so bad that I just need to walk over a slightly wet grass and they are as bad as my cheap old Hi-Tecs were after that river crossing...

Last year on our way up Tsepeng Pass we walked about 500m barefoot on the approach to Sleeping Beauty due to flooded rivers. If a river is more than knee deep or is too fast flowing I won't cross it at that spot. Safety must come first. There is normally a flatter wider spot where the river won't be as fast flowing - and everyone who remembers their grade 11 geography will remember turbulent and laminar flow, meander forming characteristics and all that stuff that isn't any use to non-hikers. It can be greatly helpful in choosing a good crossing spot.

One technique I have used which I found good, was:

- Hike in Boots, de-boot at river

- put on hiking sandals/crocs (the croc type generic things I bought were cheap and are super light so dont add "real" extra weight to a pack and can be strapped on outside the pack for quick access)
these protect the feet and give some grip on/from river rocks.

- On the other side de-croc and re-boot

the procedure does take up some time though...

For longer sections of known multiple river crossings eg Hidden Valley in Feb the one year, we just kept the crocs on until all the crossings were done.

If it is a lower berg wide river, I'll take my boots off. We once passed a group of female hikers next to a river in the Mweni foothills, taking their boots off to cross the river. We wanted to show off and crossed it without taking ours off, only to stop around the corner, out of their sight offcourse, to take our boots off to remove all the gravel and sand from the river crossing!

If it is the start of the hike and i cant see enough rocks near the surface i will take off the boots. If there are, i will just use my poles and tip tap across, i have become quite adapt at doing this. Even if the water above the rocks is 10cm or so, my Makalus dont let it in and it has a high ankle cuff.

If it is raging, BUT STILL SAFE TO CROSS, best to take them off. A pain, but sopping wet boots are not good as i am sure ghaz will know froM the pic that he wont post. Go on post it anyway Also don't make sudden launches at rocks if you can help it, your feet being slightly numb dont feel to well, just take it slowly. I try to gently slide me feet along the gravel, not lifting them up to much. If i feel like i am going to topple i face into the current at an angle using my poles to anchor me, pause, get my breath right and then slowly move on. Crossing iNjisuthi River near the camp one March flood with waist deep strong water this was the only way i got through it.

I also have a pair of Salomon TechAmphibians, the best pair of shoes I've ever bought. I also take them on almost all my hikes.

I almost always take off my boots for river crossings, especially if the water is above mid-boot or so.

I used to work as a white-water rafting guide, so spent a fair amount of time playing in rapids and crossing rivers. (Flowing) water is a potentially very dangerous thing, and not worth messing about while crossing rivers. I'd rather wade through and go through the pain of changing everything, instead of trying to hop from rock to rock with a full pack - its just not worth the risk of slipping.

I have taken a look at these shoes for river crossings! What do you think?

www.columbiasportswear.co.za/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=1268

Looks good, nice and light. I have a pair of omni-sports and i am less than happy with the grippyness of the omni-grip soles. Perhaps they have changed the compound since two years, but on slick rock they are not that inspiring.

For river crossing though it shld be ok because the rocks while wet dont seem to be as slick as rocks that just get splash on them. Perhaps there is a thin layer of algae that causes them to be more slick.

Can I respectfully ask that equipment discussions occur on another thread? The purpose of this topic is clearly stated in the header on page one.