So, what are moccasins good for anyway?

[Black Hand]

My neighbor is an old (78) swamp rat from the Mississippi bayou country. He moved to Alaska in the 70's and can still walk barefoot over to my house on the gravel and the spruce needles. I asked him if they wore snake boots when they were running around in the swamps. He said " Hell, we seldom even wore shoes."

If I'm home, I am usually barefoot and don't have much trouble with gravel. The blacktop does get a little hot at times...

 

[Eutycus]

Mocassins are great if you can keep them dry. When they become worn out the leather off the top makes a swell knife sheath.

 

[tenngun]

And that’s a problem. Every time I trekked, every time I went to an event, pretty much every time I day tripled or hunted I had to repair or make whole new pair. And that’s an historic fact. Moccs didn’t last any better in the old days. I’ve got four year old fugawees that look new.

 

[Eutycus]

A thin piece of leather on the bottom of your foot is no match for a thorn. Especially down here in South Texas. It takes a pretty thick sole on a heavy duty boot to stop one of those. As comfortable as mocs are I wouldnt call them heavy duty.

 

[Black Hand]

Makes you pay attention where you put your feet, something you must do while wearing moccasins....

 

[Ketchakah]

I dont know guys, Ive been wearing mocs for years. Put a leather insole or double sole the outer and i have yet to wear thru one during a trip. I do maintain them in between. I think alot has to do with the type of leather you use and how its tanned. I believe mine are moose. Yes think deerskin will wear quicker, but also depends on how thick they were.Yes its documented that they wore out quickly, but one must also take into context they were made quickly and cheaply, using thing deerhide. I would think that when in village there may have been more time to make more quality. However on the other hand, hides were plentiful so perhaps was not a big worry. Like BH i dont walk on rocks or gravel or pavement in them. When its wet i go barefoot. Wet leather will wear much quicker.

 

[Eutycus]

Oh dont get me wrong you cant beat a good pair of mocs for comfort. At least when my feet were younger. I use them as houseshoes, mostly indoors. They dont have the best traction though and can get "slippery" on any flooring other than carpet.

 

[Black Hand]

I dont know guys, Ive been wearing mocs for years. Put a leather insole or double sole the outer and i have yet to wear thru one during a trip. I do maintain them in between. I think alot has to do with the type of leather you use and how its tanned. I believe mine are moose. Yes think deerskin will wear quicker, but also depends on how thick they were.Yes its documented that they wore out quickly, but one must also take into context they were made quickly and cheaply, using thing deerhide. I would think that when in village there may have been more time to make more quality. However on the other hand, hides were plentiful so perhaps was not a big worry. Like BH i dont walk on rocks or gravel or pavement in them. When its wet i go barefoot. Wet leather will wear much quicker.

I've worn moccasins in some pretty nasty country and I've not worn through soles in a day or trip (takes years of use to wear). In the far past, I had used top-grain cowhide as sole material (rough and smooth side out) and it did wear through more quickly - once I stopped using this material, the problem went away. Though it may not be intuitive, soft soles wear longer than hard soles in my experience.

 

[Eutycus]

That could be a factor. Most mocassins you encounter down here are cow hide and not top grade.

 

[tenngun]

Makes you pay attention where you put your feet, something you must do while wearing moccasins....

You need come to the ozarks, Texas much of Arizona. There is a lot of places to go that give you a choice of two if your in moccs. Don’t go or rip your moccs to shreads. It’s good to mind your step, but sometimes the frying pan or the fire is your only choice... or in this case thorn or flint.
Fact is most of east Oragon or west Idaho will rip the best moccs to shreds. Infact Idaho is an old Indian word meaning “Don’t walk there stupid”.

 

[Eutycus]

We dont have much of a forest down here. Its mainly brush country, As in mesquite thorns, cactus and rattlesnakes. This is boot country, very heavy boots.

 

[Black Hand]

We dont have much of a forest down here. Its mainly brush country, As in mesquite thorns, cactus and rattlesnakes. This is boot country, very heavy boots.

Cactus, rattlesnakes and sharp gravel - I still wear moccasins, but pay attention where I put my feet (and still step on a sharp rock occasionally).

 

[Eutycus]

I'm guessing the use of mocassins in treking was supposedly the origin of this post. Treking is kind of foreign down here. Everyplace or everywhere is private property surrounded by barbed wire fences. Trespassing is bad enough, but try it with a gun and you're really in deep . Especially where deer are known to roam, game wardens tend to frown on such activity.

 

[Black Hand]

Treking is kind of foreign down here. Everyplace or everywhere is private property surrounded by barbed wire fences.

Sounds like an excellent reason to move.
There are places in the west where you can walk for a week and still be on public land with not a fence-line for 50 or more miles...

 

[Eutycus]

If I were 20 years younger maybe. Ha! only kidding, my wife wouldnt move if you put a gun to her head. Most of her family are down here.

 

[Cruzatte]

I see that experience, and location have much to do with one's opinion on moccasins. Here in Kansas, trekking is difficult to accomplish, being as most of the land is in private hands, with no publicly owned wilderness areas. That said, however, the prairie is pretty forgiving on moccasin soles.

I had a pair of Ft. Ligonier style shoepacks that I wore for a couple of decades. Tops were made from brain tanned elk hide, the triple soles were made of oil tanned cow hide. I repaired the repairs so often that I finally couldn't fix them anymore, and have consigned them to the scrap box.

My current two pair are made from very thick brain tanned moose hide. I expect to get quite a few years' worth of wear from them each. I wear them mostly at shoots and rendezvous. Which reminds me, I need to fix some of the stitching that is coming apart. Leather is still in top shape.

 

[Black Hand]

I see that experience, and location have much to do with one's opinion on moccasins. Here in Kansas, trekking is difficult to accomplish, being as most of the land is in private hands, with no publicly owned wilderness areas. That said, however, the prairie is pretty forgiving on moccasin soles.

I had a pair of Ft. Ligonier style shoepacks that I wore for a couple of decades. Tops were made from brain tanned elk hide, the triple soles were made of oil tanned cow hide. I repaired the repairs so often that I finally couldn't fix them anymore, and have consigned them to the scrap box.

My current two pair are made from very thick brain tanned moose hide. I expect to get quite a few years' worth of wear from them each. I wear them mostly at shoots and rendezvous. Which reminds me, I need to fix some of the stitching that is coming apart. Leather is still in top shape.

The best sole materials I've found are Moose and Bison.

 

[Cruzatte]

The best sole materials I've found are Moose and Bison.

I would tend to agree.

 

[Black Hand]

I would tend to agree.

With Bison having an edge over Moose (at least Oil-tan Moose).

 

[Cruzatte]

With Bison having an edge over Moose (at least Oil-tan Moose).

I'd like to try that someday. Sounds good.