RE: -26
The MM boots are terrible for mobility if you must cover any distance in snowshoes or skis. They are fine for standing watch in one location watching your perimeter and guarding your assigned aircraft.
For winter movement I always preferred the rubber-bottomed shoe-pacs with leather tops and removable boiled wool felt liners. The usual drill was to wear a silk liner sock next to the skin, a merino wool sock over that and then to insert your foot into the felt liner. A Gortex gaiter strapped under the instep and around the ankle went over the boot top up to about 10cm below the knee. There was no impairment to circulation or freedom of movement and they were plenty warm enough to -25 C. Fortunately I never needed them below that.
It was normal practice to change out liners and socks daily and we carried two sets of spares. One to be wearing, one to be freeze-drying under the pack cover, and a dry third sealed in an Alosak waterproof bag to change into at night. Before bed we'd wash out the ones we had been wearing, move the freeze-dried ones from out pack to our pillow sack in the sleeping bag, to warm up with tomorrow's change of skivvies, base layer and bandanna, and the snow-washed ones tied up and hung for the night.
73 de KE4SKY
In "Almost Heaven" West Virginia
USA
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