The Crispin Colloquy

Tight welted, with lots of coad and rosin. Waterproofing is an extra step that isn't a seam.
I suspect thats what DAS was talking about in his post on his Sorrells with rubber feet.

+1 My partner walked through a flooded field in her welted boots and they didn't let in water. Threadwax really can be that effective. Of course if she had stood around for any length of time water would start to slowly seep in somehow. Traditional walking boots try to minimise or eliminate seams on the uppper that go under the insole too as that can be an a weakness so far as water ingress is concerned. Apparently some makers will put dubbin on the insides of uppers when lasting to get extra waterproofing.

Well I have to admit I am kind of traumatized in this respect. I made my last deliberate experiment to show that my boots are waterproof about 20 years ago with my brand new Meindl "Perfekt" hiking boots (yes they are really marketed with that name).
Since they are "perfekt", it goes without saying that they are also waterproof.

So I took the first opportunity to test it and proudly jumped into the next creek I could find.
Turned out that the water depth -which I wrongly estimated- also seems to play a role, because the water flooded the boots from the top - like it would have happened with any other rubber boot.

Call me coward, but ever since then I try to avoid wading through water like a cat... I still love the boots though....

AFAIK no boot is waterproof over the top! Some people wear "waterproof socks" inside their hiking boots though. I wonder what this does in terms of a leather insole being able to absorb sweat.

"AFAIK no boot is waterproof over the top!" Yes I was just kidding of course ... :-)