Leaky Lowas

[hparrott]

Ive used Lowa Tibets for 7-8 years, i clean them with saddle soap then once dry use Dayton Boots OK oil to condition leather and dubbin with hair dryer to get waterproofed. never had an issue and other than the soles being nearly worn out the leather looks brand new. that said i do take pretty meticulous care of them but it certainly pays off.

How often would you clean then with the soap and then oil? Also, how are you drying them. They said no direct heat source and I have been putting newspaper in them to dry them out after brushing them clean.

[barongan]

Save the money you'd spend on wax for a new pair. My Lowa Tibet's were the worst boots I ever owned. They dried out incredibly fast, warped, shrunk, cracked and barely lasted one season, and I didn't even use them much that year.

Use some olive oil to restore some moisture to the leather.

What size feet do you have?

Good advice

[BRvalley]

What do you do to the boots to keep them happy the last 2 seasons? Thanks

I've had 2 pairs of tibets and wouldn't buy a 3rd pair, due to all the issues mentioned in this thread, I was meticulous with the second pair and they still shrunk considerably in the fit around the toe box

when I used the lowa care products I constantly had wet feet, when I switched to using kenetrek boot wax there was a huge improvement in the water resistance and the deterioration of the leather stopped, the cracking as shown in your pic stopped after I switched, and the leather holds the wax much longer

[AllDay]

I just use nikwax cleaner and a suede brush to clean them and then heat up the obenaufs heavy duty LP wax in my hands, apply it good and then blow dry the wax in to my lowas and they are doing well so far.

[Ertner]

End of season i saddle soap and oil, after a trip i will clean them, leave to dry for a day then treat them with dubbin.
Thread got me thinking about boots, just ordered a new pair of tibets for this season.

[Ron.C]

Sorry to hear about your boots. Personally, I would not have bought a second pair if the first failed so quick but that's me.

I use OBENAUF'S Heavy Duty Leather preservative on my leather hunting boots (Hanwags). I picked mine up at Cabelas (container is 4oz) for about $14 if I recall. Great product. A little goes a long way. I always apply 2 light coats, rub in with my fingers and work in into the leather. There is never any excess to wipe. I never let my boots get dried out, clean and treat them regularly. Add some gaiters to keep moisture from wicking in from the top and you're set.

[grizzly550]

No issues with my Lowa Hunter Extreme GTX ...they look pretty beat up after two seasons (I put a lot of harsh km's on them) but still warm and waterproof. I ensure never to put away dirty and follow manufacturer instructions with the conditioning cream and waterstop product. Just purchased a pair of Tibet Hi GTX to use for summer conditions as the hunters are a bit too warm with the 200g of thinsulate.

[NMO]

Looks like the LEATHER is dried out ? Those boots Look 10 years OLD ! I like OBENAUF'S leather oil - jmo RJ


https://www.obenaufs.com/

x2 on this. I typically wear the soles off a pair of mountaineering boots every year guiding/hiking and hunting, have tried Snowseal, Meidl, Schnees, mink oil, dubbin, neatsfoot oil, Grangers, and Nikwax products and Obenhaufs HD paste wins every time. More waterproof, lasts longer on the boot, keeps them in great shape. I also use it to treat my saddle axe handle so it doesn't get wet/dried out, and have used it as lip balm in a pinch too.

[Pauly]

I wonder if they changed the leather they use? I seem to remember that meindel did that ten years ago or so. Sub standard leather that stretched after a while when lacing up the boots. Not 100 % on that though

[Bustercluck]

As far as waterproofing goes, when I lived on the island I wore nothing but hand made viberg boots. I never dried them out next to a heater(they pretty much never dried out ever) and they always got soaked in engine or hydraulic oil. Two pairs lasted me over 8 years between resoles. My feet didn’t get wet in either pair until I started getting holes near the bottom of the laces in the crease at which point I threw them out. I bought a new pair of vibergs when I moved to Alberta and I don’t think I got 1 year of work out of them. They shrunk and buckled the soles, dried right out no matter how much viberg boot grease(which is beeswax) I put on them and were complete garbage. They’re also a different kind of leather, but I think lots of any kind of oil should keep them from cracking and like everyone else said, mud is the worst thing to leave on your boots.

My concern with over oiling is losing structural stability of the boot. I still want it to be rigid sideways, but let my ankle move freely forward to back. So I’m trying not to do too much to my hiking boots, other than keep them clean.

On a side note, my scarpas are 3 years old and I haven’t treated them with too much other than beeswax and there’s no cracking, no deforming , but they weren’t waterproof after the first year.