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 This is a review of a pair of boots. Saying they had the ion-mask treatment doesn't add up to a review of the treatment. I saw a pair of Hi tec boots in the shop. Shall i write a reveiw now?
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 Hey, keep your hair on, I'm just trying to help! A true test of the ion-mask treatment will take some time. I thought I would just give my initial impressions after going for a couple of walks in them today (not just looking at them).
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| Edited: 13/09/08 20:11 |
No problem Robin. I don't have much hair to keep on.  Going by the thread title it was an Ion-mask review. After all the publicity this has generated, i was looking forward to a review of the treatment. It wasn't an Ion-mask review, but a review of a pair of Hi-tec boots, that just happened to have had the Ion-mask treatment. Ion-mask was mentioned once, i think. 
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I will keep people up to date with how it fares. It's too early to know, but I will take them on my next backpacking trip and if it rains (unlikley, I know), hopefully that will give them a good test. I am sceptical that the boots will prove fully waterproof as the tongue has a fabric insert. HiTec, themselves, say that the ion-mask treatment does not guarantee waterproofing for fabrics, just water resistance. The only thing I can say for certain is that ploughing through wet grass today, there didn't appear to be any water soaking into the leather.
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| Edited: 13/09/08 20:35 |
 Oh, they're waterproof all right. Once you fill them full of water it doesn't come back out. Also in a matter of days I've managed to remove the outer DWR and they're soaked through sitting out in the porch.
I'll see what tomorrow brings once they dry again. The sole sticks like shit to a blanket though.
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Look forward to your report on your blog. Your opportunities for testing are greater than mine!
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It'll be interesting when all the results from everbody who's got them come in.
I had to put insoles in mine as well to take up the volume. They really need a gusset to the top of the tongue to keep the water out.
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The tongue is similar to the V-Lite Sierras and has the same fault. A full bellows tongue would be better. The sole unit is much better than the Sierra which had zero grip on wet shiny surfaces. I used my Montrail Enduro insoles to reduce the volume, but they are still slightly roomy. My first impression is that it is a good boot, but not a great one. It would be interesting to treat the Aku NS 564s with an ion-mask.
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| Edited: 13/09/08 21:18 |
It'd be interesting on a fabric boot. It's way too early to say, but I've got a horrible feeling about the whole affair...
Time will tell, I'll dig this thread out again in a couple of months!
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 I have zero faith in dwr coatings of any description, being from my experience neither durable nor particularly water resistant. This'll be more cobblers driven by marketing and £££'s. Here's a radical thought - why not just make some nice simple 2 season boots using relatively thin leather and a lightweight sole unit??? You know, like they used to.
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| Edited: 13/09/08 21:58 |
 Yes and nice and cheap so that it won't matter when dubbin rots away the stitching after a year or so.
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Can you not just stick them in a sink of water and leave them a few hours to see if the water comes in?
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UPDATE Can you not just stick them in a sink of water and leave them a few hours to see if the water comes in? Don't need to do that, I just got in from a 45 minute walk in torrential rain. I wore overtrousers and no gaiters but I only waded through a couple of puddles (about 3 inches deep). Huge, huge disappointment, I have a damp right foot but dry right foot. The rain seeped in through the tongue. I was walking along the pavement next to the road and I got traffic sprayed a few times. My right foot was on the traffic side so perhaps my left was protected from all that spray. This was about the fifth or sixth time I've worn them, once in fairly light rain and a couple of times through wet grass.
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 Well yes but why is rain getting in through the tongue a dissapointment? It's surely fairly inevitable - it certainly happens with lined boots and it's not fun when it does What's more interesting is how they cope once water does get in. Unlined boots can cope with that of course but they can of course suffer from stuff like wet grass. Chris Townsend seemed to quite like the pair he gave a detailed review in last months TGO.
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"Well yes but why is rain getting in through the tongue a dissapointment? It's surely fairly inevitable - it certainly happens with lined boots and it's not fun when it does" You what? They are advertised as waterproof which clearly is not the case. I have another 4 pairs of boots and none of them let in water through the tongue. Furthermore, I have had many pairs of boots over the last 40 and odd years and none of them have let in water within 45 minutes while walking in rain either. You're too easily pleased mate.
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"Well yes but why is rain getting in through the tongue a dissapointment? It's surely fairly inevitable - it certainly happens with lined boots and it's not fun when it does" You what? They are advertised as waterproof which clearly is not the case. I have another 4 pairs of boots and none of them let in water through the tongue. Furthermore, I have had many pairs of boots over the last 40 and odd years and none of them have let in water within 45 minutes while walking in rain either. You're too easily pleased mate.
Are you sure the water came in through the tongue? If I was being splashed by traffic, and not wearing gaiters, I would fully expect my foot to get wet. There is a rather large hole in the top for the water to get in, after all!
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Hello? I was wearing overtrousers pulled well down over my boot tops besides which I felt the the ingress of cold water at the lower end of the tongue near where it meets the front of the boot and nowhere else, so yes, I am sure. And the fact that you felt it appropriate to patronisingly point out, "...There is a rather large hole in the top for the water to get in, after all!", tells me that there must be rather a large hole in the middle of your head.
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| Edited: 09/11/08 18:40 |
 I hate to point out the obvious here, but , I thought the main interest in these boots were the claims made about the 'Ion-mask' treatment. I fully understand that a poorly designed pair of boots won't keep your feet dry, but what I and (I suspect) many others want to know, is how does the Ion-mask stand up. PTC, said he'd ''removed the outer DWR'', but I was under the impression that the whole fabric should be treated, right the way through. If Ptc is saying that the boots are now letting in water, through the material itself, and not the design of the boot, then this suggests that Ion-mask doesn't work. This would be a huge dissapointment, since the potential for other applications like tents,jackets, and even sending off your old stuff to be 'Ion-masked', won't be a viable proposition. Gary
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| Edited: 09/11/08 18:48 |
It's not that bad a picture - that review I referred to was a pretty comprehensive long term destruction test review with a detailed write up. It really is worth looking at a copy if you're interested (Nov TGO). It's actually slightly surprising that Hitec haven't stuck it in on the web somewhere. It's probably too balanced or something
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| Edited: 09/11/08 20:51 |
