Balagan
Thru Hiker
Time for some brief feedback on the Inovik Neoprene Cross-country Skiing Over-shoes from Decathlon.
These are intended for boosting the warmth of SNS or NNN standard cross-country skiing boots but I used mine for snow hiking with and without snowshoes. And to cut to the chase, I was very impressed by the difference they made with Salomon X Ultra Mids, especially for £13. Not only do they seriously increase the warmth overall but just as importantly, they prevent the snow from sticking to the shoelaces area and creating cold spots.
They fit very snugly over these mids and all my other hiking shoes with zero snow ingress (despite some voluntary postholing) as there is both a wide instep strap and a thin one under the ball of your foot. The former is reinforced with some rubber but the latter is simply webbing. While these are fine for use with skis or snowshoes, the front strap is obviously a bit of a weak point if you are consistently walking over rough surfaces. As a matter of fact mine showed some minor fraying on the edges after a couple of kilometres on the asphalt of a cleared road. There is still a long way to go before they fail and when they do I will sew the strap into two loops on either side and use dyneema cord for a new strap.
The overshoes are just high enough that you can tuck your trouser legs inside acting as low gaiters. Putting them on and removing them is no more of a hassle than it is with gaiters but I did add a cord toggle to the zipper pull to complement the bottom grab loop and make it easier to grab with cold fingers and/or gloves.
Overall, these are pretty good if you want to increase the warmth of your hiking boots, especially if you are likely to find very different temperatures over the course of your trip.
These are intended for boosting the warmth of SNS or NNN standard cross-country skiing boots but I used mine for snow hiking with and without snowshoes. And to cut to the chase, I was very impressed by the difference they made with Salomon X Ultra Mids, especially for £13. Not only do they seriously increase the warmth overall but just as importantly, they prevent the snow from sticking to the shoelaces area and creating cold spots.
They fit very snugly over these mids and all my other hiking shoes with zero snow ingress (despite some voluntary postholing) as there is both a wide instep strap and a thin one under the ball of your foot. The former is reinforced with some rubber but the latter is simply webbing. While these are fine for use with skis or snowshoes, the front strap is obviously a bit of a weak point if you are consistently walking over rough surfaces. As a matter of fact mine showed some minor fraying on the edges after a couple of kilometres on the asphalt of a cleared road. There is still a long way to go before they fail and when they do I will sew the strap into two loops on either side and use dyneema cord for a new strap.
The overshoes are just high enough that you can tuck your trouser legs inside acting as low gaiters. Putting them on and removing them is no more of a hassle than it is with gaiters but I did add a cord toggle to the zipper pull to complement the bottom grab loop and make it easier to grab with cold fingers and/or gloves.
Overall, these are pretty good if you want to increase the warmth of your hiking boots, especially if you are likely to find very different temperatures over the course of your trip.
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