Brand name boots

In Bethel, people dont wear designer clothes.  Nobody notices what kind of jeans you have on or what brand of tennis shoes you're wearing.  The types of brand names talked about around here are the brand names for gear...winter gear, rain gear, hunting gear, fishing gear, flying gear, etc.

In Bethel, we only have two seasons.  There's snow boot season and mud boot season. Above is a picture of the boots that I've collected over the years here in Bethel.  I've had other boots, but they havent been as good as these.  The boots on the right have been my winter boots for awhile.  They are boots that we originally bought for Avery when we first moved out here when he was in 6th grade.  When Avery grew out of them the following year, I claimed them as my own.  They are from Cabella's and supposedly rated to -60.  I was originally very unhappy with these boots because my feet were always cold in them, but I put a different liner in them from another pair of boots and they are much better now.  They are rubber on the bottom for any watery situations which is good for this area because we do get periodic melting throughout the winter.  These are the boots I wear when I'm snowmachining or out walking in the snow.  These are my winter boots.  Since then I've learned that I dont really like Cabella's gear.  Just not very good quality.  I also have a pair of Ugg type boots that I wear in the winter when I'm just doing my day to day stuff that mostly involves going from a building to the car and back.

The boots in the middle are just standard issue gardening mud boots from Target.  I wear these when I need to slide on a pair of mud boots quickly to go from the house to the car and from the car into work or some other quick place.  These are convenient, but dont have any insulation so they are cold.  They also dont have any support so I cant wear them if I'm going to walk for any amount of distance.

The boots on the left are the mud boots that I got a few years ago when I was planning on staying in Bethel for the summer.  They are the "real deal" mud boots.  They are LaCrosse boots with 800gm of Thinsulate for warmth.  I love these boots.  These are the boots that I wear whenever I go out fishing or berrypicking.  They are very warm so I can be safe and warm even on cold, rainy days. They also have a good amount of support, so I am comfortable wearing them if I'm going for a walk in the mud or on the tundra.  They are also knee high so they provide waterproof coverage even in the deep boggy parts on the tundra.  They fit snug on my calves and high a tightening strap across the top so that even if I were to get water above my boot, it wouldnt be able to get in.  I bought these boots from the Army Navy supply store in downtown Anchorage.  That place has definitely become my favorite place to buy gear in the last few years.