Rubber Boots

[Rutting Buck]

I bought a set of expensive rubber boots for hunting this past year and need some advise or suggestions. I purchased Lacrosse alpha burly 1500 gram rubber boots from LL Bean. They are described as unscented rubber boots for hunting. I have had them for 2 months now and they still have a light rubber smell to them. You can only smell it if they are up to your face. Today I brought them in and they got warm and the smell became a little stronger. How is the best way to eliminate the smell? I had them outside for 1 month trying to remove the smell. Do you think this light smell will screw up my hunting? Any recommendations on how to remove the smell?

[johnnyo8148]

buck, I bought a pair of boots from Cabelas and they were advertised as no scent, but like yours, mine had the same hint of rubber. The only thing that worked for me was to never bring them in. They were always outside and after a few months the smell has dissipated, but for the first few weeks, I didn't take them in the woods.

[rec913]

I like rubber boots but they make my feet sweat a lot so I went back to leather

[Rutting Buck]

Thanks for the info. I have coated them with cover scent several times and it made no difference. Cabelas rubber boots used to be my go to boot but after 1 season the rubber cracked at all the flex points and leaked water in the boot. So I decided to go with an LL Bean product due to their warranty. Any more info would be great. Thanks again

[2Barrel]

I bought a set of expensive rubber boots for hunting this past year and need some advise or suggestions. I purchased Lacrosse alpha burly 1500 gram rubber boots from LL Bean. They are described as unscented rubber boots for hunting. I have had them for 2 months now and they still have a light rubber smell to them. You can only smell it if they are up to your face. Today I brought them in and they got warm and the smell became a little stronger. How is the best way to eliminate the smell? I had them outside for 1 month trying to remove the smell. Do you think this light smell will screw up my hunting? Any recommendations on how to remove the smell?

 

I also bought those "no scent" rubber boots from Lacrosse. I bought them back in Sept. They have been outside since then and still have a strong smell of rubber. Plus my feet froze in them. I wont buy a Lacrosse product again.

[Spent Brass]

Fitting Buck Cabelas would not stand behind the boots?I have had some stuff in there brand that was over a year old and the warranted the it.I have Muck boots the 16" woody max and love them 2 years and no problems yet and no odor only down side is they are allitle hot.

[Rutting Buck]

2barrel I have the 1500 gram Alpha Burly boot and I can only wear cotton socks in them because they are warm. I tried wool in December and i ended up with sweating feet. I heard burying them in dirt works, but I will do this as a last resort.

[nycredneck]

I own 3 pairs of LaCrosse, two pair SST in 1200 and 2000gr. Also have the lighter Alpha, one had that rubber smell you speak of, I just washed them in dish soap twice then unscented hunting soap and wore them scouting a few times and the smell was gone. It may take longer in the cold but it will go away, it never made a difference in seeing deer up close, i have killed a dozen deer with my bow wearing these boots, they are good boots as far as I'm concerned, I've been able to wade small creeks in freezing temps with no leaks and have warm feet.

[Haskell_Hunter]

I use baking soda and water to kill the scent on anything I own. That might work. Warm water with some baking soda in it. I've gone as far as making a paste out of it and putting it on my boot and then rising it off.

 

I'm not sure if it will damage stuff, it is of course part sodium. Prolonged exposure probably isn't advised, but soaking for a few minutes might make a difference.

[BowhunterNJ]

I wasn't aware of the change in ownership with Lacrosse! That sucks! They and Muck were the only boots I wore, now might be going all Muck.

 

Rubber smell wise, wash them with scent free soap and just trek through the woods with them. Off season is a great time to "condition" them. I haven't found any other quicker fix for the rubber smell. It definitely gets better over time and use.

[2Barrel]

2Barrel' date=' The Lacrosse boots used to be the best on the market years ago the rubber was much heavier and much more durable we wore them for very kind of hunting, after the changes they made to the company they just haven't been the same, that's when we switched to Irish Setters, we tried muck, and several others but the Irish Setters to be the best, just my opinion, if someone out there has a better rubber boot I'm willing to try em! Hope it helps! Good Luck!

[/quote']

 

I'll have to give those Irish setters a try.

[BowhunterNJ]

Yeah I'd agree, I did notice the camo coating wears off pretty quickly and they start to breakdown and dry rot...I went from getting a few seasons out of heavy use down to 1 to maybe 2 seasons...especially my scouting boots.

[madcat2]

I store my boots, camo, gear etc. in the garage inside of a plastic bin with dry leaves mixed into everything to aborb the scent. A plastic garbage bag will also do the trick. Once the season starts, i constantly remove/replace/add new dropped leaves to keep the scent fresh.

[Robes]

X2 for irish Setters

[MackofallTrades]

Mickey boots from Sportman's Guide.

 

The black ones are $35 right now. The white ones are like $65 or so...