All of my 34 years of professional forestry has been in S. Georgia, S. Carolina and Louisiana. I've encountered a couple "no shoulders" over the years. Snake protection is part of our personal protection equipment [ppe].
Russells have been the most comfortable and durable of any I've used. They are the only boot that I've tested.
They work. My company allows me to purchase any snake protection on the market and provide reimbursement. Currently, I have a pair of Rocky's that work well, but with retirement looming, I do believe it's time to order another pair of Russell's.
In the last 10 years, four folks of my acquaintance have been snake bit, the latest a friend's college kid, last week. A cotton mouth got him twice on the foot while swimming with friends in a creek. Several days in the hospital and 16 anitvenom [yes, 16] at $6,000 a pop...fortunately he has good insurance. My wife's cousin [a doctor] and his father, both got tagged by copperheads on the arm and hand fooling around in out buildings. Neither enjoyed the incident.
A local forester got tagged above his leather boots by a timber rattler and will always have a reminder of that incident. He was only going a short distance to check something and didn't take the time to change boots.
When I worked the turpentine woods of S. Georgia in the early 1970s, I met several old woods riders and hands that had the experience of being tagged by eastern diamondbacks. Believe me, you really don't want to experience that.
When I enjoy a walk in the woods, be it work or pleasure, three things always accompany me...my osage walking stick, my Silva Ranger and snake boots.
Snake protection is good insurance...nothing macho about going without. There is a good selection on the market nowadays...in shouldn't be difficult to find something that suits you.
Topic: another snake boot question (Read 1020 times)
