Everything Hunters Get Wrong About Their Boots | SITKA's Mike Ekstrom

Most hunters spend a lot of time thinking about what's on their bow, in their pack, or layered on their body—but how much do we actually understand about what's on our feet?In Episode 21, Jake sits down with Mike Ekstrom, Senior Product Line Manager for SITKA Gear's footwear division, to break down how hunting footwear actually works—and some of the things hunters may be getting completely wrong.We dive into hunting boot insulation, waterproofing, fit and sizing, GORE-TEX, trail runners, cold feet, blisters, product testing, and how SITKA develops footwear for hunters and anglers.Mike explains why 1600 grams of insulation doesn't automatically mean a warmer boot, why compression matters, and why moisture inside your boot can make you colder even when the boot itself isn't leaking. He also explains how SITKA and Gore use lab testing to measure thermal performance and why some of that testing goes beyond what Mike experienced earlier in his footwear career at Nike.We also get into one statistic that surprised me: during 3D foot scans with athletes, Mike says 80% of people believed they wore a different size than they actually did—and incorrect sizing can contribute to everything from heel blisters to poor boot performance.Mike takes us behind the scenes of SITKA footwear development, including its relationship with Gore, products that “fail catastrophically” during testing, why mountain boots eventually leak, and why SITKA deliberately gives prototypes to people who will beat the crap out of them instead of simply telling the company what it wants to hear.We even get into why trail runners feel so good but can have limitations once hunters leave the trail and start sidehilling, climbing over blowdowns and moving through brush.If you've ever dealt with cold feet, wet feet, blisters, leaking hunting boots, confusing insulation ratings, or wondered whether you actually bought the right boot, this episode is for you.Discount Codes:Sitka Charlotte Store - Podcast15Speed Broadheads - SSEP10 Upcoming Events:9/26 - Save Tuckertown Event10/10 - Waterfowl Expo