Meindl Bhutan brand new and leaking?

[mcast]

I just bought a new pair of Meindl Bhutans, took them for a 2 hour walk along a gravel path and they are soaked inside, mainly on top of my feet. Around 2 tablespoons of water actually poured out them. It was raining constantly but there were no puddles, 2 days later they're still wet and unwearable. I wasn't wearing gaiters as it was just a path.


Am I supposed to be waxing them out the box? I would assume brand new boots would have some waterproofing?


Thanks for the help.

[Percy]

That’s not right, they must be faulty. Take them back for exchange or a refund.

[Jac]

both boots? - you didn't by any chance have waterproof trousers tucked into them or trousers tucked into your socks? If so the rain would just run/soak straight into the boots which might explain why they were wet on the top of your feet.

I know this sounds silly but it has been done

[kinkyboots]

That’s not right, they must be faulty. Take them back for exchange or a refund.

I would agree unless the rainwater has been running down the trousers and getting into the top of the boot as Jac suggests? It's a common mistake a lot of people make just the once.

The Meindl Bhutan have Gore-Tex waterproof bootee liners in them so they should not be leaking via the leather or stitching.
 

Am I supposed to be waxing them out the box? I would assume brand new boots would have some waterproofing?

The waterproofing treatment applied to the leather during the manufacturing process tends to be very minimal and it can deteriorate over the time the boots spend in storage before being sold. You should really apply wax to pre-impregnate the boots before use to improve/refresh the waterproofing. The information in this earlier post may help http://www.walkingforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=39039.msg555671#msg555671

Expect boots with Gore-Tex liners which are wet inside to take between 3-5 days to dry out. Don't be tempted to force dry them but stuffing them with newspaper/kitchen roll and changing it regularly may speed up the process. Also the more airflow you can give them the faster they will dry.

[mcast]

both boots? - you didn't by any chance have waterproof trousers tucked into them or trousers tucked into your socks? If so the rain would just run/soak straight into the boots which might explain why they were wet on the top of your feet.

I know this sounds silly but it has been done

Both boots, no trousers tucked in, the top of the boots are dry where my trousers were.


It's as if the leather is saturated and water is going through it or it's coming in the lacing area. Is it normal for the leather to be soaking?  I'll give them another go in the rain in case i'm doing something daft and try different trousers.

[kinkyboots]

It's as if the leather is saturated and water is going through it or it's coming in the lacing area. Is it normal for the leather to be soaking?

If rainwater is not readily beading up and rolling off the surface of the leather the level of waterproofing provided by the wax is not sufficient and eventually water will start to soak down into the fibes of the leather. However it should never be able to reach the inside of the boot because of the Gore-Tex waterproof liner built into the boot.

You could always weight your boots down and stand them in a bowl/sink of water up to the level of the suspected area of leaking to test them.

This test can also be done in reverse by standing them in a bowl/sink and filling your boots with water to the same level  of the suspected area of leaking. Doing it this way obviously means that you will need to restart the whole drying process.

[Ronin83]

Don't waste your time. Take them back.

[ninthace]

If the water does not bead on a new boot then they may well have been stored incorrectly or for too long and the leather has dried out and will crack.  Likewise membranes can become brittle with time.  I would take them back too.

[pdstsp]

+1 for taking them back - sounds like a faulty pair to me.  I've been wearing Bhutans for a couple of years and they have been absolutely hammered, but are still completely waterproof. 

[jimbob]

Take them back. Carrying out tests or wearing them further may lead to difficulties in getting them swapped for boots fit for purpose.
 

[Jac]

Agreed, take them back

[Slowcoach]

Yes, take them back and let them do any testing required.

[sussamb]

Sounds like a dodgy pair, I assume they are genuine? My bhutans have been bombproof from new 

[gunwharfman]

If you want to be certain that your boots are leaking, take Kinkyboots advice, thats what I always do to my leaking boots and I've managed to buy a few pairs that leak over the past ten years. I place them on top of our wheely bin in daylight and fill both boots with water, then wait a while and then take photographs of each side and the top toe areas. My photos easily show where my boots have leaked. I then empty them and place the boots upside down on our washing line, they soon dry out.

If you are confident that they leak just take them back, I've never had a problem in getting a refund or just choosing new boots.

[kinkyboots]

A quick search of the forum shows that complaints about Meindl boots leaking have been fairly regularly repeated over the last few years.

It could possibly be an occasional dodgy batch but I'm pretty sure Meindl's quality control has taken a nosedive in recent years hence why the repeated leaking problems keep recurring and in my opinion the quality of the brand is certainly nowhere near as bombproof as they once were not too long ago. I'm sure I remember that I read somewhere (can't remember where) that production of a number of models had been outsourced but they have since been forced to take it back inhouse to their German factory due to quality problems and the level of complaints they were receiving.

I keep a reasonably close eye on the secondhand market on eBay and the one thing a lot of the Meindl boots have in common is the high level of wear particularly to the back of the heels on the Multigriff soles they use on a lot of models and another thing which crops up regularly is the splitting of the midsole and the crumbling of the internal foam/rubber contents of the sole unit. I'm surprised Meindl haven't replaced these sole units with something more substantial and longer lasting from the Vibram range.