A Better (Newly Designed) Bunny Boot Hits The Market
Alaska Gear Company Sets Out To Build A Better Bunny Boot New vs. Old It’s a rare longtime Alaskan who doesn’t have at least one pair of...
https://www.countryjournal2020.com/2024/09/a-better-newly-designed-bunny-boot-hits.html
Alaska Gear Company Sets Out To Build A Better Bunny Boot
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| New vs. Old |
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| It’s a rare longtime Alaskan who doesn’t have at least one pair of bunny boots either lying around in a closet – or lingering on in their heads, in fond memories of a distant, rugged past. |
Bunny Boots Are Having A Resurgence.
The Alaska Gear Company has built their own updated version of the bunny boot – with colorful custom $13.50 shoe laces sporting names like “sockeye red” and North Slope orange. This new boot has no air valve (which was apparently a failure point in the construction.)
Bunny Boots Were Invented By The Military For The Korean War.
The waterproof boots, made of several protective layers of vulcanized rubber and filled with insulated wool, were once a major necessity of Alaskan life. They can take you down to -60º with no problem except their bulkiness, which leads to a staggering, difficult gait – the downside of keeping your toes from snapping off from the cold.
For years, bunny boots have been sold in military surplus stores, such as the Army-Navy Store in Anchorage. For travel in planes and helicopters, the original boots had an air valve, which kept the boots from blowing up under pressure.
Better Grip
The original bunny boots had a hard time holding a grip on slippery ice. But the new ones have special insoles, and diamond-shaped lugs for easier walking.
Not Any Lighter
The old bunny boot was heavy and you had to be in good shape to walk any distance in them. Unfortunately even the new version is heavy. A pair of size 4 to 8 Alaska Gear Company boots weighs 6 lb. The weight goes up from there. At the other end a pair of size 15 boots weighs 9 lbs.
Colored Laces
If fashion is on your mind when you put on one of these new models, rest assured, you can order boots with laces the color of your choosing.
Bunny Boots Were The Main Footwear Of Early CB 300 Mushers
During the early days of Copper Basin 300 dog sled race, many mushers wore bunny boots. They were handy; especially when they the teams hit up to 40 feet of icy open water on the Gakona River, between Chistochina and Summit Lake. Sometimes that precarious area was frozen over. Other times, there was an ice bridge.
But sometimes, mushers had to slog their way through the open water, testing their ability — and their bunny boots. Even if they were filled with water, and had to be dumped at the other side of the creek, the bunny boot always came through.
Here's How To Pre-Order The New Boots At $30 Off
Click this link:
Rows of bunny boots for sale many years ago along what is now the busy Palmer-Wasilla Highway. (Country Journal archive)
