Easy boot lacing after a wet day of stalking

Wet boots are an unavoidable part of stalking in Australia, whether you're pushing through the damp undergrowth of the Otways, picking a careful line along Tassie's west coast buttongrass, or wading a swamp edge in the tropics after an overnight shower. By the end of a long sit-and-watch or a slow stalk, your boot laces have swollen, your fingers are cold, and the last thing you want is a fight with a knot that simply refuses to come undone.

Choosing the right lacing pattern before you head out turns that tired moment at the truck into a five-second job. The easiest boot lacing after a day of stalking in wet country is the one that loosens cleanly without binding, holds your foot secure when the ground turns greasy, and can be re-tensioned without re-threading from scratch.

Why wet laces behave differently

Most hunting boots in Australia ship with waxed or untreated nylon laces. Both materials respond badly to prolonged moisture. Nylon swells when it absorbs water, shortening the working length of the lace and pulling the knot tighter. Waxed cotton holds the water on the surface and turns gritty once mud sticks to it. Either way, the loop you tied at sunrise is a different loop by sundown.

The other issue is geometry. A standard criss-cross pattern puts friction on every cross, so when the lace is wet and swollen, you need to pull each cross past the others just to free the knot. That's why hunters who work the Victorian high country for sambar, or chase scrub bulls through coastal NSW teatree, often arrive back at the vehicle with half their boot still laced up because they gave up halfway through.

The speed-lacing shortcut

Speed lacing, sometimes called skip lacing, runs the lace straight across the eyelets at the top of the boot rather than crossing them. You thread normally from the toe to about three pairs from the top, then skip straight across each upper eyelet before tying off. The result is a top section that pops loose with a single tug on the loose end.

For Australian hunters who stalk into a wet morning and sit glassing for hours before re-positioning, this matters. The boot can be loosened over the forefoot for warmth at the watch, then re-snugged in seconds when a mob of deer materialises on the ridge. Speed lacing also tends to shed mud better than criss-cross because there are no tight crosses to cake up around the ankle hooks.

The heel lock that saves your arches

If your main complaint after a wet day is that your heel is sliding around inside the boot, the answer is the surgeon's loop, also called a heel lock. The technique uses the last two eyelets before the speed hooks or top loops. Instead of crossing straight across, you feed the lace straight up on the inside of the boot, around the back of the ankle, and back out the same eyelet before crossing over normally.

The loop cinches around the lower ankle and stops the foot from lifting on descents. On wet grass, muddy creek banks, or the greasy rocks you'll find around Halls Gap in the Grampians after rain, that extra hold is the difference between a confident step and a turned ankle. It's also one of the easiest laces to release at the end of the day because the locking loop sits on the inside of the boot, away from the worst of the mud.

Ladder lacing for deep water and swamp work

When stalking means actually crossing water, whether it's a coastal estuary, a billabong edge in the Top End, or a tannin-stained creek in the Kimberley, ladder lacing is worth the effort. The pattern runs the lace straight up the outside of each eyelet rather than across the tongue, creating horizontal bars that look like the rungs of a ladder.

It tightens evenly across the forefoot, which means less pressure on the metatarsal arch when your foot flexes over wet rocks. It also keeps the lace flat against the boot, where it's less likely to catch on sticks and reeds in the thick stuff. Ladder lacing does take longer to thread the first time, but once set up it's no slower than a normal criss-cross to tie off.

Caring for wet laces in camp

The easiest lacing technique is also the easiest to maintain. Before you throw your boots in the back of the ute, cut any knots off rather than pulling wet, swollen laces through muddy eyelets. Most Australian outdoor retailers, including BCF and Anaconda, sell replacement round-wax laces in two-metre lengths that are long enough for tall pac boots and don't absorb as much water as flat nylon.

If you're planning a multi-day trip that mixes hunting and fishing, packing a second set of laces is the same kind of insurance as packing spare rigs for late-summer catfish. You don't think about them until you need them, and then you really need them.

Match the lacing to the country. Use speed lacing for long sits in damp forest, heel lock for steep or greasy terrain, and ladder lacing when water crossings are part of the plan. Whichever pattern you choose, finish it with a quick-release bow rather than a double knot so the boot comes off cleanly when your feet are tired and the laces are still damp. Ten seconds saved at the end of a wet day is ten more minutes with a hot billy in your palm.