Snakes: Ever since the Garden of Eden they’ve been infamous for two things, biting people and being very close to the ground. Naturally, that leads us to worry that our own feet might be next in the cross hairs of the scaly serpant.

Most combat boots are not totally snakeproof. While snakes can’t really bite through leather, they can bite through the canvas and combat boots meant for climates where snakes tend to be present.

So are our troops vulnerable to snake attacks? Are we overdue for a military disaster when snakes start biting the heal of every soldier in our ranks? Are purchasers of military surplus boots in danger of being killed by a horde of snakes right now at this very moment? I really don’t think so, and let’s get into why.

What Is Snake Proof

In order for a boot to be totally snake-proof, the entire thing must be made of a material that snakes can’t bite through. Obviously, this means that they will do nothing to keep you safe from the ever-present threat of the boa constrictor, but we’ll just have to accept that we’ll never truly be safe until we can install Speed Racer style rotating saws on the sides of our boots and that’s fine.

Some bite-proof materials include leather, denim, nylon, and kevlar. In order for these to work properly they need to be tightly woven and layered, so that if they snake can puncture part of the material they still won’t be able to get to skin.

The most common snake proof material for boots is leather, as much as I have begged my friend in the boot industry to start producing joots (they would take the fashion world by storm!) And fortunately for our troops combat boots are made mostly out of leather.

They also tend to be thick enough to repel snake bites fairly easily. The problem is that much of the boot is also made out of canvas, which is infamously vulnerable to snake attacks.

All this being said, canvas is still fairly snake resistant, meaning that people who wear combat boots rarely need to worry about snakes biting their feet or ankles.

Reports from field medics reveal that even though the boots aren’t totally snake proof most snake bites on service members occur on the hands or just above the boots.

In fact, for hunting purposes, combat boots might as well be snake-proof even if it is technically possible for a snake to bite through them.

Snakes Are Cowards

This is because of something that we often forget to take into account when worrying about snakes: They are absolute and utter cowards. Combat boots tend to be quite loud, and even if they aren’t the people who are attached the them often are. This is horrifying to snakes, and they’ll often flee before the boot wearer even gets clos.

This does also make the snakes that stick around more likely to bite though. But how bad can a snake bite be?

Because snakes are cowards, they’ll only really inject venom into their victims about 50% of the time. This means that a lot of snake bites aren’t nearly as bad as they could be. Of course, it’s better to just not get bitten by a snake, but regardless snakes aren’t quite as dangerous as we think they are.

There’s A Snake In My Boot

Soldiers in the field (or hikers in the field if you’ve bought surpluss) are more likely to be bitten from inside their boots than from outsid.

Snakes are cold blooded creatures, and so they love to curl up and hide anywhere that’s warm. combat boots are quite warm, making it vital that if you’ve taken your boots off anywhere that snakes might live you shake those things out before putting that boot on.

Real Snake Proof Boots

So if you’re looking for boots that will repell any and all snake attacks, combat boots are not the place to look. Instead, you’ll want to look at picking up some joots (patent pending) and failing their ascendence into mass popularity, some actual snake proof boot.

Here’s a quick list of recommendations that will keep your feet 100% snake venom free.

Rocky Snake Boots

Rocky sells a variety of different kinds of snake boots, all of which are entirely snake proof, some of which are also water repellent. Generally a great product, although you should be careful never to buy the zippered version of their boots. The zippers are exactly as bad as the reviews say. Just get the laced ones.

Danner

Danner is a pretty old name when it comes to snake proof boots. They’re expensive, but a lot of people would swear their feet by them. There are reports that the most recent model is somewhat faulty though, and for that price I might not want to risk it.

Thorogood

Apparently they’re quite comfortable, but they also aren’t really waterproof and the zippers don’t work.Probably a bad move.

Lacrosse Venom Snake Boots

These ones are all around pretty good at repelling snakes, as well as being waterproof and easy enough to put on and take off. The price isn’t too bad either, as they tend to be cheaper than Danner but a little more expensive than Rocky. Probably one of the better models out there with a dope name to boot.

Do You Need Snake Boots

Probably not. Even the really nice snake boots that I listed are much less durable on the trail than other boots, so unless you’re somewhere like the Everglades where snakes will be attacking you from all directions, they might not really be all that worth it.

If you’ve acquired a pair of combat boots, those will probably do you just fine in most situations. Just be careful, and if you’re more afraid of the medical bill thatn you are of the actual snake bite then you should probably move to Canada.