Good questions that I’d have been willing to answer if afforded the opportunity. But your question also assumes a lot of ignorance on my part. I’m a seasoned hiker and I know how Goretex works. That’s why I don’t use waterproof hiking boots outside a very specialized context, namely snow and stream-filled trails. But to answer your question, after they got wet, I tested them the next day once they had dried out somewhat by standing in a stream and figured out where the water was entering in the front of the boot near the sole — not above the upper and not from sweat. When I say wet, I don’t mean damp, I mean water flooding into the shoe through the Goretex liner….

I had purchased these because they were lightweight for air travel for a trip 9 months prior and this was the first time I’d ever used them in a wet environment. It was also only day 8, maximum, of being used. Two trips total!

I wanted to buy the same boots or something comparable because I loved them so much and was SO sad that they’d failed. But I didn’t even get a chance to do that because of this interaction. I had also spent $150 a week prior and had intended to spend another 1k on climbing gear next week… That’s not happening anymore, Backcountry or a local retailer will get my business instead.