Rain boots are such an important piece of gear to have in your wardrobe. If you live in a rainy climate, keeping your feet dry and happy should rank high on your list of priorities. That being said, it takes time to sift through the hundreds of options of rain boots on the market today. You might find yourself asking questions along the lines of: How do I know they are fully waterproof? How long will they last? Which ones should I buy if I am primarily using them for an urban commute? Which ones should I buy if I use them for work on a fishing boat? Are they worth the price?
This is where we come in.
We are the rain boot experts. We have conducted extensive testing on over 80 different rain boots. We know exactly how to pick the best rain boot for your lifestyle, and what questions you need to ask in order to get there.
Rain Boots
Traditional rain boots are typically a very distinguishable category due to their sleek look, rubber or neoprene shafts, minimal outsoles, and their often bright or patterned colors. Specific to rain, these types of boots are not manufactured to compete with boots made for heavy snow or for substantial hiking. Additionally, their rather simple and straightforward construction rarely encompass all the preferred comforts of daily footwear.
In their most basic forms, they are made to keep your feet dry in wet conditions and often include features for you to slide the boot on and off easily, such as pull tabs and heel nubs. Boot materials can range from treated neoprene to the standard vulcanized rubber. Vulcanized means that the rubber has been treated to improve strength and elasticity.
Furthermore, rain boots are usually made from a synthetic rubber, as opposed to a natural rubber, and have simple, thin nylon or cotton internal lining, or no lining whatsoever. The fancier the design, the more perks or accessories are thrown in, such as buckles or laces. Sometimes you come across hybrids, where significant insulation has been added for colder weather. The majority of the boots we've tested are of the more traditional, mild-weather approach, ideal for temperatures between 40 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with basic shafts and little to no insulation.
Different Types of Rain Boots
The best way to differentiate rain boots is by flood height. Flood height is defined as the depth of water you could potentially stand in, without water flooding into the rain boot. Generally, there are three different flood height categories: tall, mid-calf, and short. Taller boots are going to provide you with better weather protection than mid-calf boots, which are going to provide you with better weather protection than short boots. That being said, typically, short boots are the most comfortable, with comfort ratings lowering as the boot gets taller.
Another differentiation between rain boots is their insulation. Some boots are built specifically for cold weather. These typically utilize waterproof neoprene as a main material of the boot, while warm-weather boots are simply rubber, with a light or no liner. There are some insulated boots that walk a very fine line between rain boot and snow boot. Those are what we refer to as “winter crossover boots.” Winter crossover boots are 100% waterproof, like a rain boot would be, but also provide enough insulation to keep your feet warm if you happen to run into snow, sleet, or freezing rain. Winter crossover boots are great to have in colder climates, or while in high mountain climates.
Warmth & Weather Protection
When deciding what kind of rain boot to buy, weather protection should be a main thing you consider. Do you often find yourself in extreme downpours, or walking through swamps and floodwaters, where you would need a high amount of weather protection? If so, you should probably lean towards one of the taller boots in the lineup. If you don't need as much weather protection, and instead value comfort and ease of use, one of the shorter boots might suit your lifestyle better.
In general, the taller the boot, the warmer it is going to be. Our testers tend to reach for the shorter boots in the spring and summer months, and the taller boots in the fall and winter. The same is true for the climate in which you live. If you live in a cold climate, a taller boot will help keep you warm and protected from any storms or nasty weather. A shorter boot, on the other hand, will have less of a chance of causing you to overheat, if you're wearing them in a warm, humid environment. Less rubber = less sweat, if you're in a warm climate. Rain boots, in general, do not breathe well.
It's helpful to consider where you are going to be wearing your rain boots, before you buy them. Will you be mainly wearing them in an urban environment, where you can duck into a building at any time if you need to warm up? Or are you going to be out in the elements for long periods of time, without shelter? If your answer is the latter, you might want to consider a taller boot, with more insulation.
If you decide that a shorter, or a non-insulated boot is the right choice for you, you can always wear bigger socks, if you need to, in order to add some warmth to the boot. Be careful with this though - if you plan to adjust your sock regimen according to the weather, make sure you order a size large enough to accommodate thicker socks. If your toes are scrunched due to thick socks, your feet may actually be colder than they would with a thin pair of socks, due to lack of blood circulation to your feet.
There are purposes for rubber boots to be solely utilized for work in the outdoors, rain or shine, such as on a commercial fishing rig, on a farm, or if your hobbies include gardening and combing the shoreline for shells. Easy to clean by simply wiping them down, rubber is a convenient material in such instances. No matter the weather forecast, brainstorm your routines and the circumstances in which you'd get the most out of your boots.
Comfort
The standard we are looking for when testing rain boots, is that the boot keeps our feet feeling comfortable and supported after wearing them all day. This is especially critical for work environments where waterproof boots are an invaluable asset, such as fishing, landscaping, or other manual labor. All-day wear and proper fit are important, although tricky (we discuss fit in another section below). The XTRATUF Legacy is an excellent choice for those who work outdoors, and the design stands out for its thick sole and incredible flexibility in the shaft. These marine-inspired boots are made for you to work hard in. If this is the type of performance you're looking for, comfort should always be of high priority.
To help predict comfort, it's helpful to consider how stiff the upper rubber of your potential boot is and also how flexible the sole is. Reading individual product reviews should give you insight into a model's specific stiffness and overall comfort, but trying them on, is, of course, best. You want sufficient support in the soles for substantial walking, and you need the boot to be flexible enough to move with your legs as fluidly as possible. If you find or feel significant resistance, blisters and aches can develop over time. A good rule of thumb is that if the boots don't feel comfortable immediately, the nature of rubber won't necessarily soften or “break in” over time. The exception to this rule is the Blundstone Thermal Chelsea, which is made of waterproof leather. When you first take those boots out of the box, they are stiff and rigid. But after breaking them in for a few weeks, the leather will start to mold to your foot shape, and the sheepskin insole will form according to your specific arch.
When picking out the best rain boots for your personal comfort, you don't want your boots to be too big or too wide, even with thick socks. This will allow for prominent heel slippage (meaning, your heel lifts inside the boot as the boot itself does not lift with your heel), creating more opportunity for blisters and ineffective foot support. Your feet will feel like they are walking around in bathtubs, and the boots will feel more clunky and cumbersome to use. On the other hand, boots that are too small and narrow can leave your feet feeling cramped, again causing hot spots to develop with unwanted pressure on the feet. Stick to your gut when it comes to sizing, as you know your feet best.
Unfortunately, the majority of rain boots are not available in half sizes. For the most part, we have been happiest when we sized up, rather than down. You can always increase your sock thickness, but you cannot shave off bits of your feet to make them fit in tiny boots better.
In addition to physically wearing and using the boots, comfort also blends with warmth and weather protection, since keeping your feet cozy and dry are very much a part of how we perceive comfort for ourselves. Don't forget to keep this bigger picture in mind when trying on a pair or while perusing customer comments.
Traction
Traction through wet environments is critical for rain boots. Staying upright while walking through a rainstorm, we can surely agree, is a worthwhile goal.
The first step we take when judging traction is to siimply look at the bottom (the outsole) of the boot. Envision a car tire with all its grooves and lugs. These cutouts are effective in stabilizing the car because it allows for the movement of water away from the areas of direct contact with the road.
A shallow yet distinct set of lugs on a shoe outsole generally results in more surface area contact. More contact means more friction, but even more so, the hardness of the outsole will change the material's ability to create friction. For example, softer outsoles grip better than harder ones do, in the same way that a foam bed will mold itself around a body better than a standard mattress will. But the durability of the softer material is far less than harder materials (especially in rugged outdoor environments). Shallower lugs are ideal for flat and smooth surfaces like pavement, concrete, and even tile. These types of outsoles are therefore best for urban or marine boat settings.
Deep lugs and pronounced heels, on the other hand, are more suited for walking on uneven and unstable surfaces, such as trails, mud, grass, and rock. Pay attention to the pattern of the lug design as well. If the pattern is all oriented the same way, there is less versatility between uphill and downhill traction, or even between lateral applications of force (such as the outside of your foot being lower on a tilted trail than the inside of the foot). Therefore, if the tread pattern has lugs that are oriented in many directions, traction is more consistent no matter the direction of force.
Also make sure to note how high the heel is on the bottom of the boot. Rain boots with raised heels will ultimately be less stable than rain boots with flat soles. A raised heel can add style points, when walking around urban areas, but if you're trudging around the mountains, we probably wouldn't recommend it.
Consider where you'll be walking in your rain boots. Browse photos online and reviews for insight on the tread design and tread depth. Keep in mind that rain boots are not typically versatile across all types of terrain, particularly in rocky, outdoor settings. Most are built for that casual, urban venture. Reading first-hand accounts on how a model's possibly rugged-appearing traction actually performs is also something that we recommend. For instance, even if you have an amazing tread pattern, if you can't feel what your feet are doing or the lack of flexibility doesn't allow for agility, then performance will suffer.
Wearability
One of the main factors we consider when determining a boot's wearability, is its style. If you don't like the look of your rain boots, you're not going to wear them.
If you live in an urban environment, and primarily want these boots for your commute to the office, style is going to be a huge factor in choosing your rain boots. That being said, it's always nice when comfort and style are combined into a high-functioning boot, like many of our current award winners. Style is, of course, a difficult metric to score objectively, and people will simply like what they like.
Taller rain boots typically have a more streamlined, molded design with added accessories like buckles, laces, zippers, nylon gussets, or prints. Shorter models might have pull tabs or neoprene gussets, which are helpful for putting the boots on and taking them off with ease. We have found that certain brands - such as XTRATUF and Hunter - prioritize style very well. The XTRATUF Ankle Deck Boot has over 18 colors and prints to choose from. The Hunter Original Short doesn't have nearly as many color options, but what they do have are fun, attractive, and elegant.
One area of contention, however, is when fashion and function are not balanced, yielding trendy looks with inadequate waterproofing. If something looks great but doesn't protect your feet from water as it should, we assume you won't have happy feet. On the other hand, maybe you're someone who doesn't necessarily need a boot to be fully waterproof. This is when ankle-height boots might be favorable. They tend to be easier to put on and take off, and you can wear them comfortably with a much wider variety of outfits than you can with tall boots. Our testers have found themselves reaching for their short boots much more often than their tall boots, simply because they're comfortable, easy to put on, and easy to style. If you're living and working in an environment where there isn't enough rain to concern yourself with wet jeans, then having a stylish, waterproof foot box should be sufficient.
Fit
The bane of rain boot existence and a sub-category to overall comfort, fit is one of the most unfortunate drawbacks to this type of footwear. With such basic principles and construction, they rarely come in half sizes and, more often than not, will run too small or too large, producing the all-too-common heel lift as you walk. Always read up on sizing charts provided by the manufacturers and compare them to user comments (especially if the brand is based abroad and uses different sizing metrics).
Although, sometimes even sizing charts and recommendations can be misleading. There is a difference in how people prefer to have their boots fit. Some like more room for the option of wearing thick socks or for adding insoles, while others prefer a more snug foot box and thin socks. For our lead tester, her longer socks tend to be thin, so she prefers to have boots that fit tighter around the foot.
For the buyer whose feet are between whole number sizes, reading reviews is where you can ultimately gain the most insight about which size to choose. For example, Hunter brand boots “run large” according to the internet, so we ordered down to a size 7 (for a 7.5 foot). This boot ended up being one of the best-fitting, and we are very happy to have sized down. For the majority of boots we ordered, we sized up to an 8 due to recommendations from sizing charts and reviews.
There are a few cases where we wish we hadn't sized up, which truly complicates the ability to provide a one-size-fits-all answer for fit. Do, however, take note of any consistent comfort and sizing issues you read in various reviews. Bottom line, you will have to trust your intuition and try on pairs in person if you can before purchasing.
Durability
Our testers spend days upon days trudging through lakes, rivers, up mountain sides, and walking long miles, in the rain boots they are testing. Sometimes, we test a boot for well over a year before making a recommendation. These tests give us a pretty good idea of which rain boots are durable, and which are going to fall apart right away. Unfortunately, when buying rain boots, aside from reading online reviews, it's tough to tell how long a rain boot will last.
One thing we do when we first receive rain boots to test, is to closely inspect every aspect of both boots up close. We are examining seams, noting what the tread looks like, and paying close attention to the inner liners. This allows us to note immediate problems - like if a seam is already coming undone straight out of the box (if this happens to you, we strongly recommend you immediately return the boots) - but also to compare the condition of the boots out of the box, with how the boots look after each additional use. We take note of how fast the tread is wearing down, how the seams look, and how quickly the inner liner wears out at the heel.
You obviously won't be able to test a boot's durability to the extent we do, before you buy them, but you can definitely read a bunch of online reviews, and then do an in-store inspection, before you commit.
A Note on Materials
We do recommend you pay attention to the materials used in the construction of the boot, but if you have allergies or lifestyle priorities, then you're likely already doing this. If you are allergic to latex, we would express caution when purchasing the XTRATUF Legacy, as latex is used in the chemical resistance of the boot. Also, if you are opposed to animal products, you might steer clear from the UGG Shaye, which uses Australian sheepskin and lambswool in the footbed and for the insole. The Blundstone Thermal Chelsea uses leather for the upper material. If efforts toward sustainability are a priority for you, some of the pairs are even recyclable, such as any of the Kamik boots.
Conclusion
In the end, the best boot for you is the one that will provide the most function and contentment where you live and work. Taking price tags into consideration is a must, but more often than not, the cost of quality is unavoidable. Be careful of paying too much for style and little function, however. Read up on what you can and pay attention to how things actually feel. We hope this article and our individual reviews of select women's rain boots help guide you in what to choose for yourself.
