Winter Footwear

What options are there for footwear you can make locally, low-tech, from natural materials?

I'm barefoot above 5\degree \ C, which solves a large part of the year's footwear conundrum. But my feet don't seem able to adapt to a lot colder than that, certainly not below freezing for very long. So I want to figure out how to make winter shoes or boots.
I live in zone 4/5 where winter often involves times of significant mud, shallow slush, and knee-deep snow.

I don't love working with hides, and it seems leather is not very waterproof. When it's cold, I can imagine it working if you have enough socks or fur inside so that the leather stays cold enough to not be melting snow (I think that's what many Indigenous groups did), but this seems like it would be really poor in slush or mud (probably a more common occurrence now as weather becomes less stable).

My best brainstorm so far has been wooden clogs combined, when snow is deep, with some kind of leg wrappings to keep snow from getting scooped in. I haven't tried them, but people I've talked to who have tried a little tell me that snow can pile up on the bottom of the clog in a very annoying way. Ideas for how to deal with that?

Maybe the best option is clogs in slush/mud and leather boots in deep, cold snow.

Other ideas for winter footwear?

Here are some suggestions:

https://permies.com/t/207030/sewing/Tallukkaat-Winter-boots-sewn-wool

https://permies.com/t/179965/SHOES

https://permies.com/t/49575/DIY-Boots

https://permies.com/t/121316/permaculture-leathercraft/boots

I do not have the skills for this, but a pair of "moccasins" that went up to mid calf would probably be tall enough for most things. Make it out of leather, and line with rabbit fur. Then some wool socks to keep your feet dry.

Way back when, the boots were essentially leather moccasins with wooden soles.  

Rope can be wound around in an elongated spiral then stitched together to form a very sturdy sole, then treated with tar or pitch for waterproofing. Heavy canvas is then stitched to the sole to form the upper.

Canvas itself can be glued and stitched into multiple layers to form the sole. I'd suggest starting with blue jeans material. I use it a lot for various projects. I have not tried to actually make shoes, but I have used it to repair worn soles by simply gluing it on the bottom in layers. That worked very well, but the glue was not 'natural'.

In addition to Anne's suggested threads this one has some interesting avenues to explore... My climate sounds pretty similar - mostly mud though. I'm wondering about something like Russian winter boots with felted sides for warmth, and either attached wooden soles, or removeable wooden soles like pattens as Dennis Lanigan mentions in the thread above:



Tell me more about the snow build up issue? Is that making lumps under the sole of the boot? Maybe some sort of wax like they put on skis would help.

I forgot the most important part of my suggestion. You mention leather not being very waterproof. Historically they would rub tallow into the leather on a regular basis to keep it soft and keep it water proof.

Slush/cold mud is the worst. It is the hardest to deal with using modern tech, too.

If you don’t like dealing with leather, a waxed canvas is the closest substitute I can think of.

Japanese geta
https://japanese-clothing.com/products/geta-japanese-woman