Not packs, they don't breath. I'm not sure you the gentleman you reference is, but I'm going to respectfully disagree with him.

Leather that is well oiled is in my experince best unless you are heading into marsh land, in which case canvas or solid rubber (depending on how squimish you are about slimy bog water between your toes) is your best bet if you are going to be staying long.

For winter, if you have insulated boots, leather or leather with canvas or goretex panels. They'll keep you dry from without, and breath so you can stay dry from within. Better is a felt liner that can be removed and dried seperatly from the boot to protect the leather, and good socks. Thin cotton or nylon closest to the skin, then one or two layers of wool or woll blend. If your feet are still cold, (a) get out of the puddle, and (b) put on a hat. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Packs generally give you less than squat for ankle support- illusion is there, but there isn't anything there. At that point, you might as well be wearing Converse All Stars or Tevas. Ankle support needs to be real. And you want traction, which I've never been all that impressed with by packs.

But that's my experince.