5 ms·

Have any recommendations on boots?

gumby 6y ago
I have given up on the off the shelf boots. Best off the shelf boots I’ve found are some heavy leather Asolos you can get at REI (I hate those soft “hiking shoes” as they don’t provide the support you need with a heavy pack or for fording a river when you can’t see where you are stepping, etc). I had a cobbler disassemble them and put a plastic half-pipe-with-plate in the vertical portion behind my ankle/Achilles which gave greater stability. They were great boots — very comfortable, quite good performance — but after less than thousand miles or so the sole fell apart. Had the cobbler try to repair them but they weren’t the same — they weren’t designed to be resoled. Now I have my boots made by a guy in W.A. who does nothing else. They are solid and fit like a glove. Eminently repairable. You don’t want to spend this kind of money unless you expect to travel more than 750 miles a year in them though. Older boots can be repurposed as jungle boots with a few careful stabs of your knife if you like long canoe trips. Regular hiking boots adjusted like this are better even than the Cabella jungle boots IMHO if you have rigorous portages. I have done short (3-4 day) trips in places like Desolation Wilderness wearing Chaco sandals...but you couldn’t hike Mt Whitney and even in the lower sierras you need feet like leather. No ankle support so ultralight only. For winter backpacking I have some off the shelf Columbia boots for snowshoeing. They are pretty warm. Those conditions are much less demanding on your feet and footgear than summer conditions. Don’t buy the crappy Bass winter boots: those are for standing briefly by your truck, not for long distance travel. OTOH if it’s really cold, and you’ll be on the ice, Traveling with dogs, go for mukluks. My dog wears ruff ware vibram sole boots in summer and winter (they sell snow boots but I’ve not had good luck). Vibram soles, but last only about 5-600 miles. Wear with tennis socks and in winter, gaiters I made for him for the deep snow (he’s a large dog and weighs about the same as me).

I have given up on the off the shelf boots. Best off the shelf boots I’ve found are some heavy leather Asolos you can get at REI (I hate those soft “hiking shoes” as they don’t provide the support you need with a heavy pack or for fording a river when you can’t see where you are stepping, etc). I had a cobbler disassemble them and put a plastic half-pipe-with-plate in the vertical portion behind my ankle/Achilles which gave greater stability. They were great boots — very comfortable, quite good performance — but after less than thousand miles or so the sole fell apart. Had the cobbler try to repair them but they weren’t the same — they weren’t designed to be resoled. Now I have my boots made by a guy in W.A. who does nothing else. They are solid and fit like a glove. Eminently repairable. You don’t want to spend this kind of money unless you expect to travel more than 750 miles a year in them though. Older boots can be repurposed as jungle boots with a few careful stabs of your knife if you like long canoe trips. Regular hiking boots adjusted like this are better even than the Cabella jungle boots IMHO if you have rigorous portages. I have done short (3-4 day) trips in places like Desolation Wilderness wearing Chaco sandals...but you couldn’t hike Mt Whitney and even in the lower sierras you need feet like leather. No ankle support so ultralight only. For winter backpacking I have some off the shelf Columbia boots for snowshoeing. They are pretty warm. Those conditions are much less demanding on your feet and footgear than summer conditions. Don’t buy the crappy Bass winter boots: those are for standing briefly by your truck, not for long distance travel. OTOH if it’s really cold, and you’ll be on the ice, Traveling with dogs, go for mukluks. My dog wears ruff ware vibram sole boots in summer and winter (they sell snow boots but I’ve not had good luck). Vibram soles, but last only about 5-600 miles. Wear with tennis socks and in winter, gaiters I made for him for the deep snow (he’s a large dog and weighs about the same as me).