Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Meindl Story -- A Sad One.

try the perfect hikers, I have owned 2 pairs. The problem for me is the heels are too wide so if you are using EE you must have REALLY wide feet. The first pair I used on a 50 mile week long back packing trip and also on a couple hunting trips. ended up returning them because I didn't think I could live with the loose heels.

several years went by and I tried several other boots. none were as good as the perfect hikers even with the looser heels. These newer boots seem to run more true to size an 11 fits me now whereas a 10 was their sizing before. The heels also feel a little tighter. I used them for months as a work boot. if they fall apart that quickly your doing something wrong.

on edit, I just looked at those boots, IMO the design of them sucks. they use a compressible EVA midsole which will be terrible carrying loads with a heavy backpack. your simply not going to get the foot support. They basically put a tennis shoe bottom on them. That looks like the same sole as they put on some more tenny runner miendls I bought a while back. The sole lugs ended up ripping on mine. which allowed water ingress. just buy the perfekts like I said and be done.

I've been following this thread for a while. Leaving for my 4th Elk hunt on my Meindls.... I just Nikwaxed them tonight for the 2nd treatment for this trip (did the conditioner first) as I have every trip. Now I'm wondering if I need to buy something else OR did I just get mine before they started to suck..







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That may have been me, been a big Meindl fan for heck probably 20 years, had a pair of Cabelas Meindls that the soles came apart on after 8-10 years, Cabelas refunded me the purchase price and I bought another set, the new ones are not as nice as the old ones,,,,

Meindl will not stand behind their product,, I had a pair from a place,, AJ Brooks??? in Canada that had the same problem after 3-4 years,,,, they could not have cared less.

Whites are good but I'm a Westco guy,,started wearing them 25 years ago while on a hotshot crew,,, best thing you can ever put on your foot,,, I bought a new pair last fall and we are really good friends at this point,,, The are a bit heavy though for alot of climbing

Lots of good suggestions here talus.

I'll agree with the one comment I saw regarding Vasque. I have this pair:

http://www.vasque.com/USD/product/mens-footwear/backpacking/sundowner-gtx-burgundy-07142#pdpTabs2

which I actually got on a "whim" as it was a uniform item for an agency I worked for. I, too, have extra wide feet, maybe from mostly running around in very loose sandals or bare feet for a good portion of my 60 years (I still do to this day). These boots have held up way better than I expected, no serious backpacking trips, but lots of hunting in them. I had a late Coues tag in 6b/8 south of Flagstaff last winter and they served me well in 6-8" of snow and temps down to 8 above. I don't particularly like the glue on sole, but they've held up for my purposes (hunting in varied terrain from low desert (Colorado River area, ponderosas, P-J's, rimrock, WA scabrock, etc). They're not nylon, but they are still available as I saw a pair at a local shoe shop.

As you're interested in a higher top nylon type maybe the ones the other person suggested would work:

http://www.vasque.com/USD/product/mens-footwear/hiking/breeze-2.0-gtx-bungee-pesto-07484

There's quite a few more on their website too.

Just an option as I said, I know what it's like to have a peasant's wide feet. The Vasques seem to fit mine, I even had a pair of more serious heavy backpacking/light mountaineering boots from them back in the 70's. Used them in the Olympics, Mt Rainer (summitted 40 years ago last month!) and the Sierras. Those lasted for years as they were re-soleable.

I follow this backpack hunting forum occasionally and have noticed some advice for other equipment that might help your situation too. Have you tried looking at some mountaineering/backpacking specialty shops? Is there maybe an REI near you? Sometimes a "backpacking" item might fit our "hunting" needs.

Good luck with the boot search and have fun this hunting season.

Geno

Just thought I'd add to this thread that I have a pair of Alico Summits on the classifieds. They are 10.5 Ds with some barely worn scuff marks on them. They are Italian made and are all leather including interiors and are bank vaults for you feet meaning they are also heavy right at 5 lbs. I have already treated them with Obenaufs. At about half new price. I may have twenty miles on them if that.

Well, you guys got me all worried, and I got another pair of Denali's. They say "Made in Germany" inside.

Made in Germany is good,,,

Did you get them at Cabelas?? IE are they Cabelas "branded" ?? If so Cabelas will warrentee them

I've noticed online for the Cabela's Meindl boots that if they are made in Germany (Denali, Perfekt Hunter) it will say right in the ad. If they say 'imported' that makes me think they are made elsewhere.

What I've seen is Cabela's has vastly expanded their Meindl line to offer more 'affordable' footwear and this leads me to believe that in order to do so, they won't come from the Germany warehouse.

Guess what I'm getting at is what others have said: Not all Meindl's are made the same or same place so really inspect where they come from and not just assume Germany.

Yep, Cabelas branded. My existing pair is going into its 4th season, and I love them. I bought them online, and they have opened a Cabelas in Anchorage since then. I went in to get a new pair that fit better because I have to wear really thick socks with the current ones (I bought them 2 weeks before a trip and didn't have time to send them back). Tried on enough to make the boot lady crazy, and when I got them home I realized they were the exact same size. Oh well - now I have backups.

My Perfekt Hunters I just recieved are labeled made in Germany. In my size (13) they came with a different sole than pictured in cabelas. These have Vibram sole with a rubber rand. They did note this online. I didnt want the other sole that was pictured. I will find out if they are any good soon enough but man oh man they are comfortable,

I had a pair of cabela meindl boots with the sub sole fall apart, they eventually refunded me but not without a fight, I initially contacted Meindl directly but they quickly advised me that since these were exclusive to Cabelas it was their problem.

This. Have had the euro version since about 2008 or so. No issues to this point.

I also had a pair of Cabela Meindl boots and completely lost the sole of one boot the first day of an Alaska grizzly hunt,a few days later the other sole had delaminated between the heel and the ball of my foot. I hunted for 9 days without a sole on my left foot. Fortunately it was a horseback hunt. But I still had to climb and saddle up without a sole. I need to take pics of them.

I went to Cabelas in Anchorage after the hunt just to show them what happened. Then I went to Barney's and bought a pair of HanWeg Trappers.

I have had 2 pairs of Meindl's do that,, one from a Canadian Meindl dealer after 4 years or so and it was SOL time,,

another pair from Cabelas that were 8-10 years old and they fully refunded me

Holy [bleep]! That sucks!

The same thing(pictured above) happened to a buddy of mine while we were on a caribou hunt. He used duct tape for the rest of the trip and managed to keep them together.

The same thing happened to my pair a year or so later while training over the summer. I took them back to Cabelas and they gave me store credit.

I did some research and got a pair of Kenetreks. Been very happy with them.

Meindl and AJ Brooks thought I was crazy for wanting some sort of refund when my boots did that after 4 years,,, my point was that the rest of the boot was still in great condition but the POS foam soles had craped out way to soon,,, they could not have been less helpful,,,, I have a few emails somewhere from Meindl in Germany, they were also nooooo help.

Every boot I've had with a Vibram sole has been great. Is anyone else that has had the problems with the Perfekt's had a vibram sole or been labeled Germany? if not I will buy another pair like these.

****EDIT I see this says Perfekt "HUNTER" which is 400 gram...

I had a pair of their Canadian Hunters from Cabelas that the midsole looked exactly like smokeeter's. Cabela's gave a full refund. I think the issue is with the use of polyurethane midsole. I have a pair of Lowa Baffin Pros. that did the same thing after four years with light use and they too had polyurethane midsole. Lowa customer service said called it oxidation and was to be expected. That being the case, their boots should come with an expiration date. I won't knowingly purchase any boots with these midsoles, I'll take longer break in over quick compfort that is subject to blow out without warning. I