I was inspired by Dryflyelk's recent video and wanted to pass along some of the info that I have. I have also been looking at new boots. I just got back from a Dall Sheep hunt and used Kenetrek Hardscrabbles and Lowa Tibet's. My Lowa's got too close to the fire and the rand shrunk and the toe collapsed and were unwearable after that on day 4. I switched to the Kenetrek at that time. The Lowa gave me a pressure point/pain under my great toe on the 3rd day but no blister but it did hurt some. My Kenetrek's did well but rubbed a blister on my left heel after several climbs with 100lb's on my back.
For those reasons, I began a search for new boots. I sold my Kenetreks for a steal and Lowa sent me new pair which are for sale currently.
After speaking with Brad here on the fire and with Jason Hairston of KUIU, I ordered some Crispi boots. I have a very narrow heel, medium arch, low volume and wide forefoot. Brad felt like the Crispi boots may be good for my foot. I ordered directly from Miles Munger who is the owner of the company that is importing them to the US. Super nice guy and very receptive to me and my questions. I ordered quite a few pairs and can give a little info. They also have a 25% off deal going for now.
Website is
www.crispiusa.comI also ordered a pair of Hanwag Alaska GTX and Trapper GTX from Lathrop and Sons. Great customer service as well and a sponsor on this site.
I ordered the Meindl Alaska Hunter and Denali Fit IQ hiker from Cabelas. The did not have the Alaska hiker in stock.
I still had my Lowa's and Kenetreks to compare to.
Weights given for size 12.
Crispi Boots:
Miles says that active hunting will get you down to -20F and to about 10F when sitting still using the tall insulated models like the Hunter or Wild and about 5-10 degrees less on the Nevada, Spider, Paradiso, Kanada or Granite.
I was very pleased with the Crispi boots and they all fit me like a glove. Extremely comfortable and leather lined with Goretex. They have a proprietary system of fitting the gore-tex which is a 2 layer process which prevents any abrasion to the fabric and will prevent any future leaks. They also have a Vibram sole which is very sticky but he says that it will last 30% longer than other Vibram styles. Crispi has a full 100% guarantee for life of boot. This is pretty standard among all of these boots.
Lineup:
Hunter: 11" tall insulated boot with full rand. Very comfortable and not too stiff. 5lb 2ozs
Nevada: shorter with less insulation but a little and full rand-similar to the Hardscrabble, most comfortable boot I've worn. 4lb 5ozs
Spider: same boot as the Nevada but no rand and a more aggressive sticky sole. Same comfort but 3-4 ozs heavier, I preferred the Nevada. 4lb 10ozs
Gran Paradiso: probably their premier boot, great comfort, 9" tall similar to the Lowa Tibet or Hanwag Alaskan but not near as stiff, extremely comfortable but the tongue is a little stiff and hit me in an odd way on my left ankle, would probably break in though and the right side gave me no trouble. 4lb 5ozs
Dryflyelk covered all of these others but I'll list some features:
Lowa Tibet-Stiff, bombproof boot, not real cushy but comfortable. Leather has some stretch and give to the boot body which helped with feel. Good fit for my feet but not as comfy as the Crispi.Slightly larger heel than the Crispi but the tightest fit of all the German boots 4lb 12ozs
Hanwag Alaskan GTX-most bombproof boot here, very stiff but just feels indestructible, not cushy but surprisingly comfortable for being so stiff. Leather was stiff as well and did not flex much when walking. Roomier heel than the Lowa's and I had some slippage when climbing up my stairs. 4lb 10ozs
Meindl Denali-Very large heelcup and did not fit my feet very well at all. Didn't go into much analysis due to that. 4lb 8ozs
Meindl Alaskan Hunter-Similar to the Denali in heel size and wasn't very comfortable for me so I didn't do much with it. 5lb 6ozs
Hanwag Trapper-Taller and insulated version of the Alaskan. Very stiff as well but more comfortable and didn't feel as stiff to me but when you compared them off the foot, they were just as stiff. Very bombproof construction as well. I liked these a lot. Fit was slightly different and better for my feet than the Alaska (not sure why, heel was more secure), I would have needed an 11.5 though I think. 5lb 10ozs
Kenetrek Hardscrabble-not much to say, great boot, very comfy, not quite as stiff as the Hanwag's, about like the Lowa's but shorter. Wider heel than the Lowa's, about like the Hanwag. 4lb 3ozs
I've ordered the Wild, Granite, and Kanada from Crispi just to see how they fit and what they are all about. I'll let you guys know. Overall, I was very pleased with the lineup from Crispi. The boots are not as stiff as the others in this list so how they hold up with heavy weight remains to be seen but I think they will work fine. Jason used the Hunter model on his sheep hunt and was pleased. Hope this helps a little.
Lee
