What one boot would you choose for all-around use? Thinking mule deer and elk in a range of temperatures, mild terrain up to the steeper stuff. Does one boot serve such a purpose, or do you really rely on a few different options?

The problem is what your feet can handle temperature-wise. I've hunted elk at 80 and at below 0. An uninsulated boot is best when it's hot but it takes a lot of warm socks to wear them at 0. It's the opposite with insulated ones. Can your feet stand being soaked in sweat all day when it's hot?

I'm in MN so no stranger to temperature extremes, but point taken. I tend to have no problem staying warm with moderate activity even at 0. How much insulation do you like for typical spot and stalk hunting, in let's say 30 degree weather?

I'm more interested in what you guys think about boot design and construction... Some of the top climbing boots seem awful bulky and stiff which is great when it's needed, but do you swap them out for something lighter when the going isn't so rough? I guess I should just ask what you're currently running in various conditions and places...

Not trying to fingerphuck this topic jeff_o style, just wondering if there's a single boot out there that would suffice 95% of the time.

I think the Meindl Perfekt is about as good an all-rounder as you are going to find. It has enough flex to walk in all day, and enough support to carry heavy loads. Wouldn't be my first pick for coming down a loose rock section with a heavy pack, but I've done it several times.

I'm running Denali's now, and they are stiffer and not insulated. I can still cover ground in them, but it helps a lot to adjust lacing.

I have been using Danner, with goreTex, thinsulate, vibram soles. As noted above, with 200 gram thinsulate they are pretty good but not for extreme hot or cold temperatures.

My opinion is that no one boot can perform to the extremes. I use a Meindl Perfekt for everything up to late elk season. Then I transition to Schnee Mountain Hunters with two pair of felt packs to switch off each morning. Good luck.

I like Salomon 4D GTX-- they'll keep your feet dry, still have good sensitivity to touch for the stalk and plenty of ankle support. My next two would be Lowa Renegade GTX and the lightest I go for when it is super hot is the Lowa Zephyr.

Used all three extensively hunting in the states and during 7 trips to OEF and OIF.

Uninsulated by a long shot for me. I like an all leather heavy duty hiker between 8-10" tall. Adding gaiters allows me to where them in some pretty cold conditions. IME elk hunting requires enough moving around that keeping feet warm is not a tough chore. Much different than stand hunting.

I use 3 pairs of boots for elk hunting. When its warm, 50 degrees, or I'm only walking, I wear Salomon Quest 4D. For most days, about 90% of the time, I wear Danner/Cabelas Elk Hunters with 400 grams thinsulite. I've worn these boots to below zero. When its cold, I break out the Danner Canadians with 600 grams thinsulite.

The conundrum with elk hunting is that you don't want 10lb boots on your feet. You also have to trade off warm enough with light enough. The trump card is boot fit and foot/boot stability. If you hunt in steep areas, both your feet and boots will be tested. I tend to trade a couple extra ounces on my feet for a boot that will stay together, not torture my feet, and fits. Buy good boots that fit and are 'warm enough'.

Check out HanWag top GTX boots. I have been using them for acouple years now.

I used to like Danners and a few other makers, but their quality has gone downhill lately IMO.

The last couple years I have used Kenetrek and a Romanian maker known as AKU. That AKU is the only pair I have ever had that lasted longer than one season. It is 10" or so tall and has (I think) 400 grams of thininsulate, or whatever their equivalent is. I like them a size too big so thicker socks can be worn when its really cold. I haven't found them to be overly hot in warmer weather, but they are a little if you're hiking a lot in 60 or so degree weather. They're also not too big to get into stirrups.

Most of the normal boots, Irish Setter, Redwing, Underarmor, newer Danners, Rocky's etc. have rarely lasted me more than a couple months. The seams attaching the sole to the rest of the boot usually blow out first and then they're useless.

Meindl seems like a good one too, but I have not had enough of them to really get a feel for them.

Much of the decision depends on the state you hunt as well as the length and timing of the season. You could usually get away with one pair of uninsulated boots if you target hunts in September through October. Uninsulated boots into November is a gamble. Personally I have 3 pairs ranging from uninsulated to 800 gram. I hunt from Labor Day to Thanksgiving between a couple states. I put far more miles on my uninsulated boots then any other pair I have, but the last week of the season was -25 and even the 800 gram were cold as soon as there was a pause in hiking. Lots of good choices but overall can't go wrong with any of the big names as far as I am concerned.

Here are a pair of Underarmours on their second or third hunt. Unimpressed to say the least. These were fine since this was a nice, warm weather hunt, though it was rough country. If there was any kind of rain or snow, I would have been miserable.


You're doing the right thing by researching first.

One all around boot is tough. I've made a few vids that show some of the more popular boots. They might help you some.

The Meindl perfekt is a great boot but it's a little soft for a lot of side hilling and rock slide type of stuff. If you don't do much of that, it would be a very good option. I like the Denali a bit more for an all around western boot.

My favorite boot right now for a elk/mule deer type of thing is a pretty stiff one but it's a great one. It's the Lowa techlight hunter. If you're cruising around regular trails and such it would probably be overkill.

My favorite light weight boot is the Salomon 4D GTX. It's not built as tough as some of the others but it's a terrific "light duty" boot. I find myself using them quite a bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfApS_NRQjg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHLbByBB32Y

Looks like that is at least 3x votes for the Salomon 4D GTXs...

Scarpa Triolet

Tanner

Add another vote for the Quests- I'm sold on them.

If I may ask a question from the felt pack crew. Really like the Schnee's packs for Deep snow. Change the felt each day to dry ones, but after a couple days the skin on my soles is cracking.

So far the best I've come up with is to apply Bag Balm daily. However, it doesn't completely eliminate the problem.

Look for a diabetic foot cream, runs about $15 at my drug store. That and definitely air out your feet midday and when back at night. I used to have the same problem.

Thanks.

Also drink more water. A lot of the skin cracking problem is from dehyration. I have the problem with my fingers, usually from drinking more coffee than water in cold weather.

I really like my Lowa Tibet uninsulated. They provide lots of support in the steep stuff with a pack and are still good to go for short day hikes.

Hanwag Alaska

Salomon 4D's for backpacking and warm weather hunting.

Went with a Meindl "Perfekt" Extreme for this coming year. So far, so good. I've found 400 gram's Thinsulate about perfect for my feet for cold weather, on-the-move hunting.

My similar Italian Crispi's are just a bit large on my soft feet and give me blisters, despite having several hundred miles on them. They're now work boots.

The older model Meindl Perfekt (without the rubber rand) was wonderful on my feet. Ditto Cabela's older, discontinued "Mountain Hunter" Italian/Romanian made boots.

Kenetrek's, Hanwag's, Lowas, they're all too stiff for my feet.

For super-cold, more sedentary hunting, a good pac with thinsulate liner, and insulated lower like the Schnees Extreme (is everything "extreme" these days?) is the ticket.

If limited to one, a 400 gram "mountain hunter" with rubber rand would be my go-to.

Kennetreks...

That's what I have been using. Great boots.

Brad, please keep us up to date on the "extreme" Perfekt. Its an interesting boot.

I use a pair of light weight Asolo's for warm weather and while antelope hunting, and Kenetrek Hardscrabbles for Mountain hunting.... Non insulated and adjust my socks for weather. Even a light pair of wool hiking socks keep my feet warm enough with the Kenetreks.

I've been trying some of the various mostly-fabric options with stiff sole and rand: Scarpa charmoz and la sportiva evo with the leather panels. They are certainly light, but a bit cold, confining, and not as good on the ankles as full grain leather. They are fine empty, but a bit soft when loaded off-trail.

The rands on these light boots take a beating in rock, and they have a tough time staying glued on where your foot flexes. I wore a heavily beeswaxed pair of Alico Guides (roughout 3mm leather Norwegian welt waffle stompers, bought for $179 from STP back in '04) on four AK sheep hunts; they needed a midsole rebuild with resole once in that time, but never a mark or cut on the leather, and the hunts were almost exclusively on glacier rock and shale (that's what ate through the vibram into the midsole at the arch). Made me a believer in waxed leather, and a skeptic of rands.

I'm not inclined to heavily wax a leather boot with a molded sole or a rand - I'm leery of delamination, whether by solvent or oil from the commercial waxes (obenhaufs or pitch blend or whatever), or by heat when applying straight beeswax. I'm pretty convinced that my Alicos lasted as long as they did due to the heavy pure beeswax coating. Any rock contact slipped right off and left a superficial mark that went away with more wax applied, no leather damage. They are stiff, and the resole shrunk them a bit so I no longer use them. They never were all that comfortable with the folded bellows tongue, so I'll avoid that in the future. Sure protected the feet though, and you could step wherever you want, on whatever you want, wearing whatever load you want, and you'd stick.

Going to try a couple of as-new ebay boots that might be older than me - pivetta eiger and another similar older European Littleway-welted roughout FGL boot by ML, whoever they were/are. Stitched construction so I can beeswax them with heat and they'll resole without destruction, narrower sole than the Norwegian welt so a bit lighter, and a sewn bellows on the tongue instead of a fold, so they should mold more easily to my foot tops, one of which is a bit tender with a bony spur. We'll see how they work.

Otherwise, I'm attracted to the La Sportiva Pamir, but there's that rand again, and I hear it's a bit soft.

Vek- Have you tried beeswaxing any non-rough out boots? I've waxed a few pairs of gloves and can attest to how tough it makes them, but haven't tried it on any boots...yet.

Nope, but I'll have the Pivetta in hand shortly and it's smooth out. We'll see what happens. I've read it's a pretty stiff boot to start with.

Gotcha. Looking forward to hearing how it works.

Salomon Quest 4D GTX. Archery through 1st rifle. 4 or 5 seasons on them, very happy. They are uninsulated and a bit more warmth would have been better for the season where it snowed ~9" and temps were in the teens.

Schnees Beartooth uninsulated for me. 3 full seasons of upland bird and elk hunting on them so far and they are still waterproof and breathable.
They look a bit haggard, but I bet I will get another bird season out of them.

Need two pairs IMO.

Schnees Pac Boots for late season hunts.

Scarpa/Meindl for warmer stuff.

And one pair of moccasins for the couch.

Tanner

Lots of good boot choices but IMHO, once you're in the realm of "good boots" it all depends on your feet and how the boots work with your feet. Asking someone else to recommend a boot is kind of like asking what you should look for in a woman.

I end up using Hanwags and Vasque GTXs.

I dunno' smoke, I feel like I could give a pretty succinct list of what a guy should look for in a woman and have most dudes agree with me....grin

Tanner

Yep, when I was your age I thought the same way. Of course, that was back when I knew everything

I like the Asolo. Fits my foot well. It is a fairly stiff boot but that's what I was looking for.
http://www.amazon.com/0M2066_635-Asolo-Mens-Hiking-Boots/dp/B000AOP2OU

I like fatties myself...

Funny, I don't remember any fatties in those pics you posted........not that there's anything wrong with that.

For a foot orgazim at work or play.

Salomon Quest 4D GTX for the win. With gators I've had them to 20 degrees in snow. Work on rocks mud and sand 6 days a week. Only one other midweight made with better support.

Laces adjust easily and stay put for total foot comfort.. For my money and my time from 100* to 20* lowest so far to inches of rain in a day. I doubt I'll find a better boot for my world. Getting another pair and looking into getting a pair resoled. I'll most likely die in mine.

I'd stay away from La Sportiva.

Nice thing about salomon boots is they can often be found on sale. I hunted with the X-ultra mid last year first season and they were pretty good for 99$. Light and fast but not enough stiffness in the shank and sole when it came time to pack meat out.

I don't know about you guys but Im starting to think gore-tex is a total BS lie. I haven't bought a pair of boots in 5 years that had gore-tex hold up much longer than a few months. So I'm inclined to say keep it cheap and buy whatever is on sale that fits you. Sierra trading post had some nice hanwags on sale last year. backcountry always has salomons on clearance, etc.....

Goretex works, but it has to be sewn into a good boot to keep your feet dry. My Vasque boots are just about worn out but still keep my feet dry.

You don't. Now I'm really worried:)

Why?

I'll ocasionally go to something like a Salomon Quest 4D, but the majority of the time use a trail runner.
This is my current favorite:
http://www.sportiva.com/products/footwear/mountain-running/crossover-20-gtx

Trail runners definitely aren't for everyone but the I've packed 130 lb loads in very rugged terrain using them. With a set of MicroSpikes and trekking poles I'm good to go.

Ed T, the few pairs of sportivas I've experienced were poor quality vs price. I had a pair of trango S evo sportivas and they fell apart fast (400$). Stitches came out, gore tex was shot and all that after less than 100 miles of hiking and climbing. My wife has a pair of the pamir's, she barely wears them and the leather lining is already wearing through.

So that's just two data points. After owning lots of nice boots I feel like sportiva is resting on its laurels. They were once a premier brand but now, I think you're paying Italian boot prices for Slovakian quality. Not terrible, just not worth what they charge.

I've gone from investing top dollar in boots to just finding what's on sale and blowing through them.

I don't hunt "the west" but I do hike the west and hunt and backpack in rocky and occasionally wet conditions. I like backpacking boots for what I do, and have run through multiple pairs of Asolo and Vasque. The Vasque last longer, but the Asolo seem to fit better and are more comfortable. I ran Asolo FSN 95's until they quit making them. I am on my first pair of Salomon Quest 4G and just did a rocky 16 mile overnighter in them. I am impressed so far, we will see how they hold up. I guess that's yet another vote for the Salomons. FWIW, I am not hiking or hunting in extreme cold.

Kenetrek Mountain Extremes 400 grams of insulation for early season hunts. Late season especially with snow, I use Kenetrek Grizzly's. With the mountain extremes, I go with a lighter sock when it is warmer and haven't had a problem with them being too warm until the temps climb past 60 degrees or so.

I have worn the Lowa Renegade GTX for quite a while now and I'm about to get a new pair but first I'm going to try on a pair of the Salamon Quest 4D GTX. I had a pair of Salamon trail runners that I really liked but iirc they ran small in size.

I have Lowa Tibets for warm weather and Kennetrek Insulated mtn extremes for when it's good. I used to wear packs in cold weather. I hate them for any kind of rocky, rough ground.

I have one ankle that loves to sprain so I want pretty tall boots with lots of support.

I have to loosen the laces when I ride any distance though.