Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Alico Summits

I just picked up a pair of Alico Summits from Sierra Trading post when they were on a blowout sale a couple of weeks ago. Until now, all of my leather boots have had Gore-Tex liners as well, only because I never came across decent hikers that lacked this extra feature.

The Italian Alico's have a Norwegian welt, all-leather construction and a smooth leather lining. They appear to be high quality and tough as nails. They're stiffer than my Meindl Perfekt Hikers and the soles are harder, but they are still comfortable. They're breaking in nicely, although they need aftermarket insoles. I've been using my orange SofSoles that I use in my running shoes, but I'm also going to experiment with the Perfekt footbed (which fits me well) and a set of Superfeet insoles.

I plan on treating the leather with beeswax tomorrow. My Meindls are treated with Obenauf's LP and I'm satisfied, but I'm doing a comparison for curiousity's sake.

I know there is a lot of talk about finding a decent non-Gore-Tex boot that isn't custom made and thought I'd share my findings. Here's a link: Alico Summit

Jonathan

These used to be available locally, didn't suit my foot, however, these ARE good boots. They are a bit heavy, but, treated with beeswax, they will work very well for packing heavy packs in really rugged country and outlast most contemporary boots, including most of the latest Meindls.

I have now had three pair of light hikers with GT liners, used in wet Vancouver as general-purpose shoes as I must wear an orthopaedic lift and thus require boots, not shoes; I will not use GT lined boots in bush conditions after these. I think that you have bought a good boot that will do you right.

Look like a great boot. If they were 2" higher I'd have a pair, especially at that price.

agreed upon Non Goretex, IMO&E it's all marketing hype, eventually you get water over the top of your boots (or I do it seems) then how is it supposed to get out, if you're in a hurry you've got a hydraulic action going on.

Definitely prefer boots w/out Gore Tex but I must be in the minority

I just returned a pair of Alico Guides to STP because they wouldn't work for me. No matter what I tried I could not get these boots to fit my weird feet. I can vouch for these boots as being top drawer. They were incredibly well built and harkened back to days of really nice leather mountaineering boots such as the Raichle, Lowa, Galibier, and similar boots of the 1970's-1980's. I sure wish they could have worked for me. I recommend then highly if you have normal feet.

Cliff

I think the Guide's are seriously heavy duty, aren't they? The Summits are lighter and after experimenting with different insoles and wearing them in a little more, they're becoming extremely comfortable. I can also tell that the beeswax is proving to be very durable. I have very wide feet and fotrtunately only wides were available from STP. They aren't as wide as my EE Meindls, but there is still plenty of room in the toebox.