Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire L.L. Bean boots - good, bad, ugly?

Not a fan. Schnee's and Kenetreks PAC boots both have speed lace up while Bean you have to relàce through the eyelets each time. I also feel the other two give you more support

American made, last for a long time as others have said, last I checked Bean will repair them, keep feet dry, reasonably priced.

What's not to like?

Slippery soles? Ankle support?

I've worn mine out in my "backyard" a couple of winters, on the sage flats and up the foothills. Just have to be careful, as one always should be. And the guys have offered a couple of solutions to the slippery part. YakTraks work pretty good.

Re: ankle support. I don't have much of an issue with that as I run around 95% of the year barefoot, in sandals, or in romeos. It helps to build ankle strength. (Hint?)

Bought mine when we moved here, work well for doing the driveway and for the traipsing around I do. You'll get a "recommend" from me.

Geno

I am still wearing a pair of 6 inch Bean boots that i bought back in the mid nineties. They last forever. Comfortable, warm, waterproof

I like them, but only for yard duty, like getting firewood in, locking up the chickens and getting the mail.

i have the shorter ones and the 8". i like them and have worn them small game hunting for 30 years. however, i recently switched to merrels because they are more comfortable than the beans. the beans soles are real gummy and wear out pretty quick and then they get slick. you can send them back and they'll resole them for around 40 bucks. as others have said, there's better boots out there.

Good for yard chores or running to the store. For serious terrain or colder temps, Schnees with air bob tread is the way to go IMO.

They are an outstanding boot for non-mountainous terrain. I have a pair that's over thirty years old (on it's second refit) as well as their 17", and a fleece lined set as well. The fleece lined ones are perfect for cold stand hunting, especially in snow or mud. The sole is practically self-cleaning.

I've worn Bean Boots on and off for over 40 years.

The rubber bottom don't provide much support, so your foot has room to move around unless you buy a set of orthotic inserts to cushion and stabilize your foot. Also, because they are rubber, your feet will sweat unless you spray them with antiperspirant before you put your wool, never cotton, socks on.

The "chain" tread pattern isn't very deep. so it doesn't provide a lot of traction on mud/snow/ice, and because it is soft rubber, the soles wear quickly in dry conditions.

I can never remember how the boots fit...should a guy size up or down for a proper fit?

According to the Bean website, size down for theirs if you wear a half-size.

There's no serious terrain or very much cold here in eastern NC, so I will probably be good.

You can't fault them for sturdiness. I have a pair that I bought in 1995 and my son's still wearing them.

Mine were special. For a time, you could get the Bean boots with Vibram soles. They were wonderful. I had run afoul of that stupid chain design sole as a teenager, and saw a best hunting buddy go slipping and sliding for years in his Beaners. It was funny until you added gun handling into the mix.

Get the Schnees...you will never regret it...

If you watch the TV commercial and just want to go apple picking with the kids, they should be just fine. I bought a pair and someone at Goodwill get a heck of a deal on the worst pair of boots that I ever owned. Well made, but that sole is terrible for snow or wet leaves or cold weather or climbing a hill. They might be fine for NC warmer weather, but they sure fell short in Wisconsin. I forgot what I paid for them, but it was too much for too little. They are marketed to the yuppie crowd and what you are buying is the apple picking image on the TV commercial. Don't do it if you are a serious outdoors person.

I wore L.L. Bean original hunting boots for many years, they're O.K. no arch support and the chain tread soles are very slippery. If I were to buy a pair today they'd have the vibram sole, I add the lambswool insoles and wear with mid weight merino wool socks.

Nonsense. They do have applications if varying, but not all types of terrain. There's just nothing better down here in the SE (GA, AL, FL) than LL Bean's tread for the soil here. If you wear ANY kind of boot with an aggressive cleat pattern, you will turn your feet into pounds of red clay, whereas the Bean boot just sheds it off. I hunted relatively flat terrain in Wyoming for bison and the fleece lined boot worked perfectly. They would not be a good choice for mountains or heavy snow, but for most hunting applications they are just fine.

Too many good boots out there to buy L.L. Beans. Yard work and feeding the chickens is about all their good for!

Windfall,

sorry they didn't work out for you. To each their own I guess in this case.

Triggernosis, if your terrain isn't much worse than what's in this picture, they may just work for you as they have for me (and others). This is the gate to my "backyard" of miles of BLM land. I've been up near the 4 pines on top of the hill on the right, and I've worn mine out there in deeper snow than there is in this picture, deep enough I was considering getting some snowshoes. This pic was just easily found:



I've climbed around on those hills toward the right of the pic a few times, carefully, just as I would with my Red Wings and bob sole Danner's. LL Bean's might be a bit slipperier, but snow covered wet/icy rocks and logs are not the easiest to walk around on except maybe in a pair of caulked boots.

The view from a bit higher up back down toward my house. Couldn't get a clear pic from up top, too many trees, so this is still on the foothills:



My feet run warm, so I have the uninsulated ones. That day the pics were taken it was probably around 10F to start and warmed up to about 20F. With a pair of Costco merino wool socks my feet were plenty warm. If your feet run cold, maybe get the insulated type.

If your North Carolina walking around in winter won't be much worse than that, and you'd like a pair of boots that are American made, 1/2 or less the price of Schnees or such, and are repairable, the Bean's might just fit the bill.

Geno

I will add, that the 8" or 10" are great for cruising with ash and rawhide string snow shoes.

Not sure if we have them up here