Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Pac boot sole?

Pros and cons of Schnee sole choices for pac boots, air bob sole or tire tread.

Thanks

I have an older pair of Lscrosse pac's with the air bob sole. Best sole I've ever had on a hunting boot. I wish it would be offered on more boots.

Bob. Tire treads can be slippery when the bobs will still grip.

bobs for max traction, but they track tons of snow into your porch, truck, garage, ect. I like the tire tread for more casual wear.

I really like the "Advantage sole" on my Schnee Pac's. I can feel whats under my feet. You can "slip" through the timber and not make as much noise. Get great traction as well.

I ordered another pair of Schnee's about a month ago. Wear them primarily for work(snow/chit/mud) and almost went with tire tread just because they wouldn't hold so much 'chit'.

Decided that not falling on my ass is more important than a 'self cleaning' tread.

For hunting boots, air bob all the way, no question.


Should add that Schnee's customer service is excellent. I e-mailed about an issue and got a phone call the next day. Warrantied a set of rubber bottoms with zero hassle.

Great pac boots.

The tire tread absolutely suck. I have a set, and really need to get them resoled as I spend more time slipping and sliding around than I do walking, so I never bother wearing them anymore.

Sorel used to offer a sole with small square-shaped lugs about the size of bobs. It worked GREAT in snow, but when bobs came along everybody went to them. Bobs work pretty well, but I wish that square pattern was still available.

Tire tread sucks.

The K-tread on the Kenetrek pacs works well and doesn't break off like bobs will.

I've never had a bob break off.

Airbobs all the way. Several years ago I wore my Meindel's, which I love, up high chasing mule deer. It had snowed about 4 or 5 inches the night before. The steep terrain with bear grass was aweful, I spent more time on my arse than upright. As soon as it snows the bobs come out for the rest of the season.

LostArra;
Hopefully this finds you and yours well tonight sir.

On the subject of winter treads, I've been running Sorrel Mavericks for a long time now - they are still the older made in Canada ones. Here's a stock photo of the newly made ones, but mine have a similar tread.



I spent this morning following a good friend as we dropped about 1200 vertical feet in the snow with some upward mobility in between so quite steep and rugged sheep country. I was wearing my Sorel Mavericks and he was in his Schnees with their version of a bob sole.

If either one of us had an advantage traction wise, I missed it.

Honestly I can't imagine going where we did today with the older tractor style soles and not ending up with broken bones as a best case scenario.

In our part of the world in my opinion and experience, bob soles on snow covered BC mountains made everything else obsolete.

Lastly, based upon what I've seen of the Schnees boots quality, I'll be looking at a pair of them when my Sorels wear out.

Hopefully that was some use to you sir, good luck on your boot purchase whichever way you decide and all the best to you in the upcoming week.

Regards,
Dwayne

Dwayne, hello northern neighbor.

Sounds like you had a good morning!


Nice thing about Schnee's is the rubber stays grippy when it gets cold. I remember some old pac boots from years ago that would get pretty slick feeling.

Only downside is they are a little bit heavy, very comfortable boots.

'Packer' on left, 'Hunter' on right.

Sam;
Thanks for the additional information and photos of your Schnees soles.

The one thing I noticed about the newer Sorel boots that are made somewhere offshore now is that the soles material seemed much harder to me.

Grippy rubber, even if it wears out faster - is always appreciated in my view. At my age Sam, the ground is not getting any softer so I try to stay on my feet and off of my backside if at all possible.

The new Schnees I was looking at a couple years back felt like the old Canuck made Sorel soles to me. The pigskin uppers on the Schnees feel like better leather to me than the newer Sorels did too.

I've got to say I'm not happy to report that about a fine old Canadian boot company Sam, but that's the way I see it.

Thanks again Sam and all the best to you folks in the upcoming week.

Dwayne

Bob for me.

I had some Sorel boots, bought back in about 1985. They had the square lugs, they worked great for me. Now I use Bob.

Schnees over Hoffman? Ive been researching both and the hoffmans are a little cheaper but seem as tough....anyone have real experience with both?

jackmountain;
Thanks for asking that question as I'd be interested in hearing from users of Hoffman boots as well.

We see Schnees up here once in awhile but seldom see Hoffman boots for sale. That said, we're close enough to the US that a trip south for quality footwear isn't out of the question.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the rubber on the new offshore Sorels is hard and slippery feeling even at store temperatures.

If you can handle a Hoffman product - which by the way they say the bottoms are US made rubber, so it could well be very good - and it feels sticky then I'd say that's a good start.

Hopefully some members here who've worn Hoffman pacs will share their experiences as I'd be interested on hearing them as well.

All the best to you in the upcoming week sir.

Regards,
Dwayne

FWIW, Schnee's use imported rubber bottoms made by Goodyear.

I asked the quality control guy about that on the phone and he said it is no longer possible(legal) to produce that kind of rubber in the US.


Hoffman must use a different type of rubber?

That or the Schnee guy was bullchitting me.

I don't know about the soles themselves, but the glue used in any glue-on sole is illegal in the US. That why 99% of our shoes are made off shore now. The EPA almost totally destroyed the US shoe industry with a single stroke of the pen.

Sam;
Thanks to you and Rock Chuck for the information.

We'd heard Schnees bottoms weren't made in the US anymore, but weren't able to decipher just why that was.

Man that's discouraging when industries are regulated out of business for no apparent reason.

The mind reals imagining the infinitesimal amount of emissions a family owned shoe factory in Montana or Idaho would be producing as compared to say - oh I don't know - the jet fuel burned for one Presidential vacation or an Al Gore speaking engagement......

Meanwhile good folks who want to work and have a marketable product can't do so. Arghhhhhhh.......

Please note we've got stupid rules here too that have nothing to do with milking chickens in January either - but they are there nonetheless and enforced by "diligent" government paid workers.

Anyway sorry for going off that way gentlemen. After spending the last quarter century trying to keep folks employed in manufacturing I've got a bit of empathy for them is all.

All the best to you and yours this week Sam.

Dwayne

I like the bob soles on Schnees, but my old Sorels were a much warmer boot for me. The Schnees don't have that thicker felt pack in them.

schnees makes the fatties, too.

Must be why I got them at Big R for 1/2 price

You likely got them at Big R for half price because all those not sold directly by Schnee's are not made in Bozeman. Meaning, if you didn't buy them from their store or website, they were made off-shore and IIRC use a thinner leather.

Well, kinda. The same type of liner is used for all the insulated models. But one model also has extra insulation built into the foot part of the boot.

Well crap, I just checked mine and sure enough Made in Thailand. Can't trust anyone anymore. I have wondered why they have been the coldest insulated boot I ever wore. About the only thing good I can say about them is that at least they are water proof and lighter than my sorels. On the outside, they are stamped Schnee, Sportsman 10". Soles are marked Goodyear. That Pi$$es me off royally.

Schnee's use two different kinds of liners. You can also purchase a separate footbed liner.

That 'Hunters' use the thinner Thinsulate liner that you're thinking about.

The 'Packers' use a heavier(warmer) felt liner similar to the Sorel's.

Saddlesore, don't worry, your leather uppers will probably outlast you. The bottoms are all made from the same Goodyear rubber, liners are all the same Thinsulate. Only difference is they are made in Thailand.

I have a pair of Murdochs's Schnee's Hunters that I bought about 7 years ago. They are on the third set of bottoms now. Leather is still fine.

Obviously we would all rather buy American made but at the time I didn't know any better about where they were made. That I was probably half broke anyway. Think I paid $170 for the Murdoch's edition, the Montana made packers were about $260.


The Thinsulate liners are indeed 'colder' than the felt liners. I still get by with the Thinsulate most all winter, just wear heavy wool socks on the really cold days.

Dwayne, oh yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Kinda like the bored Hollywood actor type looking for a 'cause' and pretending to be an 'environmentalist'. Wastes how much fuel flying around in a fancy jet, lives in a huge house that required all kinds of natural resources to build and heat/cool. Huge Earth fphuckers, take a Prius photo op once in awhile. Recycles a bag of water bottles....


Don't get me wrong, I'm all for recycling and preserving the environment, and if you have money, build a big house and have 15 cars. Just don't bitch at the little man for any little thing that in their eyes could 'hurt' the environment.

I've always heard that bobs were better at shedding snow, but I've never actually seen any real research on the subject.

I have some bobbed pacs about 10 years old that do not have the vibram type cleats on the perimenter of the heals. For want of a better term, I'd call them full bob's. Those with the vibram perimeter I'd call half bob's. I find the full bob's a little less stable than the typical vibram pattern when out on steeper slopes.

Still though, I've been trying to wear out some Sorrels that I picked up in the mid 1980's I can feel near ever pebble through the soles, but they're still going.

I have had a pair of Sorel Mavs for 12-13 years and love em. The heavy felt liner really keeps my feet warm, and I have some cold feet.

The bob sole is by far my fave. I wear the Sorels for late season cold weather hunts in snow and they simply rock. Wish my hiking boots had the same sole.

BTW- are the sorel felt liners available? Mine are pretty well worn out.

Edit to add- $30 for new liners from Sorel! Seems like a purty good deal.

Air bobs are great. They bite the snow and wear pretty well

They do wear well! Maybe because mine mostly see snow and mud, but I've never had a boot sole last me more than a year or two except the Sorel bobs.

BTW- RRC- Where are you in the Harbor? I'm just south of ya on Fox Island. Shoot me a PM if you ever want to get a beer or go shooting.