Want to buy some Pac Boots which are better White's or Schnees

I have no experience with Schnees.

I do have a pair of White's pacs, knee high, lace-up, with the cowboy boot style toe. I'm not a cowboy, but got a deal on them 8 years ago. They are wonderful. As warm as any true leather top/rubber bottom pac I've ever worn, well-made, extremely comfortable,and with the smaller boot portion (narrower toe) are not bad to drive in. Far and above anything I've ever worn before.

The only thing I've ever worn that were warmer were the old "Mickey Mouse" boots of years ago. They were made in a foreign country, were completly rubber (no leather) and were so bulky you almost couldn't drive in them. Very popular with the oilfield hands here in eastern MT back in the late 70s and early 80s. They were so warm you could stand on cold concrete in below zero weather and keep warm feet. I was farming back then, and did that many times working on machinery in the winter. The White's aren't that warm, but they are pretty darn good.

Chuckle...if the Schnees are even better than the White's, I'm getting a pair of them too!

Horses and or no?

Dober

Schnee's are awesome. I haven't tried Whites..................DJ

I've used Schnee's for awhile for hunting pacs or while moving cows in cold weather. They'll keep your feet pretty warm, but honestly if you'll be doing something like sitting in a tree-stand all day I would want something warmer. If you go with Schnee's, get the Advantage sole, as the tire-tread sole is almost worthless.

Pac boots, let me insert my complaint:

Why doesn't anyone make wide and extra-wide ones?

With a 13EEEE foot, I've never been able to find a pair of Pacs. Sometimes I can wear a rubber chore boot by leaving the liner out, but they're pretty darn cold without the liner!

If there are other frustrated would-be Pac boot wearers with extra-wide feet, would you care to join me in a class-action against the Pac boot industry for refusing to acommodate us per the Americans with Disabilities Act?



Okay, I bitched. Now I feel better.

Mine are 9.5 4 or 5E depending on last cut with a narrow heel. I have all my hunting/hiking boots custom made. My running shoes are all N Balance. My dress shoes are usually stretched to fit. It is a bitch. I'm with you.

The widest pacs I have found are 2E.

Hoffman's gets my vote!
http://www.hoffmanboots.com/Category.aspx?CategoryID=20

I got my Schnee's about ten years ago for a horseback hunt in MT, and they are great. Extremely warm so I don't wear them much down here, but they do feel good sitting in a tree stand when it gets down around freezing.

Unlike most pacs, you can drive or ride a horse in them.

Try Mills Fleet Farm online. Look for Sorels.

Holy Crap!! I spend a fair bit of time in MT and was beginning to think that MT residents were issued their Schnees boots (something like AK resident's nat'l resources payments) because I don't know anyone in MT that doesn't have at least 1 pair.

I have the 13" Mountain Hunters, same pair since '01. I wear them when it's wet/snowy/sloppy from pheasents to big game to ice fishing and couldn't be happier. I can't imagine NOT having a pair of quality pacs.

I like both of my Schnees quite a bit. I have the velcro Montana for winter dog training and the Outfitter for late season elk and deer hunting. The outfitters are warmer and as comfortable as my Danner Artic 800s. I have never tried Whites but they are also popular in Montana and appear well built from checking them out in the Store. Both boots are way more boot than Sorrels, at least more custom fitting and better leather.
John

horse 1,

I live in eastern MT.....probably not as many Schnees's as in the western part of the state.

I grew up on a farm/ranch. My dad, who must have had excellent circulation, wore oxford shoes with overshoes in the winter. He said they were warmer and lighter than cowboy boots/overshoes. He never owned a pac, and he was outdoors as much as anyone I ever knew. I don't know how he did it.

I got my first pacs, a set of green Montgomery Wards, when I was about 12. I sent to Sorels after that. Got the Mickey Mouse boots (have no idea of the manufacturer, but I know they were made in a third-world country) when I was 18 and snowmobiling a lot. They were super warm, but impractical for walking or doing anything where you had to move. But they were great on a snowmobile or an open loader tractor.

I went to Lacrosse Iceman pacs in the 90s, and liked them. But the White's are the best leathertop /rubber bottom pac I've personally owned. That's not to say they are the best out there....just the best I've used.

I'd prefer Whites, only because of their quality. I bought a pair of White's Loggers (now called Smokejumpers) in 1964, have worn them hard and had them rebuilt several times - good as new. Don't know about White's pac-boots (Lacrosse), but if the quality is the same, they'll be good.

I was never much of a pac boot fan due the weight and bulk I remembered from my sorel days as a kid. I moved to MT about 8 years ago and a hunting buddy of mine talked me into the 13" Schnee's Hunter, now it's the only boot I will wear once the first good snow of the season hits.

Pac boots? I think we have a problem with the question..I believe the original poster is referring to "packers" not "pac boots" as he referred to them, I think he just bastardized the term packer and created a bit of confusion perhaps..

A pac boot is the rubber bottomed leather toped boot with the felt insulation. they can be had in walking boots and cowboy style....

A packer is an all leather boot such as the Whites packer or the Hawthorne packers. White or Hawthorne does not make a "Pac boot"..

Schnee makes a Pac boot, and Kenetrak makes a pac boot.

Ray:

Look at Hawthornes site. They show pac boots (rubber bottom) and saythat they assemble them.

Mr. Atkinson,

I respectfully disagree with one of your points. While I don't know if it was actually manufactured by White, I own a pair of White pac boots, leather top, knee high, lace top, rubber cowboy boot style bottom, felt liner. I purchased them from a White boot dealer in Glendive MT in the winter of 2000 when we had lots of snow. The box, and the boots, say White on them. If that weren't enough, the price was definitely White's too. But then, so is the quality and comfort and warmth.

So White did indeed put their name on, and market, a pac boot. Whether they still do, I don't know.

Ray:

I made a mistake. I should have said Hoffmans. Accept my apologies.

Mr. Atkinson

If you google Whites Boots you will see on their website Whites Pacs (pack boots). The obviously make a packer too. I love my Whites packers and am looking at getting a riding pac boot too. The only problem for which this discussion was brought up is which one. There are Whites, Schnees, and now Kenetrek too.