"I don't get it," a hiking pal said to me recently as we were lacing up at a trailhead. "You're fanatical about every ounce of gear that goes into your pack. You trim the edges off your maps and saw the handles off your Lexan spoons. You turn your underwear inside out to get an extra day out of it and you fast on the last day of most trips, just to avoid carrying the food. So why do you strap 21/2 pounds of leather and rubber to each foot?"
I looked at his feet. He wore low-cut boots that exposed his vulnerable ankles to the hard, cruel world.
"I'm afraid," I confessed. "Afraid of wet, cold feet, of rock-bashed toes, of bruised soles, of sprained ankles." In short, I worry about not having "enough boot" to protect my feet.
He nodded, and we headed off down the trail, whereupon my faithful leather stompers soon felt like cement blocks. My light-footed friend had poisoned me against my own boots.
Once back home, I wanted to find out if the latest crop of lightweight boots has what it takes to withstand the often-punishing backcountry. Because there are so many models in this burgeoning category of boots, I used the following real-trail criteria to narrow the search:
- Supportive enough to handle 40-pound loads on rugged, wet terrain (ankle or above ankle height, and recommended by the manufacturer for 40 pound loads)
- Under 3 pounds per pair according to the manufacturer (men's size 9)
- $190 or less
- Waterproof
- Fabric/leather uppers for optimum breathability
- Available in men's and women's sizes.
The results: Six pair of boots, all of which happen to have Gore-Tex liners. During five months of testing, our field crew traveled more than 2,000 total miles in terrain ranging from sandy Death Valley, to the snowfields and glaciers of Mts. Rainier and Hood, to slick Pacific coastline, to the wooded and rooted trails atop Virginia's Shenandoah Mountain. As with every boot test, there were some wildly different opinions regarding fit and comfort, but I've tried to distill them into recommendations you can use to find the right boots. Reviews are in order of overall performance.
Photo by John P. Hamel/Rodale Images La Sportiva Storm GTX
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La Sportiva Storm GTX
Top-notch fit and hard-biting traction earned the Storms number-one status among the test crew. Testers praised the snug heel, roomy toe box, well-placed crease at the ball of the foot, the Achilles notch, and the gentle rocker (the lengthwise curve of the sole that makes walking easier). Dan, the lone dissenter, said the toebox chafed his big and pinky toe joints, which is a common problem due to his funky toes. He was able to rub out the leather (with a homemade rubbing bar-simply a smooth, blunt object) and correct the problem.
The Storms' Vibram soles, with heels that grip well on downhills and rugged forefoot knobs that bite into uphills, make you feel like a mountain goat. In terms of support, the Storms provided everything I needed for carrying a 35-pound pack during a four-day hike along the coast of British Columbia's Vancouver Island.
The Storms sport more leather than most other boots in the test, which you might assume would boost durability scores. But La Sportiva uses a rough-out, full grain leather that stretches (up to 1/4 size with Laird and John) and becomes too soft. Said Bill, "Given the great fit and solid performance, I was disappointed with the softening of the leather, particularly in the instep area."
Features we liked: full-length gussets that folded unobtrusively behind the padded tongue; almost-to-the-toe-laces that allow ample adjustments; and out-of-the-box comfort, despite a stiff midsole and ankle support. The unique lace-locking mechanism was deemed both a blessing and a curse. A locking D-ring at the ankle lets you cinch the laces and lock your heel down, while the forefoot laces stay looser for toe wiggling comfort. Or vice versa. The only problem is the laces are a bear to unlock when the time comes to shuck your boots.
Bottom line: The Storms fit most of the testers like magic slippers, and are a good bet for low- to mid-volume feet. They're light and comfortable enough to wear on dayhikes, yet supportive enough for five-day trips under a 45-pound pack.
Photo by John P. Hamel/Rodale Images Vasque Skywalk
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Vasque Skywalk
This is the most substantial, supportive boot in its weight class, and has gone relatively unchanged for 15 years. Break-in takes a little longer than with the other test models, but the foot-hugging fit is worth it. Even though padding is minimal, these boots wrap around your feet like gloves, an analogy used by three testers. Because the heel cup locks feet into place, there's virtually no slipping forward, even on steep downhills.
The Skywalks topped the charts in durability. Laird, who used the word "iron" to describe initial stiffness, predicted "they'll last like iron, too." Whereas leather softened and midsoles started to flex on other lightweights in this test, the Vasques maintained their integrity.
Lots of fabric made the Skywalks quite breathable, the Gore-Tex liner kept water out, and the split-grain leather didn't absorb much moisture. A few things kept these boots a hair shy of the top spot, though. The traction of Vasque's proprietary soles didn't match the Vibram soles in the test. And we wish the Skywalks had a more protective toebox; three testers complained of sore toes after rocky hikes.
Bottom line: A perfect choice for backpackers who want maximum support for minimum weight and don't mind a little extra break-in time. Available in different widths to fit all sorts of feet.
Montrail Skyline GTX
The Skylines' middle-of-
the-pack status was due to a number of split decisions. The first one centered on the last (the foot-shaped mold around which a boot is made). The women found the Skyline's fit to be snug in the heel and arch, but wonderfully roomy in the toe area-a near perfect combination. The men, on the other hand, said the abundant volume, combined with a tongue that's light on padding, had them cinching the laces painfully tight.
Everyone liked the supportive, high cut of the ankle and the lateral rigidity of the sole. Marie, Sue, and Dan loved the leather eyelets (rather than traditional metal) because they could tighten the laces without loosening tension. I wasn't crazy about this feature because it also made the boots difficult to remove.
The Skylines' major flaw was their traction, or lack thereof. While Dan noted that "the soles grip well on dry rock slabs because they're flat and sticky like climbing shoes," things get slippery when it rains. There's no heel definition to keep you from sliding on the downhills, and the sparse, shallow lugs make these boots virtually tractionless in even damp terrain. To top it off, the soles on a number of our test pair were starting to deteriorate by the end of testing; nubs were wearing off and rubber in the arch area was chipping away. A shame, too, because everyone had confidence that the tightly stitched upper and tough leather rand encircling the boot would last a long time.
Bottom line: A comfortable, supportive boot with soles best suited for extremely dry trails. The women's last is a winner; the men's fits higher volume feet best.
Photo by John P. Hamel/Rodale Images Danner Neahkani
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Danner Neahkani
Since most testers are like the rest of the world and have low- to mid-volume feet (as opposed to high), we had high hopes for the Neahkanis. Throughout the toebox, forefoot, instep, and heel, this boot is trim and lean, and it hugged our feet like an Ace bandage.
Unfortunately, problems showed up in the ankle/tongue area. "I couldn't get the ankle tight enough," said Marie. "The tongue is completely unpadded, so when I cinched the laces to make up for the loose ankle, my foot was pinched both under the laces and under the grommets," noted John. Another commonly cited problem was the narrow entryway that made getting foot into boot a struggle.
This boot's high point was its Vibram sole. The tread design has such a pronounced heel, deep lugs, and so much bite that it earned a perfect score in this category. Waterproofing scores were admirably high, and the boot seemed well put together, with no signs of wear post-testing.
Bottom line: This boot has the potential to fit a lot of people, but the awkward ankle-and-tongue design needs modification before the Neahkani can become a top contender.
Photo by John P. Hamel/Rodale Images L. L. Bean Gore-Tex Fabric/Leather Knife Edge
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L. L. Bean Gore-Tex Fabric/Leather Knife Edge>
Editor's note: The folks at Bean have in-formed us they are redesigning the version of Knife Edge we tested, and that most of the concerns we encountered will be addressed when the new model hits the shelves this spring. While we wait and see, here's our initial report:
At first, testers agreed these boots felt great, "like a big, overstuffed sofa," said Sue. Average-footed Dan loved the Beans, and raved that "the heel cup and toe wiggle room were right on-no complaints whatsoever about fit."
But the rest of us eventually concluded that all the padding was masking a too-high-volume fit. John spoke for several testers when he said the feeling inside the boots was "boxy." The looseness was aggravated by the fact that the laces don't extend low enough to the toe area, so the forefoot can't be cinched adequately.
These boots were a breeze to break in because the uppers are soft, supple Nubuk leather, which took some abuse from rocks, leaving toes scuffed and long-term durability in question. Bean's proprietary and highly flexible soles also helped reduce break-in time, but sent some testers slipping up and down moderate slopes; the bottoms are just too smooth.
The Achilles notch is comfy and the well-padded, high ankle cuff kept ankles from rolling. Waterproofness was also right up there with the best of them, thanks to the Gore-Tex liner and the high bellows tongue that seals out moisture.
Bottom line: If you have chubby or high-volume feet, and like to wear soft leather boots on easy-going hikes, these may work fine for you.
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