LOWA Irox GTX Mid review; Updated 9/25

[Justin Crossley]

Hey All,

I have been looking for a quality hiking boot that I could wear when I don't need a full fledged mountain hunting boot. At Shot Show I was looking through the Lowa booth and their new IROX caught my eye, so I worked out a review. They just showed up a couple weeks ago and I have started testing them out. I wore them to work for a few days (kinda funny looking with slacks). Then I wore them on my turkey hunt last weekend. I've got about 25 miles on them and so far they are very comfortable for me. The insoles seem to be a bit on the stiffer side and the boots have a good amount of stiffness to them for a hiking boot. I'll continue to use them for my summer hiking, some spring bear hunting and into the fall, and I'll keep you posted on how I'm liking them and how they hold up.

My review is complete and can be seen here. LOWA Irox GTX Mid Review

 

[mallacootasmoothie]

Thanks for the review. I ordered a pair in feb, should be here any day now.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I am now at 77.2 miles on these boots and pretty happy over all. One morning when I was walking through cold, wet grass I thought they were leaking but it turns out it was just the cold I could feel coming through from the outside. These boots breath extremely well and I noticed my feet stay way cooler and dry quickly when putting on the miles in the heat. I had a couple days in Idaho where the temp was about 75 and I walked over 13 miles each day. The insoles are still too stiff for my feet and I switched them out with Super Feet insoles which felt better.

 

[mallacootasmoothie]

I'm liking mine so far, only a week in but racking up some k's. I find all lowa insoles too firm, I put superfeet green in mine but perhaps should have put orange in.

 

[GotDraw?]

Justin-- As you put more miles on, I'd be interested to hear more specific review details:

Do you personally have high arch/high volume feet or low arch/low volume feet? How does the boot last feel relative to your foot volume?

How wide are your feet and how does the last feel relative to your foot width?

How wide is your heel? If narrow or regular heel, how does the boot heel fit/lock relative to your heel shape?

What size do you wear and how accurate is Lowa's sizing on this model?

Torsional stability of the entire sole platform, particularly when side hilling?

Ability of the sole to actually kick in and side-hill in very steep terrain? Also ability of the upper to deal with side hill stress without collapsing and losing structure?

Toe of the boot looks a bit rounded-- how well does it toe-kick into sod and dirt to ascend in steep terrain?

Traction, when smearing on rock?

Traction on rock when wet?

Perhaps a photo of the tread on the sole?

How well does the boot brake when descending steep terrain with a pack?

Perhaps a side photo showing the amount of heel cut, to give insight into how well they brake when descending?

How well does the lacing system lock and hold lace tension at the ankle/heel lock?

How does the lacing system feel in general?

Does the tongue spread the lacing load well and does it stay centered without creating thick creases or bunching against the top of the foot?

How much do they weigh?

How do they feel when carrying a full pack?

Do rocks transmit through the sole to the foot when carrying a full pack?

Thanks for doing this- I look forward to your insight!

 

[Justin Crossley]

Justin-- As you put more miles on, I'd be interested to hear more specific review details:

Do you personally have high arch/high volume feet or low arch/low volume feet? How does the boot last feel relative to your foot volume?

How wide are your feet and how does the last feel relative to your foot width?

How wide is your heel? If narrow or regular heel, how does the boot heel fit/lock relative to your heel shape?

What size do you wear and how accurate is Lowa's sizing on this model?

Torsional stability of the entire sole platform, particularly when side hilling?

Ability of the sole to actually kick in and side-hill in very steep terrain? Also ability of the upper to deal with side hill stress without collapsing and losing structure?

Toe of the boot looks a bit rounded-- how well does it toe-kick into sod and dirt to ascend in steep terrain?

Traction, when smearing on rock?

Traction on rock when wet?

Perhaps a photo of the tread on the sole?

How well does the boot brake when descending steep terrain with a pack?

Perhaps a side photo showing the amount of heel cut, to give insight into how well they brake when descending?

How well does the lacing system lock and hold lace tension at the ankle/heel lock?

How does the lacing system feel in general?

Does the tongue spread the lacing load well and does it stay centered without creating thick creases or bunching against the top of the foot?

How much do they weigh?

How do they feel when carrying a full pack?

Do rocks transmit through the sole to the foot when carrying a full pack?

Thanks for doing this- I look forward to your insight!

I just shot a quick video and am working on editing and posting now which will hopefully answer most your questions. Thank you for posting them all by the way. In the meantime, here are a few more close up photos of the boots at different angles.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Here's my initial video review.

[video=youtube_share;RGnY1Qt5_EY]https://youtu.be/RGnY1Qt5_EY[/video]

 

[Justin Crossley]

One thing I wanted to add that I'm not sure I touched on in the video is that the ankle support with these boots is really good considering the height. And the weight on my scale is 22.65 oz each.

 

[GotDraw?]

Justin, Thanks for the great review video!

 

[Justin Crossley]

I'm now over 200 miles on these boots. Not much has changed as far as my opinion goes. These boots continue to perform very well on steep terrain and I get very good grip on wet rocks. I still feel that the foot bed is on the stiff side but it's better with the Super Feet insoles compared to the stock ones.

The only issue I've seen to this point is that the Gortex seems to leak and has since I got them. For me this is not a big deal since I prefer boots without it anyway but I think most people prefer it.

 

[mallacootasmoothie]

I don't keep track of distance covered but I'd easily be over 200miles on my pair.
I know it's subjective but theses are the best boots I've owned, best for walking down hill I've had.
I agree that they are a little stiff in the foot bed so I'm using superfeet orange.

 

[Justin Crossley]

My review is complete and you can read it here. LOWA Irox GTX Mid Review

Overall I like these boots and have been happy with their performance. The main negative that you will read about was the Gore Tex performance. The speed at which these boots dry helped to offset that issue.

 

[mallacootasmoothie]

I don't keep track of distance covered but I'd easily be over 200miles on my pair.
I know it's subjective but theses are the best boots I've owned, best for walking down hill I've had.
I agree that they are a little stiff in the foot bed so I'm using superfeet orange.

Just to add to this, I haven't had any water get in mine. They came with a tube of lowa active cream which I applied when new 6 months ago and I just treated them with grangers in prep for NZ in two weeks.

 

[Justin Crossley]

I did some more testing since LOWA said they very rarely have issues with their boots leaking. I put some water in a big flat tub and then slowly pushed the boots down into the water with my hand. The right boot leaked almost immediately and the water poured in pretty fast. The left boot didn't leak until I got almost to the top of the tongue area where I'm thinking the Goretex probably stops.

They sent me another pair and asked me to send back the first pair so they can tear them apart and find out where the failure occurred. I plan to put the new ones in some water tomorrow to see how they do and will update this thread with my results.

 

[rfc86]

Any chance you ran the Salomon quest 4d gtx at some point and can give a quick comparison to the LOWA Irox GTX Mid? Thanks.

 

[Justin Crossley]

Any chance you ran the Salomon quest 4d gtx at some point and can give a quick comparison to the LOWA Irox GTX Mid? Thanks.

I have not used those boots to compare in the field. The Salomon are not nearly as stable or as tough though from what I've seen.

 

[rfc86]

I have not used those boots to compare in the field. The Salomon are not nearly as stable or as tough though from what I've seen.

Thanks. I just got the Salomon and have about 10 miles on them. The fit is actually great but I feel that the ankle support is weak. It's pretty rocky where I hunt in PA.

I saw an earlier post where you said the Irox ankle support was great. I have pair of Schnees Beartooth which are great but wanted something a little lighter for earlier season stuff. I think I'm gonna give these a try.

 

[NorthIDHunter]

Any chance you have used the La Sportiva Trango Cube boots, wondering how these compare, its seems the Lowa may not be quite so stiff im guessing. I know there is a review of the Trango cubes on here and ive read it just wondering if you have experience with them

 

[Justin Crossley]

Any chance you have used the La Sportiva Trango Cube boots, wondering how these compare, its seems the Lowa may not be quite so stiff im guessing. I know there is a review of the Trango cubes on here and ive read it just wondering if you have experience with them

I haven't used them myself so unfortunately I can't compare. Just looking at them my guess is that they are probably pretty close though.

 

[Fins_N_Tines]

I would like to know if anyone has tried the Lowa Camino and the Irox and how they compare? They are both in the trekking catergory, but the Irox is quit a bit lighter. I am looking to get either the Irox or the Camino.