Review: Kenetrek Mountain Extreme Boots, By William Hanson

[Justin Crossley]

Rokslide Moderator William Hanson decided it was time to step up to the next level with his boots this year. He was planning a backcountry elk hunt and knew he would need boots he could depend on. He decided on the Kenetrek Mountain Extremes and took the time to write a great review as he tested them out this year.

Check it out here: Review - Kenetrek Mountain Extreme

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Thanks Justin. What a difference good boots make!

Live2hunt custom shelters

 

[N2TRKYS]

I've been wearing mine the last couple of years in WY and it has snowed both years. I haven't had any issues with mine. I love them.

 

[slowelk]

What's best practice for needing to wear hard plastic, custom orthotics? Over or under insole, something else?

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

What's best practice for needing to wear hard plastic, custom orthotics? Over or under insole, something else?

I am no expert on this but I would guess that you would take out the factory insoles and put in your custom Orthotics. The factory insoles have some shape and arch support built-in so I would think that your custom orthotics might not work on top of them.

Live2hunt custom shelters

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

What's best practice for needing to wear hard plastic, custom orthotics? Over or under insole, something else?

I am no expert on this but I would guess that you would take out the factory insoles and put in your custom Orthotics. The factory insoles have some shape and arch support built-in so I would think that your custom orthotics might not work on top of them.

I used to wear custom plastic orthotics during my child and teenage years. I think a really good substitute are Super Feet insoles. I use them in ALL of my footwear. And yes, you would need to remove the boots existing inner sole because if you don't, the foot/heel will be too high leading to all kinds of other issues.

As for the boots, thank you for the review William. I hope you will not get upset if I provide my own 2 cents?

I just purchased these a few days ago and they felt great in the store. So with the sale they were having, I bought them, not really needing them. I toiled back and forth about whether to keep them and was worried that they would not fit well. I heard about lengthy periods of break in and pain the first few miles from several different threads.

Despite my concerns, I decided to just try them outside due to the great return policy from the store. So far, the first 1.5 miles is great!!! Mind you that I also climbed 1,500 feet at the same time. The fit for my foot is amazing. I have used Danners in the past and while Danner replaced my High Grounds with new one due to warranty, I just never wore them again and plan to sell them brand new, never used. The first pair of Danners started coming apart at the toe after only 3 months of hiking. I guess I just didn't want to buy new Danners every year since they seem to fall apart so dang fast.

The fit of the Kenetrek us just amazing and the quality is second to none. I am not sure how I feel about the high heel compare to my Danners, but understand that they helped on steep sections, just made it more difficult on the rocky sections.

Overall, I am so impressed at how well these are made and how well they fit. I had a LOT of doubts about these boots but when I actually tried them, have no regrets.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

I used to wear custom plastic orthotics during my child and teenage years. I think a really good substitute are Super Feet insoles. I use them in ALL of my footwear. And yes, you would need to remove the boots existing inner sole because if you don't, the foot/heel will be too high leading to all kinds of other issues.

As for the boots, thank you for the review William. I hope you will not get upset if I provide my own 2 cents?

I just purchased these a few days ago and they felt great in the store. So with the sale they were having, I bought them, not really needing them. I toiled back and forth about whether to keep them and was worried that they would not fit well. I heard about lengthy periods of break in and pain the first few miles from several different threads.

Despite my concerns, I decided to just try them outside due to the great return policy from the store. So far, the first 1.5 miles is great!!! Mind you that I also climbed 1,500 feet at the same time. The fit for my foot is amazing. I have used Danners in the past and while Danner replaced my High Grounds with new one due to warranty, I just never wore them again and plan to sell them brand new, never used. The first pair of Danners started coming apart at the toe after only 3 months of hiking. I guess I just didn't want to buy new Danners every year since they seem to fall apart so dang fast.

The fit of the Kenetrek us just amazing and the quality is second to none. I am not sure how I feel about the high heel compare to my Danners, but understand that they helped on steep sections, just made it more difficult on the rocky sections.

Overall, I am so impressed at how well these are made and how well they fit. I had a LOT of doubts about these boots but when I actually tried them, have no regrets.

Thanks for your comment and take on the boot. Glad they're working out for you.

Live2hunt custom shelters

 

[slowelk]

I used to wear custom plastic orthotics during my child and teenage years. I think a really good substitute are Super Feet insoles. I use them in ALL of my footwear. And yes, you would need to remove the boots existing inner sole because if you don't, the foot/heel will be too high leading to all kinds of other issues.

As for the boots, thank you for the review William. I hope you will not get upset if I provide my own 2 cents?

I just purchased these a few days ago and they felt great in the store. So with the sale they were having, I bought them, not really needing them. I toiled back and forth about whether to keep them and was worried that they would not fit well. I heard about lengthy periods of break in and pain the first few miles from several different threads.

Despite my concerns, I decided to just try them outside due to the great return policy from the store. So far, the first 1.5 miles is great!!! Mind you that I also climbed 1,500 feet at the same time. The fit for my foot is amazing. I have used Danners in the past and while Danner replaced my High Grounds with new one due to warranty, I just never wore them again and plan to sell them brand new, never used. The first pair of Danners started coming apart at the toe after only 3 months of hiking. I guess I just didn't want to buy new Danners every year since they seem to fall apart so dang fast.

The fit of the Kenetrek us just amazing and the quality is second to none. I am not sure how I feel about the high heel compare to my Danners, but understand that they helped on steep sections, just made it more difficult on the rocky sections.

Overall, I am so impressed at how well these are made and how well they fit. I had a LOT of doubts about these boots but when I actually tried them, have no regrets.

Which Superfeet do you recommend?

 

[esloan25]

Hi William, I just recently purchased a pair of these boots and sized one half size up after watching kenetrek videos on YouTube and searching around. I have a mild amount of slip on my right heel and the boot feels slightly looser on that foot all around due to it being my smaller foot. I was wondering when you received yours did you go a half size up or use your normal size? Also how much slip would you say you had? If I push my foot forward in the boot I can fit 2 fingers (skinny) behind my heel. Thank you for the review also. It was very helpful for me.

 

[Jardo]

Kenetrek has decent insoles. I run their insoles in mine. For all my other boots, I run superfeet green.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[ericF]

Hi William, I just recently purchased a pair of these boots and sized one half size up after watching kenetrek videos on YouTube and searching around. I have a mild amount of slip on my right heel and the boot feels slightly looser on that foot all around due to it being my smaller foot. I was wondering when you received yours did you go a half size up or use your normal size? Also how much slip would you say you had? If I push my foot forward in the boot I can fit 2 fingers (skinny) behind my heel. Thank you for the review also. It was very helpful for me.

If you need to take up some room in your boots, try the Superfeet Greens as Jardo mentioned. I have a pair of Mountain Extremes that I am breaking in right now. When I first tried them on there was way to much heel slip and they were very loose, but the Superfeet Greens help take up some volume and reduced the heel slip completely.

 

[mcseal2]

I bought a used pair on Ebay 3 years ago and really like them. I bought them just broke in good from a guy who has a knee injury that ended his need for boots this stiff. I use the boot wax on them a couple times a year and try to save them for hunts. At their price I’d rather train in a cheaper boot. I put Lathrop and sons insoles in mine.

 

[esloan25]

Kenetrek has decent insoles. I run their insoles in mine. For all my other boots, I run superfeet green.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

 

[esloan25]

If you need to take up some room in your boots, try the Superfeet Greens as Jardo mentioned. I have a pair of Mountain Extremes that I am breaking in right now. When I first tried them on there was way to much heel slip and they were very loose, but the Superfeet Greens help take up some volume and reduced the heel slip completely.

Thank you for the help. I'll try it out. I bought a pair of their liner socks and a pair of their Canada socks today. Gonna try that and see what it does also since that's what I'll be wearing when I am hunting.

 

[mcseal2]

The Kennetrek insoles are pretty good, just not quite as good as the Lathrop and sons to my feet. I put the Kennetrek insoles in my Cabelas Alaskan boots by Meindl. They are better than what they came with.

 

[ttucci16]

Just got a pair and if they're not fitting perfectly, you can go on youtube and check out a few different ways to lace up the boots depending on where they are not fitting right. It saved me the time and money of having to return the boots due to the top of the boots biteing into the top of my foot. Great review.

 

[bstiger]

William, I have been struggling on finding a good mountaineering boot. I have been trying Crispi but the heel slippage is too much.. on flat ground they work fine, but not so much on a steep grade which is what I hunt in. You mentioned that you had long discussions with Wyatt before buying due to your connection with Rockslide, and opportunity we really don't get. So when ordering mail order what questions should we ask or be aware of? You mentioned in you review you initially experienced heel lift, did this go away after break in or was it still there but manageable. My foot measures just over a 12 and since Kenetrek does not make 1/2 sizes over a 11 I need a 13, will this cause issues. great review, it has been a few years, how are the boots now?

 

[Qpulliam53]

Thanks for the review I’m just ordering a pair this week on the fence between reg or narrow

 

[ElkChapo]

Thanks for the review! Love my Kenetreks... hands down the best boots i've ever run.