Boot Fitting

[skudster351]

Which retail store has anyone found to be the most helpful in boot fitting? I find it a little disappointing that it's difficult to get the same level of boot fitting that one might get with ski boots or technical running shoes. Our hunting boots are so specific an all fit a little different than others. For those like me that have specific shaped feet, it would be super helpful to have someone extremely knowledgeable walk us through the fitting process and have a bunch of different brands/ models on hand to try on to find the "right one." This all came about from me buying the wrong boots last year for $500 and starting the process over again. It would be awesome to go to a store where they have pretty much the full gambit of high quality boots on hand and staff that really knows what they are talking about. Is there somewhere like this? Sportsman's warehouse carries a decent amount of boots (Crispi, Kennetrek, Zamberlin,) but the guy I worked with last year didn't seem to know that much about boots and just brought out a few to try on for me. Maybe what I am looking for doesn't exist

 

[pcassada]

This is an issue a lot of people face I think it's safe to assume. The issue with a lot of the big box stores is that while yes, they carry several brands, the people that work there are unlikely to be "experts" on a proper fitting hunting/hiking boot. I recently bought a new pair of boots from the GOHUNT shop. They do a pretty good job in breaking down how to pick a properly fitting boot on their website along with a pretty thorough process for measuring your feet.

I got very precise measurements of my feet and used those measurements with their boot profiles to select a handful of boots that seemed likely to fit me well. Once I had it narrowed down, I ordered my top three pairs to try on at home. I tried them all on and picked a winner based on overall comfort and what I was looking for in a boot. I returned the other two pairs of boots. You'll lose a bit of money on return shipping and its an investment of time, but it beats spending $500 on a pair of boot to figure out they won't work for you.

GOHUNT has a pretty large selection of brands too. Off the top of my head they carry Kennetrek, Hanwag, Zamberlan, La Sportiva, Lowa, Salewa, Scarpa.

 

[RS3579]

Meindl will pay for shipping until you get the correct fitting boot.

 

[cmwhitmoyer]

I also think manufacturers should do a better job describing the fit of the boot. Is the last low volume, narrow, wide forefoot, tight in the heel.
I ordered from Scarpa and apparently they have a chart at customer service that describes the fit but it doesn't show on their website. Their website lists the last used for the shoe but nothing describes the last.


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[UncleBone]

Is there a scheels near you? they have been pretty helpful for me.

 

[skudster351]

Meindl will pay for shipping until you get the correct fitting boot.

Hi,
Do you know the general fit of the Meindl boots? I am not familiar with them, but after a quick glance at the website I am actually intrigued.

 

[RS3579]

The vacuum boots are a narrow toe box. The perfect hunters are wide toe box. That’s the info I got when I called them. They were very helpful when I called them. The size is correct with all my other boots.

 

[Elmer J. Fudd]

I really like the fit of my meindl comfort fit extremes. I have wide feet and they fit great. I haven’t tried any of their other boots. Their customer service was very responsive to my emails.

 

[Dark timber]

Scheels has by far the most knowledgeable staff of any store I’ve been to.

 

[TradArcher]

If you know a great ski bootfitter then put on your heavier boot socks for hunting and go get your mondo size with that on and ask questions about your arch and what support you should have while there. From the Mondo size you can figure out your euro size which is more accurate than US/UK sizing (that system has more sizes in it). That mondo size will be the most accurate - you can add alittle to accomodate hot weather and/or high altitude if need be and then run with that and also use it to compare against the euro and the US sizing to figure out the footbed length in the brand of boots you are looking at. You can also ask the bootfitter whether they think you have high volume feet or low while there and use that for shopping for boot/brands too.
My boot purchasing got a ton easier when I went to a ski bootfitter that is well known and got educated about my feet. I snowboard and was frustrated with the sloppy fit in snowboard boots so got sized properly and sold an insole that works for my feet and then went and got the correct snowboard boots. All that fitting knowledge translated into hunting boots for the mountains for me.

 

[uncastan]

I often struggle with this as well. I'm almost always between two sizes within a half size and struggle with the decision. I'd echo don't wear them outside or most places won't take them back.. recently made this mistake with a pair of Crispi. I think it's difficult to know how well a pair of boots fit just walking around inside.

 

[Stache Attack]

I have found to fully dis regard us sizing when picking boots. European has been much more consistent and half the time between other companies us sizing doesn’t stay consistent. Ex: I’m a 44.5 euro sometimes that’s a 10.5,11, and onetime I found boots that said is 11.5