Boots: light and fast or heavy and bomb proof?

[Ucsdryder]

After 10 years of soft soled hiking boot, I’ll be testing and comparing the Schnee Beartooth V3 to my Solomon 4d gtx.

There are things I really liked about my “hippie hikers”: weight, comfort, price, and a couple of aspects that have really ground my gears: durability and lack of waterproofness.

I spent 7 days in the Colorado Rockies, muzzle loader elk hunting, wearing the beartooth, and while I have a couple more months of hunts to test and compare, my gears are already turning about my future boot choice.

For anyone who has transitioned from stiff to flexible or flexible to stiff, I’d like to hear your thought process. Does anyone use both, depending on the hunt, weather forecast, and terrain?

Here’s a thread I started out of frustration a few months ago.

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/i-think-im-finally-done-with-salomon.356417/

A couple of pictures from my elk hunt. The weather was great but area was WET! I found one of the coolest wallows I’ve ever seen. It was formed when a huge fir tree uprooted and fell over The elk were hitting it daily.

 

[SDHNTR]

Stiff and heavy when carrying a heavy pack and/or expecting a lot of sidehilling. Light and fast when not.

 

[Hnthrdr]

That actually is a really cool wallow

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Dang, cool wallow!

Light and fast for me.

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Stiff and heavy when carrying a heavy pack and/or expecting a lot of sidehilling. Light and fast when not.

Which is always my dilemma here in Alaska. You have needs for both things on the same hunt, especially walking in and solo. So difficult to get it right.

 

[TheM1DoesMyTalking]

I used those Solomons for years. I've switched to Crispi Lapponia and Lapponia Lites and won't be going back. Or going to a heavy boot. The only stiff boots I own are for climbing with crampons.

 

[TaperPin]

I like what is essentially the same boot - one with a lot of fabric to breath for warmer and flatter conditions and the other full leather for wet, cold, side hill, shale slides, snow shoeing, and mud or snow requiring crampons.

I’ve been very happy with this combination for construction, hiking, backpacking and hunting - worn out well over a dozen pairs of the lighter one and half dozen of the full leather model. I can remember what a pain in the buttt it was to find the make and model that worked with my feet, or boots that were too light or too heavy, so hang in there and find what works for you.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Back to your question, generally decent terrain, day pack/ day hunts: light and fast.

Nasty terrain, heavy pack, pack outs: heavy and sturdy

 

[Poser]

I have the Schnees Beartooth Mids for burlier affairs in colder and wetter weather and the Schnees Kestrel for hotter, dryer weather. I'll also wear trail shoes depending on what I'm doing. I love the flex and feel of the Kestrels, but they will soak out in wet vegetation where the Beartooths will not.

Its really difficult to have 1 pair of footwear as do-it-all mountain footwear if you're out and about extensively in the mountains.

 

[5MilesBack]

My every day elk hunting boots are 7" Zamberlan Dakota's.....discontinued several years ago. They are light, comfortable, flexible, and quite frankly the best elk hunting boots I've ever had on my feet. I run in these boots a lot while hunting, they don't even feel like boots. But when things get wet I use an old pair of Crispi's that are all leather and much heavier.......and once the tread and bottoms fill with mud weigh 150%+ of their already heavy starting weight. But most archery seasons in CO I can get by with the Zamberlans because most years are dry.

 

[LongWayAround]

I alternate my footwear between Altra Lone Peak mids and Lowa boots (Baffin/Tibet/Ranger).

I vastly prefer the Lowas for hunting. I like the Altras for hiking trails. I have put a lot of miles on the Altras over the past several years. This year, I finally wore them for a few days of antelope hunting and still preferred the Lowas for any amount of sidehill hiking.

The area that I have been hunting this month has a lot of wet, soggy willow bottoms. There's no way that I could cross them in the Lone Peaks without being completely soaked. I also wouldn't wear them any place that I planned to encounter cactus...

 

[ORJoe]

What is the consequence of wearing heavy boots on easy trails? I go slower.
What is the consequence of wearing light boots on nasty terrain? I can't walk the next day.

 

[Randle]

Only ypur feet wilk tell you.
I went light and flexible and felt every rock and speed stick for days.
Stiff and heavier I can go for days . Feet are tired but not sore.
Tread carefully.

 

[Cannonball]

My local training hill (Black Mountain) is 1.1 mile up with 1100’ of elevation change on a lot of sharp rock. Here is a pic at the top which is the chunkiest. I primarily wear lowa’s (trekker or camino) while I see most hikers wearing trail runners. I’ve found when I wear light flexible shoes on this trail I miss the support and definitely feel more through the sole. I have also found that I do a lot of edging utilizing the stiff sole of my boots that is more difficult and uncomfortable with lighter shoes. So heavy for me. Im also a fan of training in what you will actually use in the field.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Why choose? I use a way different boot hunting whitetails in Aug in SC than I do elk in WY in Oct...conditions are completely different.

 

[GavinM]

Both are nice to have, stiff boots for steep nasty stuff and heavy packs, lighter boots for everything else. If your trying different boots out, keep an extra pair or two in the truck.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Which is always my dilemma here in Alaska. You have needs for both things on the same hunt, especially walking in and solo. So difficult to get it right.

what boot have you settled on?

 

[cuerro viejo]

After 10 years of soft soled hiking boot, I’ll be testing and comparing the Schnee Beartooth V3 to my Solomon 4d gtx.

There are things I really liked about my “hippie hikers”: weight, comfort, price, and a couple of aspects that have really ground my gears: durability and lack of waterproofness.

I spent 7 days in the Colorado Rockies, muzzle loader elk hunting, wearing the beartooth, and while I have a couple more months of hunts to test and compare, my gears are already turning about my future boot choice.

For anyone who has transitioned from stiff to flexible or flexible to stiff, I’d like to hear your thought process. Does anyone use both, depending on the hunt, weather forecast, and terrain?

Here’s a thread I started out of frustration a few months ago.

https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/i-think-im-finally-done-with-salomon.356417/

A couple of pictures from my elk hunt. The weather was great but area was WET! I found one of the coolest wallows I’ve ever seen. It was formed when a huge fir tree uprooted and fell over The elk were hitting it daily.View attachment 768089View attachment 768098View attachment 768096

Oil your boots

 

[roosiebull]

I hate stiff boots, the asolo hunter gv is the stiffest boot I can handle, and I don’t love long days in them

If I could only have one pair of boots, it would be the crispi lapponia (I have the 2’s currently) or zamberlan salathe trek.

In tough terrain, the salathe is awesome, and the regular version are low tops, but I have carried a lot of meat in them, I don’t like really supportive boots and I have never had foot/ankle problems

I think if you are used to soft, switching to stiff is a downgrade… needing stiff boots carrying weight or navigating technical terrain is fuddlore

Someone going from stiff to a trail runner is probably a process to work towards, but if your feet and ankles can handle a flexible boot already, I would keep that program going, find an insole profile you like to fine tune comfort and rock on

The battle for me is finding a really flexible boot that stays waterproof

 

[willfrye027]

I’ve settled on salmon mids for the majority of my hunts. I have not found that steep/nasty/heavy loads have been an issue but I’ve always worn flexible boots. I also can still hunt all morning in moccasins so my feet/ankles are pretty happy with flexibility.

The waterproof thing is an issue. Tried a couple of stiff boots and the absolute stiffest that won’t give me foot pain or blisters are crispi Nevada. I think the full leather/stiff combo lends itself to better waterproofness and actually maintaining it longer than a few months. I pretty much reserve them for wet/snowy/bitter cold conditions and pair them with gaiters. I have to leukotape my heels or wear thick socks otherwise I get blisters after a long day of hunting.