Crispi WIld Rocks or Kenetrek Mountain Extreme?

[BCD]

I'm trying to decide between these 2 boots with 400G of insulation. Any thoughts here?

Thank You!

 

[Benjblt]

In my experience Crispi is not at the same quality. Definitely a little personal preference. I think the fit and finish of Kenetrek is way better. Could be just me.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I havent used the wild rocks but I am a big Crispi fan and have wide feet. Love my thors, wymomings and nevadas. I bought a set of mountain extremes before I fell in love with criSPI and I was thinking about the wild rocks when my Kenny’s die, mainly out of brand affinity but now I think I will stay with kenetrek.

Up to now, I had used them mainly back east as my cold weather hunting boot. Probably only had 40-50 miles on them in short trips. Just finishing up a co hunt wearing the kenetreks for 6 days and they were awesome. Temps 5-20* and 1-3 feet of snow. My feet were only cold during prolonged sits and then just barely Chilly and not uncomfortable. I put in +30 miles on them this past week and the only issue I can say I have is you need calf length socks. I mistakenly packed a pair of mid length and the inside of the boot tongue rubbed my shin. User error for sure. I was able to swap out to calf length thorlos and had no issue the rest of the week. They were comfortable and show no real signs of wear at all. Great boots.

 

[ecollier]

Kenetreks get my vote. I have lightweight crispis, but for the full leather mountain boot I think Kenetreks quality is hard to beat. Mine are uninuslated but have ran them into the teens with good socks and they have been awesome!

 

[Brendan]

My Wild Rock GTX Plus may be the best boot I've ever owned. Love them.

Never tried Kenetrek, but really have no reason to yet.

 

[Elk2008]

I have the Wild Rocks and can say they are a real comfortable boot. I’ve used them down to -20F, but was walking and not sitting. I’d buy them again. I’ve heard great things in Kennetrek as well, but no personal experience.

 

[bigmike23]

Well I do believe I can help with that as I have both.
I much prefer my Crispi's. They aren't as stiff. The vibram sole is so infinitely better than kenetreks. The Ankle Bone SS on the Crispi's is a must have. I'd strongly recommend the Wild rocks. Mine are the plus version

 

[MtnMuley]

I just recently broke out a pair of Wild Rocks I've had for a couple years. I've owned and still own many pairs of Mtn Extremes and several other Crispi boots. I decided to sell the Wild Rocks early on because none of my other Crispi's compared to the Mtn Extremes. Sure glad I decided to give them a shot, because they better for me than the Guides, Idaho's, etc. I'm not saying I like them better at this point to the Mtn Extremes, but they've been great so far. A little more of a break in process around the tongue and uppers, but so far so good. Hope that helps.

 

[Ashtonbanger]

Would you guys say these two brands run true to size? Or would you up or down a half size?

 

[HenDawg3]

I prefer the Crispi Wild Rocks. They are super durable and also a little bit more forgiving. On my last packout with them it seemed like the longer I wore them and kept trucking on that they actually got more comfortable on my feet. I wouldn’t trade them for any other boot I’ve tried so far

 

[HenDawg3]

Also I normally wear a 12 and the Crispis have always fit to a Tee

 

[Jimss]

I wore Kennetrek extremes one day on a rocky steep slope and returned them. It felt like I was on stilts with their thick soles and heals. If you plan on doing much hiking on loose rocks and want a taller boot I'd look at something similar to Lowa Tibets that are lower to the ground.

The only time I wear tall boots is in deep snow. You may find it is nearly impossible to stalk game quietly with stiff, heavy, tall boots with thick soles! I generally like to cover lots of miles in a day and it's nice not having heavy logs on my feet! Insulated boots would weigh even more.

 

[Ashtonbanger]

I wore Kennetrek extremes one day on a rocky steep slope and returned them. It felt like I was on stilts with their thick soles and heals. If you plan on doing much hiking on loose rocks and want a taller boot I'd look at something similar to Lowa Tibets that are lower to the ground.

The only time I wear tall boots is in deep snow. You may find it is nearly impossible to stalk game quietly with stiff, heavy, tall boots with thick soles! I generally like to cover lots of miles in a day and it's nice not having heavy logs on my feet! Insulated boots would weigh even more.

I’m looking for a good boot to do a Colorado elk hunt in mid November. So I know I’m gonna need some insulation in my boot. Been looking at the Kenetrek mountain extremes, but had no idea the heel and sole would be a hindrance when hiking long distances. I’ve got a lot of research to do. Thanks for the info.

 

[Jimss]

I don't wear insulated boots and I work outside all winter long in Colorado. You never know what the weather will be like in November. It could be 60 degrees one day and a blizzard the next. I've seen Novembers without snow and cold....you never know but good to be prepared for the worse. Your feet will likely sweat horribly in insulated boots if it's warm out and you are hiking much....not good!

I really don't see a need for insulated boots in Coloradoish type weather unless you are sitting for hours upon hours in one spot and not hiking in super cold weather. If you really want an insulated snow boot take a look at sorels. I wear rain pants over my Lowa Tibets in deep snow and hardly get wet in snow.

I often buy my boots one size larger. This allows me to buy thicker cushioned insoles. It also allows me to wear thinner socks when it's warm out. I merely relax the laces in cold weather to allow a little additional room for thicker socks. I've been hunting Wyoming and Colorado for over 45 years and have never warn insulated boots in the winter. I can understand insulated boots if you are sitting for long periods of time whitetail hunting.....but not elk hunting where you are covering lots and lots of miles each day.

Take a look at how much the tall boots you are considering weigh! As I get older (and smarter) I find it tougher and tougher to cover miles upon miles in stiff, heavy boots.

 

[Ashtonbanger]

Thanks for the input. Yeah I’m used to hunting in mild to cold weather, just not extreme cold and wanted to be prepared. I will for sure take a look at the weight of the boots I am considering. Any specific brand you could recommend for lots of miles to be hiked in? I will be wearing gators so that will help from getting wet from snow or mud.

 

[croben]

I wore the Kenetrek ME 400s for a couple seasons during late rifle. They felt great until I had to climb any kind of incline and then I got heel slippage and had issues with blisters. I’ve heard this is a common problem with the Kenetreks from other people. There was recently a thread on here about that. I switched to the Wild Rocks and have had zero issues. With that said, I spent a lot of time on rocky ground and never felt like the soles and heels were too tall on the Kenetreks. I have also spent a lot of time in logger style work boots with a taller heel, so nothing really feels tall compared to those.

 

[Ashtonbanger]

I’m just trying to go with a really well made boot. The 400’s seem like they would be a good in between. My buddy had some ME 1000’s that he’s getting. I’m gonna try his on and see what they feel like. I never thought about weight for the boots. But I know I need to get something to break them in for the season.