Lathrop & Sons Customer Service

[Radosilver]

Just wanted to give credit to Lathrop & Sons for their outstanding customer service. I recently got my Mountain Hunters delivered and was not 100% sure I purchased the right size (I had not done the custom fitting process). I spoke directly to James Lathrop, who spent a lot of time and multiple calls talking to me about how they felt. He had me take measurements of my feet and even looked at photos of my feet compared to the insoles to make sure things looked good…and all this on a Friday evening when I didn’t expect to get a call from anyone in customer service let alone a company owner. If these boots are half as good in the hills as the service my next pair will be L&S as well.

 

[DenimChicken]

Please post a follow up when you get some miles on them. I've seen plenty of guys saying the customer service was great and a few saying they got ghosted when they had issues. I don't have a dog in the fight but always good to hear about companies doing the right thing, and the long term outcome.

 

[Rhinocesaurus]

I’ve been meaning to look at their stuff, appreciate the feedback, I’ll have to take a look soon.

 

[RuggedYogi]

I also had a great experience with L&S customer service when looking to purchase boots. I’m now on my second season with a pair Mountain Hunters and they are my favorite boots by far.

 

[doverpack12]

They have sure treated me right.

Ordered the custom system December 2020, inventory and shipping issues plus a size exchange and September 2021 I finally had the right size but still no insole due to material availability. November 2021 I get the insoles and boots were forced into service due to snow and cold, my other boots don’t cut it in those conditions. All was well. End the season happy feet feel good. Talked with James because I had a few little spots that pushed on my feet. I think I sent them back and he worked on them.
September 2022 I break them out freshly cleaned and treated with grangers paste wax 3 times. Rough terrain pounding miles, feet are doing great, second weekend we get a bunch of rain and nearly instantly my feet are sloshing in the boots, had gaiters and rain pants on, I don’t hide when it rains, I keep hunting.
Several more times during the season they leaked bad and took 3-4 days to dry out changing socks 2-3 times a day.
Late September they were awesome on a friends mountain goat hunt. Nasty steep country and my feet were very happy.
I used them In the snow and very cold.
After season sometime In January I talked with James. We discussed expectations of waterproof longevity and I had a pressure point develop under my big toes. He has me send them in and ends up warrantying the boots as they leaked and had one good season of real use with 200 or so miles on them. My expectation is 2 good waterproof years, if I get a 3rd I’m ecstatic.
He had me keep the old boots, and worked through the big toe pressure point by adding an arch pad, that moved it forward and decreased so next we add a heel cup, somehow someway that did it. He says my foot needed some help getting through the gait cycle.
My new replacement boots with insoles that have built in arch and heel lift are in the mail as of Wednesday this week.
That to me is service. James has limits and nothing is waterproof forever but he’s a good honest guy that has worked very hard to make my feet happy.
I paid for the original boots with custom fitting system and since I’ve only paid to ship the pair back that was warrantied. They provided shipping labels and covered return shipping to me the other 2 times plus this new pair and shipping my originals back to me so we could work on the insoles.

Waterproofness is still a big question, but the boots flat perform on all other aspects and I this the service side of things is as good as it gets.


To add onto the service my father in law just had a pair warrantied that had the stitching come undone back by the heel after 4 seasons of use alongside me. 800-900 miles.

 

[Radosilver]

Short Term Review: I used the Mountain Hunters on a CO archery hunt last month. Overall, I really like the boots now that they've been through one hunt. They are very comfortable and have great support. I have always had issues with rolling my left ankle. Typically at least once or twice a day I step over a log or rock and roll it over to some extent. On steep sidehills I roll it constantly. But, I only recall doing this once in the Lathrop boots. So, I'm very happy with the support. They also kept my feet bone dry on a 3 mile slog through wet grass and underbrush after an afternoon storm soaked things. My brother's new Hanwags soaked through that afternoon. Bottom line, after one hunt I really like them. Hopefully that continues through the next few.

I will be doing something with the insoles, however. I went with the L&S Synergy footbeds (standard non-orthotic) and had L&S fit them to the boots. I really liked the feel of the insoles the first few days and preseason, but by the end of the hunt the bottoms of my feet were pretty sore. In fairness, I did not do as much preseason hiking as normal due to tweaking a knee and having a newborn at home. So, my feet were definitely not conditioned as well as they should have been. But, I still think I need a little bit thicker insole. I believe with the L&S customs they can make them a little thicker. So, I may try going that route because I really liked the feel of the Synergy footbeds the first few days while my feet were fresh.

I did get a blister on my right heel the first day. Again, this was mostly my fault as I felt the boot rubbing in the first half mile of our hike, but was wearing gaiters and did not want to stop to re-lace because the rub felt minor, and I didn't think it would be enough to cause a blister before we got to the top of the mountain. Dumb decision. But, the good news was after a strip of moleskin and two pieces of Leukotape I felt no pain the rest of the week.

Overall, these are extremely well built boots and very comfortable. I've used Kenetreks (Mountain Hunters & Guides), Crispi Colorados, and Lowa Hunters in the past. This is not a knock on the other boots, as I think they are all very well built and high quality, but the Lathrop Mountain Hunters strike me as the highest quality built boot out of that bunch. And for my feet, they are the best I've tried so far. If I had done a better job putting miles on preseason and not being too lazy to stop and re-lace the first morning I don't think I would have had the issues with the blister or soreness.

 

[JMM1990]

Currently using the Lathrop and Sons mountain hunter encompass boot. I will definitely buy another pair when the time comes, couldn't be happier with the overall fit and comfort of the boot. Great customer service.

 

[AC Kantor]

L&S provides amazing service. James was excellent through the buying process.