Narrower boot options?

[JeffRaines]

I have B width feet, Besides a specific B width pair of Redwings, my best-fitting boots have been women's models. My size 9.5 in men's equals 11 women's. Lots of brands in this size available @ Sierra Trading Post.

Oh dude trust me I’ve already looked into that.

I have 10.5s as measured numerous times(and also confirmed this morning) and I haven’t found a boot yet in a woman’s size that is that size.

 

[fiskeri1]

I may check these out. The regular MEs were working for me until I lost 30 pounds, and I think I went from a regular width(or closer to it anyway) to a narrow in this timeframe.


Any particular models stand out?

For Scarpa I'm a huge fan of the Mont Blanc Pro GTX in steep/rocky terrain. But it may be too much for your purposes. I just got a pair of Zodiac Plus GTX and so far they're working ok for my narrow/high-arch feet but have not pushed them yet.

In La Sportiva I've been happy with the Makalu model though the sizing seems small even for my feet.

 

[magnum44270]

Schnees run narrower

 

[JeffRaines]

Schnees run narrower

I didn’t think so. At least I felt like I had a boatload of room in the toebox of the Timberlines I tried. Maybe them in a half size smaller might be something good.

 

[Mike 338]

+1 on the Lowa Camino's. Might need to go 1/2 size up.

 

[huntercole]

Please report back on how you like the Crispis. I have narrow feet also and have been eyeing the Dakota or the Summit.

 

[PantherCity]

I have a low volume/narrow size 11.5 foot and I like the Lowa Caminos. I’ve tried the kenetrek on at a show and the eyelets were nearly touching. They told me about their narrow sizing, but I didn’t want to roll the dice and order some $500 boots with out trying them on.

Edit: I had mistakenly stated Schnees instead of Kenetrek in my original post. I edit to make the correction.


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[JeffRaines]

Please report back on how you like the Crispis. I have narrow feet also and have been eyeing the Dakota or the Summit.

All the Crispis feel nice as far as construction goes.The Summits were the "smallest" ones I've tried so far, but they really dug into my heels and squeezed my arches to death. At least for me they weren't comfortable.

I currently have the Valdres, Guide and Idaho but they're likely all going back. Theres too much slop in them and even insoles don't take it up.

I have a low volume/narrow size 11.5 foot and I like the Lowa Caminos. I’ve tried the schnees on at a show and the eyelets were nearly touching. They told me about their narrow sizing, but I didn’t want to roll the dice and order some $500 boots with out trying them on.


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I was unaware that they offered narrow sizing! At least they don't online.

 

[PantherCity]

All the Crispis feel nice as far as construction goes.The Summits were the "smallest" ones I've tried so far, but they really dug into my heels and squeezed my arches to death. At least for me they weren't comfortable.

I currently have the Valdres, Guide and Idaho but they're likely all going back. Theres too much slop in them and even insoles don't take it up.


I was unaware that they offered narrow sizing! At least they don't online.

I think I misremember and it was kenetrek that had the narrows sizing. The schnees just didn’t work


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[ndbuck09]

I have a narrow low volume foot. Last summer I purchased no less than 12 pairs of boots of various brands after my La Sportiva Trango Cube's were warranted for the goretex failing. Over the previous 5 years I've only run la sportiva boots and the fits have been perfect for my foot. Omega GTX's and a couple pairs of the Trango Cubes. I love the trango Cube's fit but haven't had good luck on them being water tight for cold rainy days.

Anyway, I bought various Scarpas, the Kuiu Scarpas, Schnees Granite Pros, La Sportiva Nepal Cubes. I will tell you the Schnees were massive volume and width. The Scarpa's with the built in gaitor were too loose in the ankle for hunting plus higher volume than the La Sportivas, the scarpa charmoz OD was a similiar fit to the La Sportiva volume and narrowness, the scarpa grand dru has much more volume and width than La Sportiva. The Nepal Cubes fit me the best out of the box and although they are at the stiffest end of normal boots, I was going to go with these but ended up sticking with a half size too small and my first trip in them tore up my heel because they were too small. I've always worn a 43 in la sportiva but dumbly went with 42.5 in the Nepals. Anyway, when I wanted to move to the 43's, backcountry didn't have any in stock and I was going to get store credit for the boots that I had used but was going to return. So, in the end I went with the Grand Dru's because I was going to alaska and wanted a silicone impregnated leather boot rather than synthetic (great decision btw on the leather).

The grand drus are much higher volume and not as narrow so I had to put in a green superfeet which took up some of the volume. I have to really work to get them tight enough in the forefoot and I definitely notice a touch less precise fit that la sportivas, but it is what I had to do with a trip coming up hot last year. I ran the grand drus all fall after caribou hunting and probably put over 100 miles on them throughout. They are bullet proof, way warmer than synthetic, have never leaked, even in snow, tussocks and soaked alaskan ground day in day out, and multiple days of rain during the fall and spring. With that said, I wish La Sportiva would make the Trango cube in a perwanger silicone leather. Would be the perfect boot for me.

My plan is to pick up either the Scarpa Charmoz OD or a new pair of Trango Cubes for summer time mountain travels, then use the Grand Drus when I'm going out in colder temps, or bad weather forecasts here in Idaho. The Charmoz fit really well, narrow and low volume and I would have gone with them originally had it not been that I was going to alaska last year.

 

[kad11]

Fwiw, the Garmont Tower Trek in 13 felt lower volume/ narrower than Scarpa Charmoz in 46.5 eu or Salewa Crow in 13. The Garmonts aren't nearly as stiff as the other two. Kenetrek ME in 12 fits me perfectly except for the poor heel lock.

Finding the right boots for the right application is a pain...

 

[JeffRaines]

What I wish is that I had someone who was an experienced boot fitter to ask questions to that wasn’t affiliated with any boot companies. Someone I could discuss fit with, what to expect, what to look for and what red flags are out there.

The people at Kenetrek seem knowledgeable but obviously those guys have a stake in selling you their product.

Anyone out there meet this description that doesn’t mind lending an ear? Lol

 

[wesGiddingshunt]

Check out the hanwag makra. Great boot.

 

[duchntr]

Go to a mountaineering shop, try on all there boots, If thats not an option order a bunch from zappos wear them around your house send back the ones you dont like. The pairs of Lowe and zamberlin ive tried did not have narrow lasts.As stated above Id look to Scarpa and Lasportva.

 

[wind gypsy]

Jeff, I've fought with this for years with low volume feet.

As far as I know all the main mountaineering boot makers use different lasts for different models and to further confuse things, change lasts within a given model year to year. Saying brand x fits a certain way is misleading.

La Sportiva - Trango last is very precise and a good fit for low volume feet. Nepal last is quite a bit more roomy. I have euro model karakorum GTX boots with nepal last that still work well with my feet, likely what I'l use for a dall hunt.

Scarpa - Lots of different lasts and have good info on each on their website. Charmoz GTX tore me up, new charmoz with outdry have a different, lower volume last. Seemingly have more "techinical" or low volume lasts in newer models that work well with low volume feet. A lot of these stiffer/lightweight models don't have a ton of ankle support though.

Zamberlan - Have numerous different lasts. The 980s are the best all around (primarily MT elk hunt in my case) mountain boot I have tried out of the dozen or so models I've bought in the last 4 or 5 years. I'd say they are on the low side of medium volume but middle of the road still. The new 961 and 981 sound like nice boots too!

Crispi - Most models I've tried are downright sloppy fitting on me but the Briksdal is about perfect besides the heel cup not being quite deep enough for me.

Salewa - only tried on crow/raven and they seemed mid to lowish volume. I had heel slip with them in the store so never gave them a real world try.

Hanwag - Alaskas are pretty high volume in the uppers and wouldn't come close to keeping my heel in place. Had a pair of Ankash (euro model) that worked well with low volume feet. Not sure on Makra.

 

[JeffRaines]

Jeff, I've fought with this for years with low volume feet.

As far as I know all the main mountaineering boot makers use different lasts for different models and to further confuse things, change lasts within a given model year to year. Saying brand x fits a certain way is misleading.

La Sportiva - Trango last is very precise and a good fit for low volume feet. Nepal last is quite a bit more roomy. I have euro model karakorum GTX boots with nepal last that still work well with my feet, likely what I'l use for a dall hunt.

Scarpa - Lots of different lasts and have good info on each on their website. Charmoz GTX tore me up, new charmoz with outdry have a different, lower volume last. Seemingly have more "techinical" or low volume lasts in newer models that work well with low volume feet. A lot of these stiffer/lightweight models don't have a ton of ankle support though.

Zamberlan - Have numerous different lasts. The 980s are the best all around (primarily MT elk hunt in my case) mountain boot I have tried out of the dozen or so models I've bought in the last 4 or 5 years. I'd say they are on the low side of medium volume but middle of the road still. The new 961 and 981 sound like nice boots too!

Crispi - Most models I've tried are downright sloppy fitting on me but the Briksdal is about perfect besides the heel cup not being quite deep enough for me.

Salewa - only tried on crow/raven and they seemed mid to lowish volume. I had heel slip with them in the store so never gave them a real world try.

Hanwag - Alaskas are pretty high volume in the uppers and wouldn't come close to keeping my heel in place. Had a pair of Ankash (euro model) that worked well with low volume feet. Not sure on Makra.

I have a pair of 960 Guides that should be here tomorrow... I actually already ordered and received a pair, but they were a size too small due to me following the sizing chart on Zamberlan and ordering from a different site that had them listed for US sizes. I also have a pair of Dakotas and Briksdals arriving today(along with about 4 pairs going back). I found the Crispis the same as you - most are sloppy.

Funny you mention the Alaskas because I'm wearing a pair of those at this very moment. I got the volume under control on these but I'm still experiencing some heel slip.

What I've noticed is that I can get a boot feeling okay around the house, then after about 30 minutes(or a half mile on the trail) they just get sloppy... or in the case of these hanwags, they feel great until I hit an incline and its slop city.

Its somewhat confusing for me because to be honest, I've never had an actual pair of boots(aside from Quests and they are very different from any of these) 'work' so I don't know whats what... I don't know what will eventually "break in"(if there even is such a thing) and what things that are deal breakers... so its hard to know what to spend my time in and what to just box up and send back. Obviously extremely sloppy boots won't work, but what about heel slip? Seems some folks think 0 is good, some folks think a little is okay, and some think that boots slip until they break in? Its all so damn ambiguous, and honestly quite confusing for someone who doesn't know jack.

 

[Phaseolus]

Here is Lowa’s narrow and wide website. https://www.lowaboots.com/mens/narrow-wide-widths

I also have B width feet. I really like the Renegades in Narrow for a lighter boot. They do seem to wear out faster than some others because they have a lot of seams, but I put a lot of hard miles on them, I get two years of use out of them. I called and talked with Lowa and they recomended the Camino as being narrow. I bough a pair and love them also. The Camino is more heavy duty than the Renegades, i rotate between the two boots based on terrain and weight carried.

 

[bertha]

Loving this thread, very interesting discussion

 

[wind gypsy]

I have a pair of 960 Guides that should be here tomorrow... I actually already ordered and received a pair, but they were a size too small due to me following the sizing chart on Zamberlan and ordering from a different site that had them listed for US sizes. I also have a pair of Dakotas and Briksdals arriving today(along with about 4 pairs going back). I found the Crispis the same as you - most are sloppy.

Funny you mention the Alaskas because I'm wearing a pair of those at this very moment. I got the volume under control on these but I'm still experiencing some heel slip.

What I've noticed is that I can get a boot feeling okay around the house, then after about 30 minutes(or a half mile on the trail) they just get sloppy... or in the case of these hanwags, they feel great until I hit an incline and its slop city.

Its somewhat confusing for me because to be honest, I've never had an actual pair of boots(aside from Quests and they are very different from any of these) 'work' so I don't know whats what... I don't know what will eventually "break in"(if there even is such a thing) and what things that are deal breakers... so its hard to know what to spend my time in and what to just box up and send back. Obviously extremely sloppy boots won't work, but what about heel slip? Seems some folks think 0 is good, some folks think a little is okay, and some think that boots slip until they break in? Its all so damn ambiguous, and honestly quite confusing for someone who doesn't know jack.

Good stuff man. As far as heel slip - to me it depends on the boot. In Hanwag alaskas it's just too much period. In boots like various Sportiva trango models, a little slip didn't hurt a thing.

You can get into a situation where heels wont move around in a boot but it will have a lot of pressure against the back or top of your heels and in turn tear up your heel way faster than something with a some heel lift but minimal pressure against the heel.

In the end, getting mountaineering boot type stiffness without tearing up feet has been a unicorn for me.. These are as close as I've come but had to buy them online from a european retailer. https://www.lasportiva.com/en/karakorum-hc-gtx

 

[JeffRaines]

I've been feeling like my socks are a little sloppy too, so I just went and picked up a pair of the next size down... while there, I had them throw me on their brannock to confirm my measurements. Sure enough, both feet are in between narrow and regular but closer to narrow... now heres the kicker - I also lost a half size. I used to be 10.5, now I'm just a 10.

This explains why a lot of the boots have been sloppy. I don't think I'd take a 10 in these Hanwags because the 10.5 seems about right length-wise. But everything else.... man.

At least I have another avenue to try.

edit - just tried on the 9.5 960s I have, and while they're definitely not long enough, I think a half size up might do the trick. Too bad I have a 10.5 arriving tomorrow. Maybe i'll just order a 10 too.