The boot thread

[Kevington]

If I designed a boot they’d look more or less like those.

[Kevington]

Alidas boots?

If you mean Adidas then yeah I tried them but the pressure on top of the foot was crazy. Might break in but it’s yet another experiment. Although I did find a sport shop in the UK with most sizes of Tactical ADV for £100.

[Kevington]

Thanks for the input everyone. I now have a shortlist of boots to try to try on:
Salomon Echo Boa or Lace
K2 Orton
Adidas Tactical or Acerra

[sinned]

On the Tactical ADVs/Lexicons you can re-lace the boot lower and also skip the external heel hold-down lace loops. This completely solved the top/instep pressure for me -- so that may be worth a try if you go Adidas. I eventually lace the loops back up after things break in to my liking.

For me, the Acerra 3ST have no problem with top/instep pressure when new. I have the blue models.

[eleveneightnate]

Yep, Acerras are good to go. Just super hard to find now... I've seen a few on eBay.

[C.Fuzzy]

Boots. What a total nightmare.

The Infuse I got cheap are too small even though they are the same mondo size (275)I had other boots fit well in. Vans have a rounded toe box that makes the boot longest in the middle. My foot is longest at the big toe so I can’t fit my mondo size. I got 280 mondo Hi-country and the length works but there is a lot of width and overall volume so they will break in too sloppy.
Conclusion: Vans don’t work for me.

The best fit I’ve had is in Ride Fuse. I replaced them but they had changed the ankle boa and there were sharp bits of hardware inside the shell that did a number on my ankles. In general heel lock boa boots tend to have some form of this and the potential problems that come with it. Nidecker worked fit wise but exploded after 20 days so they are probably out of the picture.

I’m really back to square one here. I’ve heard that K2 are made on the same last as Ride so they might work. Does anyone know about this or have any recommendations for a 7 or 8/10 stiffness boot. Preferably lace but I could do double boa as long as it’s not a heel lock system. No weird plastic parts inside is important.

Check out the new K2 Orton. I've been on Ride boots for a while and they do not fit the same. I've got 28.5 Ride Tridents and Insanos. The 28.5 Orton is way bigger. I feel I might be able to wear a 27.5, but probably would settle for a 28. The redesign of the boot is great. Legit 8 out 10 stiffness.

They look pretty decent actually. I’d like to try them in a shop. Zip shroud gaiter things are trending hard I see. The zipper came straight off in my hand on the Hi country I bought and I doubt I’d be able to change a lace without cutting the gaiter off. Seems unnecessary to me but I’m not a big backcountry guy. I can only guess it has some function when you spend a lot of time hiking.

Yeah. Got this on my new vans verse... dunno, I guess if you're postholen' up a powdery aspect it would prevent some snow from falling into the boot. But for 99.9 of everyone else it's just going to get in the way. Make it like an external tongue that goes over the laces that can get pulled out of the way easier. Removeable at that.

I haven't used the boots though, so maybe it's a non-issue.

[Oldhead]

The Information Garage? Please enlighten

[casjcade]

Check out the new K2 Orton. I've been on Ride boots for a while and they do not fit the same. I've got 28.5 Ride Tridents and Insanos. The 28.5 Orton is way bigger. I feel I might be able to wear a 27.5, but probably would settle for a 28. The redesign of the boot is great. Legit 8 out 10 stiffness.

They look pretty decent actually. I’d like to try them in a shop. Zip shroud gaiter things are trending hard I see. The zipper came straight off in my hand on the Hi country I bought and I doubt I’d be able to change a lace without cutting the gaiter off. Seems unnecessary to me but I’m not a big backcountry guy. I can only guess it has some function when you spend a lot of time hiking.

Yeah. Got this on my new vans verse... dunno, I guess if you're postholen' up a powdery aspect it would prevent some snow from falling into the boot. But for 99.9 of everyone else it's just going to get in the way. Make it like an external tongue that goes over the laces that can get pulled out of the way easier. Removeable at that.

I haven't used the boots though, so maybe it's a non-issue.

They prevent ice building up, and it makes the boot warmer.

[C.Fuzzy]

They look pretty decent actually. I’d like to try them in a shop. Zip shroud gaiter things are trending hard I see. The zipper came straight off in my hand on the Hi country I bought and I doubt I’d be able to change a lace without cutting the gaiter off. Seems unnecessary to me but I’m not a big backcountry guy. I can only guess it has some function when you spend a lot of time hiking.

Yeah. Got this on my new vans verse... dunno, I guess if you're postholen' up a powdery aspect it would prevent some snow from falling into the boot. But for 99.9 of everyone else it's just going to get in the way. Make it like an external tongue that goes over the laces that can get pulled out of the way easier. Removeable at that.

I haven't used the boots though, so maybe it's a non-issue.

They prevent ice building up, and it makes the boot warmer.

Neat for y'all poor circulation folks.

Meanwhile my feet sweat like they're 13 and mom is trying to find their search history.

personally, I've never had an issue with ice build up either. But I'm real careful not to pee on my boots.

In any event, I'm sure it's fine. But not solving any problems for me, but possibly could make one if it's a pita when it comes to replacing a boa. *fingers crossed*

[scrub]

I like the idea of the gaiter but I’ve never tried boots with one. I do a lot of hiking in deep, wetter PNW snow and find that snow makes it’s way between my liner and shell which in turn leads to mold and stinky.