Heavy Duty all purpose boot
Picked these boots up for a 10 day backpack trip in the North Cascade Mountains, and they performed flawlessly. On past backpacking trips in the Cascades in the fall I've experienced some pretty wet weather and I wanted to find a boot that would be impervious to the elements and these delivered. Any concerns about the boot being too much for a trip involving miles of trail use were put to rest when I used them carrying a heavy pack. My pack started out at around 70+ lbs. and the boots more than made up for any extra weight or stiffness in the sole by the comfort and support they provided carrying this load, and they felt quite flexible when carrying the extra weight. One of the main reasons I wanted a boot like this besides dealing with weather (which here in the fall can involve cold rainy conditions for days on end and occasional snow) was that I wanted a boot well equipped for carrying a pack off trail also. Carrying a fully loaded pack off trail over connecting ridges and passes is heavy duty work and you want to be sure of your footing traversing high heather on steep pitches over sheer drops. These boots were amazing. I had to use the right insoles for my feet as a pair of the Sole inserts caused the back of my heel to rub painfully, just how they filled up the volume and the way they situated my foot. I settled on a trusty pair of green Superfeet. My experience with most boots is that I need to spend some time getting my feet toughened up in preparation for any heavy use. I tried some other boots like the La Sportiva Nepals, which I thought were the best boots I'd ever seen for my purposes, but the shape of them didn't quite work for my foot. One thing I liked about these boots is that the inside cushioning is very unobtrusive, unlike on some other boots I tried, meaning that if there was any movement with my heel, there was no stiff ridges of cushioning to rub against. I thought that these boots worked best for me carrying a pack, but they also performed very well exploring off trail without a pack also. I think I will choose them for general climbing many times also. The Vibram Teton sole is the best I've ever experienced, comparable to the sole on the Nepal Evo's, as they provided flawless grip on all surfaces. Not much is written about these boots, so it was a bit of a blind purchase, but I did read one review which cautions against how warm the boots are relative to not having a removable liner, etc. but for the hotter parts of my hike, I had minimal issues. It seems that the tongue does a good job of transporting moisture. For hotter temperatures the warmth of these boots will be an issue, but for me not a deal breaker. I will probably use these boots for most any backpacking I do in the future. These are by far the nicest boots I've ever used, and once I got used to wearing them, they were also very very comfortable. I've considered getting a second pair simply because it can be such a daunting task dialing in a pair of heavy duty boots, and you can't count on them staying the same indefinitely.