Good boots for on-trail, even ground hiking.

By Anodos Ranked #29 - Men's Backpacking Boots January 13, 2012

As these are the boots that outdoor stores and customers rave about, I bought a pair in 2010 and put a year of hard use in the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania hiking on and off trail as well as working and hunting in them. While they were a lot nicer than the Danners I had before, after one year of use the stitching on the seams on the inside of the boots broke and I returned them. For the price and reputation, I expected these to last much more than a year.

The Good: Good tread and shock absorption design. Good quality leather uppers, totally waterproof. With replacement inserts, these were quite comfortable.

The Not-So-Good: Lateral support in these was less than stellar, resulting in my ankles rolling many times over my year of using these. Not what you should expect from a mid-height, "No Messing Around" boot designed to carry "heavy loads with ease."

On the inside of the boot, there are two seams that will rub on anything that slides up your boot (mostly rocks around here). This would be minimized by staying on trails, but really, if you're investing in "serious footwear" you're probably not staying on the trail, so you're likely to run into the same problem I had. I replaced these with boots that had minimal exposed seams and a rubber rand going around the whole lower edge of the foot (and much better lateral support).

Bottom Line: If you're really going for serious footwear for serious backpacking, there are a lot of better options for the same price range. It would be wise to hold features, design, and quality in higher regard in your decision making process than reviews.

View Details: Asolo TPS 520 GV Boot - Men's

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