Back on bushwalking boots

[sthughes]

I'm actually tempted to carry two different shoes on extended trips in the future. A lightweight boot like the ZG Scarpas, and a lightweight shoe like an Inov8. The thing I have noticed with the boots is that they excel in terrain walking, but they are not so good when faced with kms of flat hard surface walking on paths and roads. Given that I carry Crocs already for camp and creeks, If I leave those behind the weight penalty is about 400g. Hmm.

I agree wearing boots on roads & footpaths etc. is not the best. If you are on that sort of ground why not just wear the crocs? I find mine comfy to walk in all over the place so long as grip, sole rigidity & waterproofness is not required.

[ollster]

Paddy Pallin have the older SL M3 on special for $299

Hmmn, I'm in Hbt and we've lost our PP...

[Ent]

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[sthughes]

I am still looking for Crocs or similar for a camp shoe and water crossing shoe. What do such beasts weigh? I am using the polar fleece S2S slippers for hut and tent wear but are not suitable for the slog to the toliet on a wet night and/or soaked track.

Check out this topic http://bushwalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=1407

[photohiker]

Crocs weigh a little over 330g the pair (well, mine do, the soles are worn though)

sthughes, I have thought of that, but I'm not sure it's a good idea as I expect they will wear out quickly given any prolonged use. The foot retaining strap is also an issue, maybe one of the other Croc styles would be better.

Everything is a compromise...

[johnw]

I am now breaking in a pair of the old model Treks and find the usual stiffness of leather compressing the top of my foot until it soften ups which it is doing nicely. I figure it takes around 200 to 500 km to break in a pair of the older style Scarpas

Before leaving for Tasmania last month I suspended breaking in the Scarpa Treks that I bought for 1/2 price. I left them at home and took different boots with me. With the Treks, I've found that the right one is breaking in nicely and is quite comfortable. However the leather in the left one has proven to be much stiffer and very reluctant to yield. The two boots are now visibly different; the right has plenty of creasing at the flex points, but the left one looks almost like it has never been worn . I found that the left one was starting to give me some soreness, and even slight bruising on top of the left foot following one walk. I wanted to SnoSeal them anyway, so have done that now and expect to resume breaking them in shortly. Hopefully the left boot will become more compliant soon.

[Dazza45]

Hi folks -- this is a first post from me although I have been following this site for a while. The issue of boots always seems to be an item of discussion whenever I come across serious walkers. During the 1980's I tried various makes of boots and settled on a pair of Scarpa Treks. They have now done a lot of walking and the soles are smoothand have been relegated to "work boots" around our orchard on the slopes of the Snowy Mountains in southern NSW. A couple of years ago I decided to replace them and after looking around bought a pair of Scarpa Pro-Treks from PP in Canberra (Treks were no longer available). They were size 42XX (the wide fitting) the same as my old Treks and although they felt tight I was convinced by the young lass working there that they would get better. However they didn't. Later I visited PP's during a trip to Melbourne and the young bloke who served me seemed to know what he was talking about and told me that to get a good fit in Pro Trek you need to go one size up on old Treks. So I ended up with size 43XX and they felt OK. After a few walks I gave them the treatment that I gave my original Scarpas 20 years ago. I filled them up with warm water - put on some thick socks, laced them up and worked around the orchard all day letting them dry on my feet. I gave some dressing and repeated the execise a week later. They now fit like a glove and I wear them a lot. They are terrific. I am sure that Scarpa don't recommend such treatment but it works. By the way have just spent 10 days walking around parts of NW Tassie however next time we are going to bring our own verandah with us. I have never seen such rain. Trust us to come the 4th wettest winter on record. However we had a great time.

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[Penguin]

... and told me that to get a good fit in Pro Trek you need to go one size up on old Treks...

As mentioned found much the same thing with the SL compared to the original so now I am size 49. Also I brought a pair of the original Treks in the size 48 and they fit well. Tried out the Scarpa labelled foot measuring device and I am right on the upper end of 48 so the toe box shape is the critical issue to decide between a pair of 48 or 49. Great you got a sales person that understood this. Hope others on this site can confirm the same. As said a lot of bad press on solid boots comes from poor fitting advice. Still wonder why boot manufactures tend to like excessively pointed boots rather than the squarer toe box on say the "original" Rossi Falcons.

Cheers Brett

As we talked about on the last walk Brett, the toe box is my problem...do we all have problems? Are we all special? I just have tall, fat toes but narrow feet. If I go up a size I swim in boots.

The good news on my Scarpa Rangers is that I wandered around town today for about 5km's with a pack on my back and no heal blisters with no tape. Yeah!! This has taken about three months of breaking, painful breaking in. According to my podiatrist my heal protrudes backward a a few more mm than average. The modern trend in boots is to have a flattish back of the. By filling the boots with water a couple of times, letting them stand and then going for a walk seems to have allowed me to alter the shape of the rear of the boot enough. The other trick my podiatrist gave me was to use a hairdryer to warm the plastic piece in the heal and then walk. This has helped a bit too. The fit on the rest of the foot has been good and I have not had any quality control problems yet. These are Italina manufacture, what ever that may mena as I have friends with older FIAT's and Alfa's.

My first long walk will tell. I am looking forward to seeing how the slightly more flexible sole and lighter boot (these are 200gms lighter each compared to my old boots) go.

P

[blacksheep]

brett scarpa slM3 in size 47 or 48 BXX...I can get you some for new for $200 if you are keen.

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[blacksheep]

i think i can get 49's.
will let youn knoe

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[blacksheep]

Brett- can so 47-50 bx, or 48-49 bxx. will do you 2 pr for $400. tempted?

[Ent]

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[Lagaro]

IMHO Scarpa is a good brand to stick with, sure some of their stuff is now made in Romania instead of Italy but I still find the boots to be long lasters!
I have had 2 pairs of Scarpa's over 9 years walking with about 20 - 30 km's every third weekend on the first pair which I only replaced because
of my shamefull lusting after my current pair of Scarpa ZG10
My ZG10 did not require any wearing in! They are only a couple of years old and no undue signs of wear!
They perform as well as any boot in the wet (My gaiters seem to prevent deep water going into my boots so height isn't an issue) but when their wet they are still comfortable to walk in and don't trap water.

PS - As far as waterproof boots go; I dont believe it is possible to cross the Lodden Plains and not get wet socks

[Son of a Beach]

My father tends to be a bit of a cheapskate, and has just bought his new boots from K-Mart for $69. He has serious trouble finding boots to fit, because he has wide feet (same as many complaints here). He loves these new boots so much, and they fit so well for his very wide feet, that he's considering buying a second pair soon, in case they're no longer available when he needs more later. He figures that he's going to do so little walking in the rest of his life, that these will be the last pair of boots he'll ever buy. He'll probably use these more for things other than bushwalking.

Today he just emailed me the details of them: Jackaroo "Industrial Hiker" (Blaze - the high ankle model). By the look of the logo they are the people who make Jackaroo BBQs. The box says they conform to Australia and New Zealand standards (and lists a couple of standards numbers) . I don't think I'd ever trust a pair of cheap K-Mart boots for serious walking, but has anybody else seen or used these? (For bushwalking or otherwise).