Well here we go again...I've been running the Kenetrek Mountain Extreme 400gr insulate for the past 6 years. The first 2 years in them were absolute hell with the worst heel blisters I've ever had in my life. Living in Bozeman at the time I was able to take them into Carters Boot to have them punched out in heal area 7 times (the only place certified to work on them, even Kenetrek uses carters for repairs). The next 3 years the boots were great after trying multiple sets of foot beds with the occasional hot spot on my little toe after long days in wet conditions however they were falling apart in numerous areas. The rand was bubbling/peeling, the heal lacing seperated and was sewed and glued back in place, the rubber kick plate on the toe was separating and was regularly being glued back on. I could only wear my Kenetreks with the one type of Darn Tough Socks, anything else and I would get heel slippage and blisters.
Due to a work relocation and moving I had zero archery season. Now that rifle season is here I hit the hills hard and by the end of my 10.5 mile day had a horrible hot spot on my left heel. When I got back to the truck I put my crocs on for the drive home and had a blister the size of a quarter on the inside of my left heel. I took a good look at my boots and they are pretty much shot... My kenetrek theory is they either work for you or don't and if they don't they will take 2 years to break in, create massive blisters and pain, ruin hunts then by the time they are broken in they have fallen apart. I'm convinced the picture on the home page of Lathrop & Sons of the blisters are from Kenetreks.
So I ordered up a pair of the Schnees Granite VI 600gr, Lowa Hunter GTX Evo Extreme 200gr, and Crispi Guide GTX 200gr. The plan is to see what feels good around the house and send the rest back. This being the case I'm a little nervous about 600gr of insulation being too much and the 200's being not enough. The only thing I ever really liked about the Kenetreks were the fact that they were a 400gr insulation which was perfect from -20 to 50 degrees. I was temped to go back to Danners as I have several pairs that I use for both work and daily wear. I've had Danners for just about everything the last 15 years but the Danner Canadians that I use to use for hunting just don't offer enough ankle support while sidehilling in steep terrain with a load on my back. As you can imagine I'm pretty upset to be dealing with this going into rifle season, obviously not the ideal time to be figuring out a boot situation. The one boot I didn't order but might is the Crispi Wild Rock 400gr, if anybody has any experience with these please share!
I'm writing this to hopefully help some other guys out that are in the same situation or will be looking for new boots in the future. My foot is pretty flat and a little on the wide side. I'll keep up with this post and write the pros and cons of what I find with the boots I ordered and keep you guys posted. Hopefully people don't take this as a bashing towards Kenetrek but out of the 4 other hunting buddies I know running Kenetreks they have the same problems (we did all buy these the same year). I only ever used the Kenetrek brand leather treatment and the rubber rand shriveled, the toe box shrank and narrowed (probably what caused my little toes to get a hotspot), Never left them near direct heat or had the foot heater on in the truck too high which I was told would void the Kenetrek warranty. I wanted to love the Kenetreks and tried everything from taping/mole skin, 2 pairs of socks, different footbeds, different socks, lacing techniques. You name it I tried it but enough is enough time to cut my losses and move on. So here I sit missing a day of my already too short of a season letting my heel heal.
Sorry about the rant, I'll keep you guys posted.
Due to a work relocation and moving I had zero archery season. Now that rifle season is here I hit the hills hard and by the end of my 10.5 mile day had a horrible hot spot on my left heel. When I got back to the truck I put my crocs on for the drive home and had a blister the size of a quarter on the inside of my left heel. I took a good look at my boots and they are pretty much shot... My kenetrek theory is they either work for you or don't and if they don't they will take 2 years to break in, create massive blisters and pain, ruin hunts then by the time they are broken in they have fallen apart. I'm convinced the picture on the home page of Lathrop & Sons of the blisters are from Kenetreks.
So I ordered up a pair of the Schnees Granite VI 600gr, Lowa Hunter GTX Evo Extreme 200gr, and Crispi Guide GTX 200gr. The plan is to see what feels good around the house and send the rest back. This being the case I'm a little nervous about 600gr of insulation being too much and the 200's being not enough. The only thing I ever really liked about the Kenetreks were the fact that they were a 400gr insulation which was perfect from -20 to 50 degrees. I was temped to go back to Danners as I have several pairs that I use for both work and daily wear. I've had Danners for just about everything the last 15 years but the Danner Canadians that I use to use for hunting just don't offer enough ankle support while sidehilling in steep terrain with a load on my back. As you can imagine I'm pretty upset to be dealing with this going into rifle season, obviously not the ideal time to be figuring out a boot situation. The one boot I didn't order but might is the Crispi Wild Rock 400gr, if anybody has any experience with these please share!
I'm writing this to hopefully help some other guys out that are in the same situation or will be looking for new boots in the future. My foot is pretty flat and a little on the wide side. I'll keep up with this post and write the pros and cons of what I find with the boots I ordered and keep you guys posted. Hopefully people don't take this as a bashing towards Kenetrek but out of the 4 other hunting buddies I know running Kenetreks they have the same problems (we did all buy these the same year). I only ever used the Kenetrek brand leather treatment and the rubber rand shriveled, the toe box shrank and narrowed (probably what caused my little toes to get a hotspot), Never left them near direct heat or had the foot heater on in the truck too high which I was told would void the Kenetrek warranty. I wanted to love the Kenetreks and tried everything from taping/mole skin, 2 pairs of socks, different footbeds, different socks, lacing techniques. You name it I tried it but enough is enough time to cut my losses and move on. So here I sit missing a day of my already too short of a season letting my heel heal.
Sorry about the rant, I'll keep you guys posted.
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