Asolo Piolet GV Review and a Question

fatbacks

WKR
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Messages
1,153
Location
Interior AK
So rewind to August 2nd... sheep opener in Alaska is 8 days away. We were flying into the Alaska Range on the 7th. Been wearing around my old La Sportiva Makalus which I've had since 2004. Great boot and they helped me haul a lot of sheep, caribou and moose meat out of the backcountry. Morning of August 2nd I put them on and they feel weird. Investigate and the entire liner in one heel is ripped basically exposing my heel to bare leather. Catastrophic failure 5 days before I fly out.

Decision made, need a new pair of boots. Run to REI and they don't have any in my size. Run to a local shop and they are having a 30% off boots sale. Low and behold, the only thing they have in my size is the Asolo Piolet GV. Try them on... feel good, plenty of support, not too heavy. Purchase. Run home and throw the pack on and do a 5 mile loop. few adjustments to laces and they feel great. Lets go sheep hunting.. with brand new boots. Ended up putting on 56 miles in 7 days sheep hunting. No blisters, boots stayed dry, and no ankle rolling. No complaints after this trip. Didn't get a sheep so we decided to bring our sheep gear to moose camp because we were close proximity to some juicy terrain. Now into September I find myself in the Wrangell Mountains with boots barely a month old leaving moose camp for a 4 days walk in the mountains. This time a lot more bushwhacking, tussocks, and tight stream crossings. They got a little wet and tended to stay that way. Plenty warm on the cold mornings and they worked great as a rotated socks out throughout the trip. Ended up bagging a sheep on day 2. Spent day three looking for another legal ram that gave us the slip to no avail. Decided to boogie back to main camp where we had a tipi and wood stove waiting for us. Got lazy about 3.5 miles from camp and was tired of putting crocs on to cross the bigger river. Just said screw it and waded through with boots on. Trudged all the way back to camp with wet boots. That leads me to my only complaint... they took three days to completely dry out - even while in a warm tipi with wood stove.

All in all, great boot. No problems with feet except my big toes are still a bit numb. All in all I reckon I put about 150 miles on them this fall. Would recommend to anyone looking at them. Oh, and they worked great with my First Lite Gaiters.

All that said.... QUESTION: what should I treat the leather on these with for water resistance? I have a bunch of the Nikwax Paste that i've used on other boots that did not have GoreTex in them... would this still work with a GoreTex lined boot?

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fatbacks

fatbacks

WKR
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
Messages
1,153
Location
Interior AK
Great for chasing critters in this terrain. Central Alaska Range.

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