Thread: Lightweight boots

Originally Posted by Gkp

Try a pair of
La Sportiva Aequilibrium ST GTX boots

Although light boots and heavy packs don't really go in the same sentence these are a good compromise

I thought that until I tried crispi summits I had way too much in my pack and 10 days worth in fiordiland Pack was probably 30kg. Plus a pack raft in a bucket in left hand and a almost 5kg setup rifle in the other Didn't find I was lacking support. Infact I put some much stiffer and more of a heavy load boot on the other day some asolos and found I had less support . Having said that I wasn't lucky enough to take a even heavier load out of fiordiland so when you really load them up with meat and heads I don't know what they are like for that

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I got a pair of boots in from Cabelas in the US as another option - they have a huge range of styles and options that we just don't see in NZ. Have found them to be very good, if a little stiff in the sole for NI bush hunting (heavy cleat tread type sole with excellent grip). I was using a Grisport lightweight boot before those - but they did the PU midsole breakup thing and went from a good pair of boots comfortable with good ankle support to in the bin in one day and not in a good place to do it as well... Didn't get that long out of them - the boot bag, leather cream and spare laces outlived the boots anyway.

If you do look into importing, make sure it's an option with EE width or wide width sizing as US and Euro fits usually run quite narrow to NZ/UK sizing I found. You often need to go one size up or more to fit the width of the foot which isn't usually practical as you end up with a large space at the end of your toes in the boot and it's prone to tripping you up. Cabelas have a quite useful sizing/fit guide that makes it a lot less risky getting a good fit.

I don't know what shipping in the US is like now, I used Youpost last time. That might be an issue with the exchange rate, but at the time I went for those I couldn't find a non-PU soled boot that fitted and was the style I wanted. The sole on the ones I got is a stitched and replaceable sole, and will not break up like the PU midsoles do. Cost was about half of a comparable stitched-sole boot landed - although I didn't tag GST on them.

Has anyone had both the Rapace and mtn trainer, just wondering if the fit is the same as I wouldn’t want anything narrower than the Rapace

@Shearer I think has

Originally Posted by kimber08

Has anyone had both the Rapace and mtn trainer, just wondering if the fit is the same as I wouldn’t want anything narrower than the Rapace

I found the Repace to be a slightly roomier fit all round compared to the Mt Trainer and Crow. Only very slightly though. Not enough to think about changing size.

I tried the rapace, crow, new and old model mtn trainers on this week, went with the old model mountain trainers.

The rapace was definitely a stiffer boot and maybe a smaller toebox but probably just the difference in material. Could have taken any one of them home and would have been happy.