I like my Scarpa’s also Rob, same boots used. Light and comfortable I agree. On my 3rd pair, but then I walk for leisure also, not just SOTA.
I have a heaver pair of Mammut / Rachie for the heavy pathless moorland stuff. Shoes are not for me, certainly not unless it’s summer, dry, and the route is well documented as good path / track.
All the best for your SOTA Tour in the English Lake District later this month, and I hope the GMDX Convention was a success again this year. I’ll point the beam to the G/LD when you are on 2m. I can work some of the better sited summits from North Yorkshire on the right day with a following wind.
The scarpa ranger GTX are on my short list , just at the weekend i came across a wet boddy ditch , i found a stick and proded around to find the firmist part . I had to go through it so i leaped across as much as i could and had mud nearly to top of tounge on my cheapo karrimors and after a 12 mile walk i know why they only cost £40 ! If i had trainers would of had a muddy sludge in my shoes .
I flirted around with cheaper boots for a year or so until I got fed up getting wet feet so I bit the bullet and splashed out somewhat. The boots I bought were Berghaus ones from Go Outdoors here in Glasgow, and reduced to £100 sealed the deal.
Amazing boots, comfortable, light & and watertight. I’ll certainly not be buying cheap again.
Having size 13 (Euro 48) plates limits my choice somewhat… Scarpas have done me well over the last few years, discontinued Mirages (still supremely comfortable, though the waterproofing is well past it’s sell-by date so still used for drier expeditions !) and the current ones are Mantas. A bit OTT for general use you might say but I love the rigidness of the soles - stepping on a sharp-edged rock and not feeling it gives me a real buzz
The old all leather Mantas are now also discontinued, but with most of my activity in GM these days was wondering about the new Manta Pro GTXs for my next pair. Though the price is somewhat eye-watering
After over the last few weeks visiting a few shops i went back to go outdoors and tried on more boots, berghaus boots felt just ok , but very hard on the sole of your feet , north ridge pretty much the same , merils i found to be quite narrow fitting and keens seemed better but i settled for a pair of scarpa mistral GTX. Wore them around the house and garden yesterday for 4 hours , may as well be wearing slippers !
Glad that after 69 posts you got some boots - lightweight and suede with a Goretex lining - which you found comfortable. I hope they get put to some serious SOTA use in the coming weeks. I will be looking out for you!
Very true. Some boots have laces that start above the toes or toe/foot joint. I find these incredibly uncomfortable as do some of my work colleagues who hill walk. I need to buy boots where the laces start much further back, it’s something I check for. I also have broad feet and having bought boots with sufficient space, I find my feet can submarine when descending. This is cure my careful insole selection and tying the laces to reduce the effect, i.e. the knot is not at the top of the ankle section.
Choosing a brand of boots for activations turned out to be a popular topic on the forum in April 2019. In addition to its utilitarian value, the theme of boots is sometimes reflected in other aspects of the creativity of radio amateurs. So my friend Vladimir R9WXK, who is a big fan of multi-day hiking in the mountains of the Southern Urals, posted a photo with his hiking boots on an QSL. This photo was taken while drying boots near a campfire in a halt. In addition to the shoes in the photo there is a bottle of local beer with the name “Velvet”, which corresponded to the taste of its contents!
As for me, for many years I have been an adherent of Lowa boots and low shoes, which are perfectly suited to the conditions of mountain taiga terrain in the Southern Urals.
I have grisport leather boots. They are about 20 years old and have had light use up to my start of SOTA activity, 73 summits ago. Very comfortable and no blisters. I polish them after every activation and use a dab of Dales Dubbin too after polishing. No idea of the model, long worn off, but they were bought in a normal shoe shop and were not expensive.
I will buy another pair when these finally wear out.
