Buying Sheep Boots for Bigfoot

[hoshour]

I need to buy a pair of stiff, supportive boots for sheep hunting, looking at Zamberlan, Kenetrek, Lowa, Scarpa and Meindl. I have wide, hard to fit feet so I'll need to try them on. One company's size wide or extra wide is not necessarily the same width as another's.

How do you guys buy high-end boots? If you have wide feet, which boot fits you best?

 

[RICMIC]

I have wide feet, but am an average 10, so boots aren't too hard to find. Many, if not most of the mass marketed boots only make a "medium" width, and the clerk will just tell you to get a bigger boot. Yah right. Just what you want in the mountains. I will never buy boots that I can't try on first because of the variations in fit. Good luck Bigfoot if you are abby-normal.

 

[Ikeepitcold]

Go to the shows. Most high end boot makers are there and you can try them on. I like Lowa and Crispi, I have a couple pairs of each.

 

[wa-hunter]

i find kenetrecks to be pretty narrow i like a wide boot and my keetrecks barely fit for width. i wish they would come out with a wide because i love them otherwise. i have never had any other the other brands you mentioned.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Off the top of my head I can't remember the name of the company but I know I've seen ads for a bootmaker that has you trace your feet and boots are custom made to you feet. Although I'm sure they are expensive. Might be worth a look.

 

[Tim McCoy]

Off the top of my head I can't remember the name of the company but I know I've seen ads for a bootmaker that has you trace your feet and boots are custom made to you feet. Although I'm sure they are expensive. Might be worth a look.

Lathrop and Sons

 

[hoshour]

I was thinking Lathrop & Sons might be my best bet. I looked at their site and liked what I saw, including a new boot they were highlighting.

The Schnee's Granite also looked good.

 

[sneakypete]

Lathrop & sons , I wear Kenetreks 13 w and I'll never go back.

 

[mntnguide]

I have wide feet...Kenetrek mountain extremes have been great to me since day 1. Have well over 300 days of hard hunting into them and they are still strong as ever. . Ive also like every pair of Lowa's ive had in the past. Just havent had a reason to buy another boot since the kenetreks. Have heard great things about Lathrop & sons as well though.

 

[In God We Trust]

I just tried on a pair of Kenetreks at a store and they are crazy comfortable. I do have more narrow feet so they seemed to fir my foot perfectly. I am going to buy a pair of Mountain Hunters with the 400 gram. I have a pair of Meindl Denalis I bought from Cabela's for early season hunts. They are stiff and provide great support. They seem to be a wider boot with a good size toe box. You can try those on at Cabela's. Bass Pro and Sportsman's both carry the Kenetrek and you can try them on at those stores.

 

[Iron Mike]

If you want to order online check out Shoebuy.com. They are always running 20 to 25% off coupons and have a great return policy if they do not fit.

 

[Fink]

My feet are about as wide as they are long, but, that's not very long, only a 9 or 9.5. But, I've always struggled to find boots and shoes to fit the wideness. I bought a pair of Hanwag Alaskans last summer.. They are legit. Lathrop and Sons sells them, but I found mine on Backcountry.com for about 35% off.

 

[libidilatimmy]

My feet are about as wide as they are long, but, that's not very long, only a 9 or 9.5. But, I've always struggled to find boots and shoes to fit the wideness. I bought a pair of Hanwag Alaskans last summer.. They are legit. Lathrop and Sons sells them, but I found mine on Backcountry.com for about 35% off.

I'll second this, been real happy with my Alaskans. You couldn't go wrong with Kenetrek either, both are excellent. When I bought my pair of Hanwag's, I went to the local Sierra Trading Post to try their sizing. While STP didn't have the exact boots I was after, I was able to try on a couple different models of theirs for size consistency and when I ordered online I knew the proper size I needed for this particular manufacturer.

 

[akrem44]

I have a pair of Zamberlans and i LOVE them everything i was looking for in a boot and then some... cant beat hand made!

 

[Huntinghoboe]

I am a huge fan of the Kenentrek Dwidth, and I have a very wide foot.

 

[JPSeveland]

My dad designs shoes for a living he has really wide big feet as well and one heck of a time finding anything that truely fits right. Anything that comes from italy will not fit you properly like Zamberlan, Kenetrek, Lowa, Scarpa cause they all come from the same company and everyone puts there own little twist on them and calls them there own. You can try on kenetrek and zamberlan at a sportsmans wearhouse i have size 13-14 feet and they are very long and skinny and i have to wear kenetreks wide boots. You may want to look into Salomon Men's Quest 4D GTX Backpacking Boot. Hope this helps Cabelas did nock this boot off and i cant remeber the name of it. Also look into some of the Meindl boots they do have a few diffrent styles and maybe one would fit you right also go into like an arei and look at great boots that dont have the hunting worlds name on them to save some money.

 

[LucilleBruce]

Actually, I have wide feet. So for that I can easily search on the internet. There are lots of websites that provide me a wide variety of shoes at affordable prices. I suggest you to check once online websites.

 

[Umpqua Hunter]

I bought my last few pairs of boots through Zappos. The reason being that they have free shipping both ways (including returns). I went through something like 15 pairs of boots looking for one that fit me just right. I would walk in them on a steeply inclined treadmill (so I could walk indoors and not damage the boot) for a 1/4 or 1/2 mile to get a sense of fit and heel lift. That turned out to be a real good way to get a feel for the boot without damaging them and making it easy to return. I would buy two pairs at a time and keep the best pair, return the other, and order another one. It was a good winter project, and the returns were painless.

I ended up with Lowa Tibet GTX in size 14 wide.

It may just be me, but my Kennetrek Mountain Extremes were the only boot I have ever owned that tore up my feet. They were bought in 2009 and I heard of quite a few problems in that timing. What I have heard since then has been much better.

 

[hoshour]

Thanks for your helpful comments, guys.

I ended up with the Lowa Cevedale GTX Tech Light Hunters in brown, made for Lathrop and Sons, along with the Synergy footbed.

 

[dble07]

Hope those tech lights work out for you. I really wanted to like them but they were just to narrow through the arch to fit.