Boot brands

I had bad rubber seam problems with my Salomon Alp-7 GTX boots a couple of years ago. From new, after a day-trip and a weekend tramp they went back to the shop, and this was repeated for a total of at least 2 (maybe 3?) two to three week round trips to Christchurch. It was very frustrating considering I was trying to do lots of tramping at the time. Mainly Tramping negotiated a deal where they'd finally replace them if it happened again, but then they sadly closed down while I was overseas for a couple of months, and I gave up. Most recently I had them repaired locally, and now I only ever use them if I need crampons, which isn't very frequent. To be fair, I could have had them glued back together locally and then they would have been unavailable for less time. I still needed to wait for them to dry out completely before I could even return them, and being Gore-Tex lined that takes ages, of course. After that it was just a long wait. If something's breaking that badly, though, I really want them to go as far back to the source as I can so they can see what's happening. The rubber seams on those things was in such a place that once an inside seam came apart even a tiny bit, it'd be frequently catching on the lace-hook-thingees of the other boot on every hundredth step, to make it even worse. In the end, I think they came apart in three completely separate places (two inside, one outside). It really taught me to look closely at seams when I go boot shopping these days. I've heard rumours that Salomon make good climbing boots which is not something I have any experience with, but I've completely gone off their tramping boots.

The Salomons went back to the shop. I said I was prepared to take a replacement in the same boot but there were none left in the country my size. I got my money back and have now bought a pair of Columbia boots from Mountain Designs. They are reduced from $249 to $160. They look reasonably solid and for that price I can't go too far wrong. Actually there aren't many boots in the shops at all. Even if I find a suitable pair, the challenge is then to see if they have one in the size you want. The shelves seem to be full of walking shoes or sandels. Hardly suitable for rocky stream bashing.

Yeah, I noticed that "approach shoes" and the like are what is really selling, so therefore what is given the most shelf space. I found it very hard to find a good pair to replace the Magnums I had had for years. Settled on some Asolo GTX that have now walked around 1000kms in six months. No snow and little prolonged wading would give a different wear profile to what you guys would expect, but there has been plenty of coastal boulder scrambling. Happy so far, though they get an intermittent odour to them that is unbearable. I'd be interested to hear people's suggestions for KILLING it.

I noticed this too when I went boot shopping lately. I wasn't sure if it was just Wellington, but this time there were very few options on the shelf. This is partly because a couple of traditional tramping retailers have shut down recently and been replaced by more sporty shops that tend to just flood their shelves with what's pushed at markets overseas and doesn't seem well targeted to NZ conditions. Even in somewhere like Bivouac I've noticed the wall-space that used to be taken up by options of boots is now filled with more shoe-like and less boot-like footwear. It this what you mean by "approach shoes"? I'm sure this stuff has its place, but I'm sceptical that it'd be appropriate for anything I want personally. I recently went tramping with someone who'd decided to try out his new shoes of this sort. After 15 minutes wading down a river in quite nice weather, his feet were absolutely freezing whereas everyone else's were comfortably warm. With water constantly running through his shoes there was no chance for it to stay static in a way that would let it gradually warm up next to his feet, as tends to happen with boots. I was also concerned about safety, since if his foot became jammed under a rock wearing something like that, I expect the consequences could be much worse than if it was a decent boot. We changed our plans because of it.

I wear sport shoes trout fishing which requires walking up stony, slippery, bouldery rivers all day... Plus heaps of wading and crossing and they work fine for river use during the warmer months. I like the Keen Shoe/Sandal hybrid for river use... Rest of the time I use a old pair of farm boots which are filled with holes.. During the winter I wear waders and wading boots which are no good for walking in. Although, I have heard of people using them to walk up the Hodder. So far my tramping boots have not been river wet, they are Dachstien brand and I purchased them from Macpac of all places. They seem to be well made and are very light weight and are lined with Event fabric but my feet still get hot and sweaty. I doubt they would enjoy much shingle use.

There is a new outdoor shop where the old mainly tramping was in the Grand Arcane (Wellington) did not have time to look inside, any one got some feedback? Only Bivouac or Macpac are any good, mountain designs shop tried to sell me boot where the seams melted if they went in some volcanic rock. Macpac have great deals on clothes and they last so long! Quite impressed at the map collection in Bivouac you can buy the whole series in one go! My father got some Salomons they are more for use with crampons and the like as they have a stiff shank and he ended up with no more ankles after a trip or two plus the grip on them disappeared after rough tops travel on sharp rocks! Last time I got a pair of boots Bivouac told me they are selling only like Asolo boots but they hardly look my thing hopefully I will still be able to buy my trusty Garmonts.

Anyone who thinks the new boots are no good, could give Mainland boots a try... Made in New Zealand, using a design from the 1890's "All our boots have genuine leather uppers, leather insoles, leather midsole or runners and either leather or genuine rubber soles. This makes for long lasting and strong boots, it almost makes for healthy feet, as leather breathes, especially good for people who perspire heavily. No more smelly feet!" http://www.bootznz.com/hiking-boots.htm I have thought about giving them a try for work but my current boots still have a bit of life left in them. IMO they look to heavy for tramping but some people do like heavy boots...

The outdoor shop in the Wellington Grand Arcade (where Mainly Tramping was most recently before it went out of business) is a Snowgum Clearence Outlet. It's okay if they have what you want (I bought a travel shirt once), but I don't think it's well set up for being permanent. When it first appeared I hoped it was a sign they might open a proper shop in Wellington, but 8 months later it seems the same as when it opened. The whole shop appears as if they could pack up up and be gone within 6 hours, and I think they're only in there because it's a cheap place to shunt all their leftovers until the building owner find a new long-term lease. Their boot selection seems very thin and fragmented (it seems like whatever sizes of whatever styles they haven't sold elsewhere), and I'd think carefully before buying anything I might want to take back under warranty one day. I've had mixed results at the Macpac shops (Wellington and Petone), and I think it depends on who you get to speak to and what random things they're stocking at the time. I'm not sure I like the way things are going with manufacturers pushing their way into retail and sometimes sending the more traditional retailers out of business. You probably save (some) money on mark-up from those in the middle, but there seems to be less choice all around I *never* feel like I can get independent advice when I'm in there, which I do when I go to a more traditional retailer. Macpac basically pulled their products from shops in every corner of NZ, and now it's only possible to get them from a few main centres. Do people outside Auckland, Napier, Wellington, Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin even seriously bother with Macpac these days, and how do you get it if you do? I guess perhaps the company had to do that to stay viable and maybe I'm simply not part of the target market anymore, but yeah...

Macpac is not really a Manufacturer anymore, they are more a design company with their own retail chain. I basically try to get all of my advice from forums like these so I have a fairly good idea of what I want before heading into town. I live in Blenheim, and we do not have much in the way of outdoor retailers. So I basically do all of my outdoor shopping when I visit Nelson or Christchurch and that includes visiting the Macpac stores. To be honest, even when Macpac was stocked locally I still did 95% of my shopping while away. For items when fit is not critical I purchase them Online.

Yikes!! That bootnz site is Frames in Dunedin. That Hunter boot look suspiciously like the old D-ring Ansons. If you could manage to break them in you would get a few months good tramping out of them without blisters, then the leather would go hard and it would be blisters all over again. I am worried about the lack of good boots around but I am not sure if I am brave enough to go back to that old style of boots.