Asolo Boots
Nice Boots (for medium-volume feet)
When I decided to start backpacking seriously again (in 1998), the first item of business was finding a good pair of boots able to take the pounding of the Ouachita boulder fields. So that meant in addition to the problem of fitting, I needed to find a full grain leather boot with a stiff shank (and preferably a Gore Tex liner with a Vibram sole).
After trying lots of brands, I settled on the Asolo 520 GTX. The Asolo fit well right out of the box, although I added Superfeet inserts because I have high arches and needed to take up some volume in the boot. Those boots felt ready to hit the woods out of the box, and though they are scuffed and nicked up now (much uglier than those pretty ones I linked to), they are still in really excellent shape considering the mileage I've put on them.
But the most important part is the fit. Although boot manufacturers all tout their lasts and how their boots are engineered, most of them still design boots as if a person's feet are aircraft carriers. That is to say, most hikers have a medium foot volume at best, but it is very difficult to find anything less than a high volume boot. Asolo is one of the few manufacturers that produces a low-medium volume boot. I hear Lowa and Merrell are decent in that regard as well, although the only Merrell I've ever tried didn't fit me particularly well.
So I was stupid a few weeks ago and decided to replace some casual boots with a day-hiking nubuck-leather boot by Zamberlan that seemed to fit in the store. But it really didn't -- the volume actually turned out to be much too high after I broke the boot in for a day, and back to REI it went. I did discover a nice nubuck leather boot by Asolo on the REI website, though not in the store. I'm always leery of ordering footwear over the net because of my requirements, but since it was Asolo, I gave it a try. I'm happy to report my new pair of Rainiers fit just as well as that trusted pair of 520 GTXs. And unlike the Zamberlan boot, the Rainier is stiff enough that it can be used for light backpacking as well as the casual duty I had in mind for it, although it is not a Gore Tex boot.
Why am I writing about this here and why should you care? Well, most of you probably shouldn't. But this site get all sorts of search requests, and I know (as a backpacking gear addict) I really value being able to hit google and pull up gear reviews and comments like this. So this one's for my fellow backpackers who are frustrated because it's so hard to find a medium volume boot. Give Asolo a try.
[Posted at 18:43 CST on 04/18/02] [Link]
