Hiking, backpacking, trekking, mountaineering...

neoboy · 15 Jul 2020 at 14:09

ak22 said:
Same here i went half a size up and it felt painful to wear them I am considering ALTRA Lone Peak 4.0 they are meant to be good for wide feet.

Looking for something with some ankle support and can't afford to spend too much.

Just watched a little TV with them on and pinkies already going numb so definitely no go. Otherwise seems a quality boot, but wide versions are quote a bit more expensive.

neoboy · 22 Jul 2020 at 12:42

I could honestly cry at this point with my new boot shopping adventure, had a pair of North Face Hedgehog Hike II GTX delivered this morning and they don't fit either.

This is now 5th different pair I've had to send back, I'm honestly just thinking of driving down to the Altberg factory an hour away and dropping a sickening amount on one of their boots after a fitting. At least you can have those resoled so economy down the line might be better than what I'm currently getting.

JRJ · 22 Jul 2020 at 20:33

neoboy said:
I could honestly cry at this point with my new boot shopping adventure, had a pair of North Face Hedgehog Hike II GTX delivered this morning and they don't fit either.

This is now 5th different pair I've had to send back, I'm honestly just thinking of driving down to the Altberg factory an hour away and dropping a sickening amount on one of their boots after a fitting. At least you can have those resoled so economy down the line might be better than what I'm currently getting.

You wont regret the Altbergs and will last years, used a pair in work for a long time, not custom made but one of their wide fits only needed a few miles to break in and currently on their 3rd soles.

Street · 22 Jul 2020 at 20:52

neoboy said:
I could honestly cry at this point with my new boot shopping adventure, had a pair of North Face Hedgehog Hike II GTX delivered this morning and they don't fit either.

This is now 5th different pair I've had to send back, I'm honestly just thinking of driving down to the Altberg factory an hour away and dropping a sickening amount on one of their boots after a fitting. At least you can have those resoled so economy down the line might be better than what I'm currently getting.

Have you checked out Inov8? They do shoes in different widths. Their 4 and 5 width are an E/2E I think. Something like the Roclite G 370 is a width 4 boot.

ianh · 22 Jul 2020 at 21:57

neoboy said:
I'm honestly just thinking of driving down to the Altberg factory an hour away and dropping a sickening amount on one of their boots after a fitting. At least you can have those resoled so economy down the line might be better than what I'm currently getting.

JRJ said:
You wont regret the Altbergs and will last years, used a pair in work for a long time, not custom made but one of their wide fits only needed a few miles to break in and currently on their 3rd soles.

Slightly different use but I had my Altberg Peacemaker P3's (Police/Military boot) for nearly a decade of wearing them everyday for at least 6 months a year (desert boots the rest of the time) before the stitching around the steel toe insert finally fell apart. Had them resoled 4 times, never an issue and a really good company to buy from.

Now I'm permanently desert bound I've swapped to Merrell MOAB 2 hiking-style boots which are amazingly comfy but the sole wears pretty fast!

neoboy · 22 Jul 2020 at 22:34

Merrell Moab 2 were the one boot to fit me well, but the sole separated after one forest hike. Seeing how I had a pair of their trail running shoes start to have the same problem after probably around a month of use, going to give the brand a break, lots of other complaints about quality going down recently it seems.

Only problem with Altberg is their prices and that I can't really afford to drop so much on a boot right now but it seems I'm out of luck. Only thing I could try and bag something on eBay, looks like a few of the army issued ones around.

JRJ · 23 Jul 2020 at 10:28

ianh said:
Slightly different use but I had my Altberg Peacemaker P3's (Police/Military boot) for nearly a decade of wearing them everyday for at least 6 months a year (desert boots the rest of the time) before the stitching around the steel toe insert finally fell apart. Had them resoled 4 times, never an issue and a really good company to buy from.

Used the P1 aqua's and field and fell, never had the field and fell resoled but were spot on out of the box and a very comfy boot, seemed wider than the P1's.

JRJ · 23 Jul 2020 at 10:30

neoboy said:
Only problem with Altberg is their prices and that I can't really afford to drop so much on a boot right now but it seems I'm out of luck. Only thing I could try and bag something on eBay, looks like a few of the army issued ones around.

Do you need a full custom boot, they do 4 widths so you could probably get an off the shelf size?

neoboy · 23 Jul 2020 at 11:08

JRJ said:
Do you need a full custom boot, they do 4 widths so you could probably get an off the shelf size?

I wasn't even dreaming of a custom boot, but cheapest hiking boot they have is £175 unless they have a sale in store or lucky enough to get a factory second

CircleFaust · 23 Jul 2020 at 15:14

CircleFaust said:
have a pair of Meindl walking shoes
stitching has started to come away from the toe box
they are barely a year old and i have the receipt, light use also
bought from go outdoors.
should i just take them back to the store. just want a replacement or repair
are they within rights to refuse or..?
anyone else taken shoes back that old?
only other option is Meindl themselves

update:
went into GO outdoors and showed them the receipt. they took them off me and must have phoned Meindl who gave the go ahead to replace them
took about 2 weeks to get the go ahead. so good news story
the guarantee states always to take them back to the store you bought them in
the store needs to deal with meindl not you, in case a retailer tries to fob you off because they can't be *****

ianh · 23 Jul 2020 at 16:32

neoboy said:
I wasn't even dreaming of a custom boot, but cheapest hiking boot they have is £175 unless they have a sale in store or lucky enough to get a factory second

Yeah the cost can be an big issue but it really is a case of "you get what you pay for" with these as the durability/longevity you get out of them is quite high end.

neoboy said:
Merrell Moab 2 were the one boot to fit me well, but the sole separated after one forest hike. Seeing how I had a pair of their trail running shoes start to have the same problem after probably around a month of use, going to give the brand a break, lots of other complaints about quality going down recently it seems.

Ouch! I bought mine nearly 3 years ago and I've worn them 5 days a week since then in -5'c to +50'c temps and, other than worn soles and a little bit of stitching broken on one of the toe caps (I scrape them whilst working at ground level) they're still fine. I was just about to buy a new pair as stand-by replacements for when the soles on these ones finally wear through as shops are now stocking them again after a 12-ish month stop (I thought they were discontinued) so I might hold off and research a bit about the complaints!

JRJ · 23 Jul 2020 at 21:33

ianh said:
Yeah the cost can be an big issue but it really is a case of "you get what you pay for" with these as the durability/longevity you get out of them is quite high end.

Definitely the case with Altberg I had my P1's resoled 3 times, wont get another out of them as the upper has worn out and they've stopped doing their refurb service but each of those resoles cost me £50 plus P&P my end (they seem to have changed their services and prices since I last used them) but that got me new soles, a tin of Ledergrees and return postage, paid about £120 with discount for the boots originally so just under £300 for about 8 years almost daily use is a pretty good deal, never had a hint of a blister or any issues with them.

neoboy · 24 Jul 2020 at 09:38

Generally don't mind investing in important things like footwear but just a really bad time financially to be dropping so much on a boot right now.

I have spotted a Lowa Defender in my size on eBay so will keep an eye out on the auction as previous ones have all went under a £100. Large fit so should hopefully fit me without issues.

JustBen · 24 Jul 2020 at 11:02

maybe not the best thread to ask the question but i'm not really sure what i need... I don't do go hiking but do walk the dog down the beach and in fields and i often end up with drenched feet wearing trainers. I have had to pairs of £30ish walking trainers, the low ones which were alright but fell apart on me. I'm not sure if i am best of getting wellies but i can imagine these get heavy when walking more than a mile or two or look into proper walking boots. Don't have a proper budget in mind but wouldn't hope to pay over £100

ianh · 24 Jul 2020 at 14:33

always4lora said:
Don't have a proper budget in mind but wouldn't hope to pay over £100

Just pop into your nearest Go-Outdoors, they have dozens on waterproof ankle high "hiking" style boots (both leather and trainer style) for under £100 depending on your foot size, and use them for "trial fits" to find what boots fits best. Then look for it online incase you can get it cheaper somewhere else.

If you need something higher for deeper water look at Military/Police boots which are calf height. Most modern boots look like hiking boots anyway now so they don't look too bad.

JustBen · 24 Jul 2020 at 14:53

ianh said:
Just pop into your nearest Go-Outdoors, they have dozens on waterproof ankle high "hiking" style boots (both leather and trainer style) for under £100 depending on your foot size, and use them for "trial fits" to find what boots fits best. Then look for it online incase you can get it cheaper somewhere else.

If you need something higher for deeper water look at Military/Police boots which are calf height. Most modern boots look like hiking boots anyway now so they don't look too bad.

Thanks, i had a quick look our nearest store is 33 miles away in preston which about an hour and 20 drive, i'll take a look on their site though

Martynt74 · 24 Jul 2020 at 16:01

always4lora said:
Thanks, i had a quick look our nearest store is 33 miles away in preston which about an hour and 20 drive, i'll take a look on their site though

Where abouts are you?

There's also Winfields which is Rawtenstall way if that's closer. Has a great range and usually well priced.

https://www.winfieldsoutdoors.co.uk/

JustBen · 24 Jul 2020 at 16:27

I'm in Cumbria we have a winfields here but its shut at the moment. We have a tresspas but that's where I've got the previous two pairs from

neoboy · 25 Jul 2020 at 12:43

Are we literally just talking about walking on the beach and some tall grass in the fields without hiking through boggy terrain? In that case something as simple as your Timberland/Caterpillar boots might do and even look fashionable enough with a pair of jeans for other occasions.

Have a pair of Timberland Heritage things I picked up for around £60 on Rainforest when they were on sale and do me just fine for basic walks on the beach and such.

Also you're not near Keswick then are you? No shortage of stores to try boots on down there.

JustBen · 25 Jul 2020 at 20:13

neoboy said:
Are we literally just talking about walking on the beach and some tall grass in the fields without hiking through boggy terrain? In that case something as simple as your Timberland/Caterpillar boots might do and even look fashionable enough with a pair of jeans for other occasions.

Have a pair of Timberland Heritage things I picked up for around £60 on Rainforest when they were on sale and do me just fine for basic walks on the beach and such.

Also you're not near Keswick then are you? No shortage of stores to try boots on down there.

Pretty much, think last time i went proper off road walking was Grizedale forest about a year back.
I'm a bit from Keswick, think it's about 40 miles north. I'll take a look at Timberlands never thought of looking at them