Okay, I should be doing other chores, but I got distracted. Here are pictures of some of my hunting boots. I have others, and many have long since been tossed, but I have these 1/2 dozen to show off. The photos don't really show the damage and wear very well but look at the tops behind the toes, this is where most of my boots fail the fastest. I would consider buying numbers 1, 2, and 6 again. But missing from that list of acceptable boots is something light and uninsulated or at least lightly insulated. There is a description of each boots pluses and minuses between the two photos.
Top to bottom, left to right
1. Meindl Perfekts with 400 gram Thinsulate with Gortex. One 2-week moose hunt in the Yukon Delta and some local hunting convinced me these will be great boots. They are definitely still watertight (knock on wood), but have a long ways to go before I can pronounce them the King of Insulated Boots. Comfort excellent. Support excellent. Traction excellent. Durability to be determined, but looking good so far.
2. Danner Elk Hunters with 400 gram Thinsulate with Gortex. Many many hunts in Rockies for elk and deer, in prairies for pheasants and deer and antelope, and even the cattail swamps. They leak a little now, and they have lost some airbobs on the soles, but still great traction, moderate support and fit, but darn heavy and big (wide on the outside, so they are hard to force into the grass that I hunt). Durability is superb. If the Perfekts hold up like this, I'm set for big, insulated boots. Comfort medium. Support medium. Traction great. Durability superb.
3. Russel Moccasin "Hikers?" No insulation, no Gortex. Darn expensive for my "normal" and equal sized feet. Takes forever to get when ordered (6-8 months as I recall, maybe longer). Well hunted in Africa (easy walking) and a fair bit of pheasants and some antelope hunting (ie., probably the easiest hunting conditions). Support is minimal, water resistance minimal, comfort medium (dead flat foot bed can be easily fitted with some inserts to become "okay"). The photos don't show it but the stitching on the toes is shot on both boots. Good for squirrel hunting, chores, and easy walking like Africa or antelope. Comfort medium. Support medium or a bit less. Traction medium. Durability medium at best (esp. given it's cost).
4. Meindl UltraLights with 400 gram Thinsulate with Gortex. These are AMAZINGLY comfortable. That is the only good thing I'll say about them. They have support for feet AND ankles, big toe box keeps feet warmer, even with lots of socks. I bought them for elk hunting in the snow. They lasted one day because I had ZERO traction in the snow. I went back to the truck and got me Danner Elk Hunters that I had thrown in on a whim. Thank god for that. If these boots would hold up, they would be great for pheasants because of the comfort and light weight = they are ridiculously light. But they did not last even half of a season. Might be a great cold weather boot for western bird hunting or antelope or other things where the cover is pretty sparse. They won't hack it in the Midwest, where cover is so thick you have to lean into it to get through in many places. They are great chore boots around the house, shop, barn, and timber. Comfort superb. Support superb. Traction mediocre. Durability horrible.
5. LLBean Upland Kangaroos uninsulted with Gortex. Comfort is about like the Russels. Good, but not fantastic. A better footbed than the Russels, but no ankle support. Watertighness fine as long as we lasted, but that was not very long - about 8 full days of pheasant hunting in dry conditions. Comfort medium, Support medium. Traction medium. Durability horrible (but LLB agreed to let me return the for full refund, I do love this company. Just not their boots).
6. LLBean Maine Guide boots - no insulation, no Gortex. These are great for what they are - canoe boots, field work boots, and places where the conditions are likely to be wet, the ground flat, not rocky, and temps mild, neither super hot or cold. I could not work in them all day without seriously wearing out my feet. They are great for certain special conditions that I often encounter. I did this once while elk hunting (they are awesome for still hunting with a bow in some conditions) but I damn near crawled back to camp at the end of the first day. Wore my backpacking boots thereafter on that trip. Comfort medium (in the right environment they are good). Support Zero. Traction minimal, Durability medium or a bit better and easily reshod if cared for.
Same order as above, but just the right boot in profile. .
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/qclHjMQ.jpg)
