Hanwag’s Mountain Lite GTX

Here’s a quick review on one of the pairs of boots I wore this season.

These boots are available from Lathrop and Sons for $291.00 on their website, www.lathropandsons.com

I put a little over 200 miles on these boots from September to January, and loved them.

While they are not designed for extreme country or heavy loads, I put them to test in all conditions. 100 plus degree temperatures, snow and ice, and some seriously rocky country.

I used Lathrop and Sons High Country Footbed in mine. This is a new style of footbed to me, softer and almost jelly like. I wasn’t sure how I would like it, after years of using Superfeet. But, after 200 miles, I think it saved my feet this season.

These boots held up remarkably well. I typically destroy 2 pairs of high end boots each fall, these still have some hunting left in them.

The sole are almost worn through, and I had some very minor separation issues. The rand is just now beginning to separate from the body of the boot, at the hinge point, on the outside of each boot. This is to be expected eventually, and is an easy in-field fix. The rand around the toe box is solid and intact, despite the attempts by sharp rocks to pull them apart. Instead of separating, I lost small chunks of rubber.

I have lost a few of the small lugs off of the Vibram soles, but they have provided great traction in all conditions

Ankle support was good, for a boot of this height. They withstood some severe climbing, with 30-70 pounds on my back.

The lacing system is also unique, very little hardware on this boot. The lower laces are run through cordura nylon loops, with a small leather flap on top to protect them. The cordura loops performed flawlessly, while a few of the leather flaps have become separated, mostly due to abrasion on the threads.

The interior liner held up well, although now has one hole in each boot, where the tounge rubs the liner. This will quickly mean the end of this boots life. I will say, they held up better than my Kenetreks, Scarpas,  and Asolos.

My favorite thing about these boots is the rigidity in the toe box, and the amount of protection it affords. I jammed them into rock crevices and crunched through cactus fields, with no bruised feet, and no cactus penetrating the boot.

No blisters and nothing but good to say about the Mountain Lite GTX!

Long story short, I will replace this pair with the exact same pair for 2011, and will be adding their Hanwag Alaska GTX boot the line up.