"Tom Nakashima" wrote in message
...
I was in the store Any Mountain last weekend and tried on a pair of hiking
boots. I have an older pair of Vasque Alpine before GTX, which I've had for
eight years now. The new boot I tried on was an Asolo powermatic 200 and I
was amazed how comfortable they were right out of the box. I also looked
over the other brands of high end hiking boots, such as Vasque, and
Montbell which they too seemed to be comfortable. I remember it took me a
long time to break in my older Vasque Alpine. I didn't purchase the Asolo
or any other hiking boots, just going to run mine into the ground, but I
was amazed how far hiking boot technology has come.

Someone mentioned smartwool socks, instead of double layering and I'll
have to agree. I did purchase a pair of Dahlgren backpacking socks, and
did some mild hikes the last few days, and was also amazed in the new
technology, no more double layering.
fwiw,
-tom


Yeah, the new rule of thumb is to buy boots that fit comfortably out of the
box, and not to rely on a break-in period. Its one of the upsides of a
society dependant on petrochemicals....new high-tech materials. Leather
needs time to conform.

Although I often am quite disappointed in the performance of some of these
new materials, there are many others that are quite excellent...like the
miracle shirt from North Face that I wore all summer. It kept me warm in
cool weather, cool in hot weather, cozy when wet, and did not ever seem to
get unusually dirty or stinky. And it felt smooth as silk.

--riverman