"Tom Nakashima" wrote ...
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.


You're right that the boots don't change shape much after wearing (they do a
little, but not nearly as much as leather boots do). For some, that's good.
For those of me that have foot shape quirks, the break-in provided a short,
albeit painful adaption process. Take the good with the bad, I guess....

As to socks, I still prefer a liner. I use a very thin polypro liner sock
under a pair of merino wool socks. The way my feet sweat, I have to change
socks every couple hours to avoid blisters if I don't use a liner.

Careful going from Vasque to Asolo. Both high-quality boots, but the lasts
are significantly different. Might work, might cause pain....

Dan