Big boots, little boots. Let me go to the big bruisers first, the Lowa Ticam hunting boots. Sturdy doesn’t begin to cover it—you could wear these boots into just about any kind of trouble there might be—flood, snow, polar vortex, wildfire—and come out just fine. They’re a tad heavy of course, but you wouldn’t have it any other way for the kind of conditions you’ll be using them in.
You can power through snow all day without wetting your socks, in addition to staying warm. Because they’re big—heavier, higher-ankled, stiffer—you might have to move a little more slowly, but they’re a great boot to have in your closet for the harsh days some folks won’t even go out in, and for when you know where you’re going, what it will take to get there, and what it will take to get back.
The Ticam II GTX from Lowa.
The classic Lowa Renegades, long my favorite general boot, are an entirely different boot. They’re versatile enough to wear on the street, with good flexion in the soles—I’ve worn them numerous times on coast-to-coast flights where I’ve forgotten to think of them as boots—and yet I’ve worn them on the bulk of my summer backpacking trips and the majority of my hunts, both big game and upland bird.
They’re fast, of course; if you have a long way to go and not too much of a load, they’re perfect. They’re certainly not restrained to lightweight duty, nor even necessarily for use on dry days only; they’ll keep your feet dry for relatively long periods in intermittent or even steady rain, though the all-day slog through snow and slush will eventually yield some moisture, as with all but the gnarliest boots. (See Ticam, above).
For more information, visit lowaboots.com.