You can find fantastic hard boots in all the major brands. And while it may be helpful to compare features across the brands and models and choose the boot that has the 'best' combination of features, all that, unfortunately, is a secondary consideration. The primary consideration is [no, not whether the color matches your parka and backpack], how the boots fit your feet. If you can walk 12 miles in a Koflach, that's great. If a boot you try doesn't give your feet such an easy ride, well that's what the other brands and models are there for. Hard boots - whether in plastic or leather, single or double layer - are especially sensitive to this. They're made on different lasts, and you've got to find the one closest to the shape of your foot. A hard boot is just what the name implies: hard. It will not willingly accommodate deviations in the shape of your foot vs. the last. In the case of double layer boots, a heat moldable lining may help in forcing your square foot into a round boot, but it's far, far from a panacea.
The reason hard boots exist is that they *can* work with traction in a manner that gives you maximum bite on the terrain without *any* bite on your feet from straps on the tops/sides of your feet or traction parts through the soles. If you're hiking on terrain that doesn't require serious traction, compatible soft boots are much easier to find because they're soft and have some give. My only caution in this respect is that the soles of some soft boots are thin. This lightens the boot, which is nice, but your MicroSpikes will feel like endless little stones poking into the soles of your feet when you do road/flat trail walks on continuous ice.
I recommend you keep looking and trying relentlessly until you find a boot that feels OK when laced so as to surround, but not hug your foot, that doesn't allow your foot and heel to move around when so laced, and that doesn't allow your toes to jam into the front of the boot when headed downhill when so laced. Happy feet are an amazing gift. Hey, if that Spantik happens to be the boot that makes your feet happy amid all the other less costly options, well, it's totally worth it.
Alex
Trivia item #1: Koflachs actually are Scarpas (corporate acquisition a few years back)
Trivia item #2: Since the Spantik (a great combination of warmth, lightness and traction) was mentioned, I'll note that one of my friends found that the fit for his feet was wonderful and he went for it. Some months later, he used the boots in a spring hike. His foot went into a slush puddle. Water leaked in. This upset him. He learned that waterproofness isn't necessarily a key consideration for boots that are intended for high elevations and subzero temps.
