north face insulated boots

[proszach]

Anyone had any experience with these boots?
http://www.thenorthface.com/opencms/opencms/tnf/gear.jsp?site=NA&model=AYV4
Will these cut the the mustard in terms of winter hiking? What about winter overnights? I feel like plastic boots might be too hardcore for me, but I need something that keeps my feet warm. Thanks.

 

[bobandgeri]

We've used a similar one from Columbia. Geri wore her's today and her feet were nice and warm even though we were hiking through 2 1/2 feet of snow. They will keep your feet as warm as a plastic boot - they just don't have a removable liner so that may be an issue for over night trips.

 

[Weird_AL]

I know nothing about those, but I've used the north face approach shoes and trail runners over the years and I love the quality...

 

[coldfeet]

They don't say how many grams of insulation, the others noted 200 and 400 grams...I wonder if this is also 400 grams...I too am trying to figure out this winter boot problem...good luck

 

[adamiata]

I picked up at set of similar TNFwinter boots, the Baltoro 400 that they show on the same page under "Related Gear". I've only had them about a month but so far I'm pretty satisfied. I'm happy with the fit, grip and warmth. In fact, on some of my more recent hikes they've been a little too warm at lower, warmer elevations where my feet began to sweat a lot. They're also reasonably waterproof, I've intentionally stepped in streams near the end of a hike just to find out, and so far I haven't felt anything seeping in. Another nice feature I like is the little barb molded into the back of the heel that should help keep my snowshoe straps in place.

My only complaint is that I wish they had stiffer soles. When walking, they do feel much stiffer than any other shoe/boot I own and I have done some limited step kicking without any toe trouble. I tried them briefly with crampons and I still felt the need to have the adjustment bars set to their flexible position.

Overall, I feel that I got what I paid for, and for my purposes they should serve just fine.

 

[coldfeet]

I just went to Campmor and EMS today, both salespeople felt that the NF and columbia's are not rigid enough for semi rigid crampons...to much flex in the boot...I'm back to square 1