Description of La Sportiva Trango Trek GTX Hiking Boot - Men's:
The La Sportiva Men's Trango Trek GTX Hiking Boots use a 3D Flex ankle to provide the feel of a nimble boot with the support of a heavy boot. Though these La Sportiva boots weight only 3lb 4oz, their 7mm nylon shank and burly Vibram outsoles give you enough support for heavy loads on multi-day backpacking trips. The Trango Trek GTX Hiking Boots include waterproof breathable Gore-Tex inserts to keep your feet dry when the trail's wet.
Bottom Line: Keep your feet comfortable in the La Sportiva Trango Trek GTX Hiking Boots while you carry big loads though the hills.
These are very good boots. I didn't buy them from BC because BC only recently started carrying them; I do recommend them though. They definitely require some decent breaking in before they are truly comfortable but once they are broken in they are very nice. Good stiffness and very waterproof. They excel with heavier loads. Not for really cold temps (great 3 season any-terrain boot) but otherwise they are wonderful.
Let's start with the good first. I can't say enough good things about the vibram sole on this boot. It's is the same as the pattern on my old Alsolo Cerro Terra's and it sticks to wet rocks like glue. That's important for me as I do most of my hiking in the Carolina mountains. The sole has large lugs around the perimeter and aggressive lugs facing forward and backward down the center. This gives great traction over smooth wet surfaces as well as both up and downhills. This is hard to find these days. It seems every boot I looked at had symmetrical ovoid type lugs all over the sole that looked as if they would be fine for average hiking but would compromise traction on more demanding terrain. This opinion seemed to be backed up by many reviews that I read on this site and others about the lack of traction in various conditions. This boot has great grip in most any terrain..period.
The boot is also very comfortable and requires virtually no break in. I have only hiked about 35 miles in them so far, but no blisters yet. They could use a little more support, for me. I don't notice this in hikes under 4 miles, but when hiking further I could use it. Superfeet insoles would probably fix the problem.
The only downside I can find for these boots is they are probably not the choice for people with ankle problems. They have an articulated ankle that works as advertised and allow more movement of the ankle over uneven terrain. The ankle of the boot is higher than average, but it very lightly padded, which allows you to tighten up the boot nice and tight to give a little more ankle security, but the light padding also makes the ankle section much less rigid. I bought the boot for the sole and am very pleased with the comfort, fit and traction. With the higher ankle I figured I could tighten up the boot enough to support my weak right ankle, and I can as long as the terrain is not too uneven. But under rugged conditions I really need more ankle support.
If you have good ankles, this is a great boot. It fits a little on the small side (about a 1/2 size) and if you have wide feet you probably will have a problem. I love the boot and am going to keep it and tape my ankle for extra support and maybe get some superfeet for additional footbed support. But when these wear out I'll probably look for a boot with a much stiffer ankle area. Too bad I have bad ankles because these are really good boots.
went out to the retail store and tried on the 44.5's and the 45's. decided to try the 44.5's (i'm usually an 11 in just about every shoe). took them home and wore them around the house for a while and they just felt too tight, so i took them back and exchanged them for the 45's.
went on a quick overnighter to lake blanche (about 3 miles up with almost 3000 vertical gain) — thought it would be a good "break-in" period. the right foot felt pretty good, but on the left i got a blister on the inside of my heel and one on top of my pinky toe. i don't think i've ever got a blister on the inside of my heel before.
after getting home and checking out the insides, it seems like there's a little tab or part of the material inside the wall of the boot at the heel, that is just poking out enough to cause the rubbing that gave me the blister. it's ever so slight, but it's not in the right boot, only the left. so i'm hoping that with a little more wear it will go away, otherwise i'll be returning the boots for another pair — as it must be a manufacturing defect.
i really liked everything else about the boots, so i'm hoping that i can get this problem fixed and upgrade them a couple of stars.
