Well archery season here in Montana has been officially over for a couple weeks now and the weather is starting to get colder by the day. Although I already am missing the sounds bugling elk echoing through the mountains, I was lucky enough to try out some new gear this past season. This is an in depth look at the Kenetrek Mountain Guide Boot.
First off, Kenetrek is an amazing company, full of helpful and knowledgeable individuals that can walk you through anything and everything that you would ever want to know about the products and the company itself. This company has a warehouse based in Bozeman, MT and if you do order product it gets to your door in a very timely manner. But that is enough about the company lets get to the product.
I have hunted in many different boots, and to this point I have yet to find a pair that holds up like the Mountain Guides have. I am a hunting guide in Montana and between spring bear, archery elk, and the general rifle season I spend over 60 days just guiding. On top of that I am chasing elk for myself and scouting during the summer. To put it plainly I beat the hell out of my boots.
The reason I took my chance with the Mountain Guides over the insanely popular Mountain Extreme was because the Mountain Guides come with a Vibram sole. This sole holds up to the wear and tear that the Rocky mountains of Montana have on any pair of boots. The one draw back to the Vibram sole is that when the snow flies you will experience a bit more slippage on rocks and trees buried in the snow, mainly because the sole is harder than the K-talon. So if you maybe aren’t as sure footed of a hunter or someone that hunts only rifle season where the ground is primarily covered in snow then the Mountain Guides may not be what your looking for. However, if that is your situation don’t worry because the K-talon sole in the Mountain Extremes is a pretty bad ass sole as well.
The other thing I really liked about the Mountain Guide was the fact that the rubber rand on the boot is only on the toe portion. Now this is nothing to worry about, but the way my mind works is that having less rand means that there is a decrease in area where the glue that holds the rand can fail. I have never had a problem with any rand whether it was full, 3/4 or just the toe portion. So if you do like to have more rubber rand on your boots the Extremes have it.
These boots have a ton of other extras as well. They are crampon compatible, meaning that there is a lip on the front and the back that crampons rest. The rubber in these areas also provides a spot where the crampons rest so that they are not rubbing against the leather of the boots. They also have a very aggressive tread pattern. No joke, you will feel like you could walk straight up a vertical wall when you have these boots on your feet.
The next and last thing that I really wanted to touch on is comfort. These boots are mad from a very high quality leather and the have a very stiff shank. So these boots do take some time to break in, however, once they are broken in it is like you went from driving a tank to a Cadillac you just have to give them time. There will be people out there that will be comfortable in the boots from the time they buy them. What I would recommend is to buy the boots well before your hunting trip or season starts and wear them every place that you can, take hike in them, put them on in the house and complete your honey do list, whatever works best do as long as you have the boots on because it will be worth it in the long run. Also these boots come in both un-insulated and insulated so depending on what time of year you may be hunting in and what your climate and weather is like in your area there is still a boot for you. I have the un-insulated boot because I primarily archery hunt in Montana, and even though there was some damn cold days this past season I never had a time when my feet were cold even during long, evening set ups.
In all I would highly recommend this boot to anyone, I have know attachment to the Kenetrek company and have other boots that I wear, but I can say with out a doubt that these are the best boots that I have worn. The company is great to work with if something does fail in the boots and if you have questions that need to be answered. They have a great warranty and everyone that I talked to had an awesome attitude. So this season if you are looking for a new boot, one that will work as hard and as long as you want to I don’t know I would ever go another direction. As always have a great time in the mountains, happy hunting and God Bless.
Montana Tines
Montana Tines 