Crispi Idaho GTX® Hunting Boot Review

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Crispi Idaho GTX®

Basic Description:

Idaho GTX® is an early season, Uninsualted Crispi® technology rich Hunting, Trekking, Hiking and rugged terrain boot. Crispi® brings together their WFW (Wave Wrapping Frame) technology, with Super Grip outsoles and then adds their ABSS for legendary fit and comfort. This boot follows all of our Industry leading qualities of the Hunter, but lighter weight and uninsulated for early season hunting. Finally we add a high quality bottom from Vibram® and Legendary Gore-Tex® for Waterproofness and Breathability. Designed in Italy exclusively for the North America Market and tested in the rugged Rocky Moutnains.

Just the Facts:

-9 inches tall
-1.7lbs per boot
-Un-insulated and meant for early season hunting. For my feet I would use them down to 10-20 degrees with some activity and 30-40 degrees with no activity.
-Crispi’s Crossbow frame
-Crispi’s Wrapping framework technology
-ABSS (Ankle Bone Support System
-Full Rubber Rand

Story:

These are the 2nd pair of Crispi boots I have tried this year and this is the 2nd time that Crispi has knocked one out of the park in my book! For a DIY back country western bow hunter this is what all other boots should be shooting for. If there are any other boot manufactures out there that are reading this, take notes, because this is how a mountain boot should be. I have put 60-70 miles on these boots and they are awesome. They were comfortable right out of the box but have gotten even more so with a few miles on them. Boots are the most important piece of gear you can buy for hunting the back country, PERIOD!! If your feet are blistered and tired, you’re done and your hunt is done; and that precious vacation time you took off is lost.
These boots are made out of a rough out nubuck leather and cordura that is very resistant to abrasion and breaths extremely well. They have a full rubber rand which is a great feature to have in the mountains, helping prevent your boots from getting cut up. They have a very nice vibram sole that has great grip even on wet and slippery terrain.
I have had many long talks and emails with Miles Munger, who is Crispi’s North America sales rep. I got the Idaho’s and knew they were on to something for the early season hunter, hunting the steeps. This boot has great support in the ankle area and has great stability. This is not an uncomfortable mountaineering style shoe that you are going to pay a price for wearing all day long. But it gives you all the support you are going to need while carrying heavy loads. This is the most comfortable boot I have ever worn; it is nice to walk in and yet gives you great stability while climbing up or down or side hilling. This is crucial while hauling heavy loads and you really start to weed out the losers when you start carrying over 80lbs. So to see how these would do with a lot of weight I loaded up the pack with 120lbs and took off. The only other time I ever want to carry this amount of weight is when I have a bull on the ground! The boots held up great and not once did I feel un-stable or that I didn’t have enough boot on my feet. Most of the boots or hikers I test out began breaking down and losing support after that 80 lb mark, not the Idaho’s they gave me great support and confidence to take them anywhere with any weight I can hold!
My last big test for these boots was suppose to be a 14 mile 3 day scouting trip for Elk and Deer in my home state or Oregon. As you can see if you watch my quick video of the boots, it got cut short due to the weather. But none the less the terrain that we were on was severe to say the least and wet. We ran into snow a mile from the truck and never saw dirt again on the whole trip. I was carrying a decent load of 50 lbs and we were walking on lava rock, downed trees, and ice the entire trip. We had a 2,000 foot elevation gain with some slops being around 45 degrees or so in elevation. We ended up doing about 7 miles over a 15 hour day and my feet were bone dry when we were done, they were not sore or tired and not once did I have a fall from slipping on a tree or rock. I cannot say the same for my dad and father in-law who was wearing pronghorns. On a typical trip like this with the terrain we were in I would expect to need to bathe my feet in Epsom salt when I got home, but it was just like another day at the office for my feet in the Idaho’s.
Like I said earlier on the temp rating of these boots, I could wear them well below freezing if was moving and just above freezing if I was sitting. I have worn them in temps around 70 degrees and my feet did sweat but my feet would have sweated if I was wearing flip flops and would have no issues hunting in 70 degree weather in these.
Things I like about these the most:
-Comfortable boots to wear with plenty of support and stability
-Full rubber rand
-Vibram sole that grips to anything
-Lightweight and breathable boot
-bombproof ( I expect these boots to last a very long time)

What they could do better:

I hate saying this all the time but I cannot really find anything that I didn’t like about them. There are some hunting situations I wouldn’t want to use these in, like tree stand hunting in the dead of winter. But up in the mountains 20 degrees and on up I would pick these over any boot I have tested and used hands down!