Kenetrek Boots

Kenetrek Boots

Foot care is one of the most important aspects of wilderness hunting or hiking. If your feet are not warm, dry, comfortable, and supported, you will not have an enjoyable outing. I spent a lot of time researching different hunting boot brands and I decided to go with the Kenetrek Hardscrabble Hiker. I wanted a tough, light, waterproof boot that would provide ample support while I was scaling the rugged mountains of British Columbia in Canada.

The Kenetrek Hardscrabble Hiker has a 7” boot and is made of 2.8 mm full grain leather. The light boots weigh only 3.6lbs, a reason I chose these over the Lowa Sheep Hunters. The components are top notch and the boots are made in Italy. The Windtex membrane provides the

waterproofing while allowing your feet to breath. The high traction K-Talon outsole with stiff nylon mid soles provide exceptional support and prevent slipping and ankle rolls.

I have used these boots on numerous outings now, and I highly recommend them to high country hunters and hikers. The boots have kept my feet dry while walking through streams, and have kept my blister free during grueling mountain adventures.

After a few hunting seasons I have noticed that these boots have stretched a little bit as they were almost too tight at first. Even though these boots are made of high quality components, they are not as comfortable as my Danner Frontier boots that fit like a glove. I will say that the Kenetrek Hardscrabble Hiker has a stiffer support, like a ski boot making it more suitable for mountainous terrain. Kenetrek uses a high quality leather and sole but once the sole is worn out you might as well chuck the boots out as you cannot have

another sewn on, as with the Danner’s. In saying that, I have had these boots for a number of years now and the soles are still good. One complaint I have about the soles is that they are so hard that they offer little traction on logs or other hard surfaces such as granite and clay. I have slipped many times wearing these boots. Stalking is also difficult with these boots because they are not forgiving on twigs or gravel as other softer sole hunting boots.

On one recent trip we were hunting blacktail and Roosevelt elk in the rainy pacific northwest and on day 4 I notice there was a bit of moisture inside my boot. I have since gone hunting in damp conditions and I noticed that these boots do let some water in the bottom of the boot which is weird. I will contact the manufacturer and see what they say.

UPDATE: I sent my boots into Kenetrek and they performed a leak test, they found out that my orthotic insoles punctured a hole in the sole of the boot. So it was not a product failure. They were nice enough to fix the puncture holes and return them to me with new insoles free of charge. I was impressed with their friendly customer service.

Pros: good support, high quality components, good customer service. Cons: very hard sole making it slippery on hard surfaces such as clay and logs. Hard to be quiet with them on as the sole is so stiff you will snap twigs and grind gravel.