Kenetrek Mountain Extremes?

[silverlab]

Just pulled the trigger on the mt extremes. how or what do most of you do to break them in. Am I correct in the fact that you just wear them for a short time each day as to not over do it on your feet? I think I have seen it takes upwards of 80 miles to break in. I'm working on that starting tomorrow, just looking for ideas. I also have the socks; a liner and an insulator sock also. Thank you for any ideas.

 

[bowhunterjae]

Depends,
I am on my forth pair.
3 were like slippers, 1 pair took a couple days. BUT I installed inserts in them.
That probably was the difference.
Just had one pair rebuilt. Came back awesome

 

[Khunter]

Depends,
I am on my forth pair.
3 were like slippers, 1 pair took a couple days. BUT I installed inserts in them.
That probably was the difference.
Just had one pair rebuilt. Came back awesome

hmm...what did they do on the rebuild?

 

[bowhunterjae]

Khunter, here is what they did. New soles, patched the rubber band at bottom of boot, the leather just above the heel was worn out (patched with new leather), new inserts, new laces. $175.
I wish i wouldn't have thrown out my first two pair. i could have saved myself some $.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Mine too were comfortable from the get-go.

 

[jnagel32]

I have the orthopedic version and they were comfortable from day one, but were a little stiff. I hiked around 4 miles each day in them for a couple weeks and put over 50 miles on them before our hunt last fall. I have ankle problems and they served me well.

 

[Caseknife]

I have both the Mtn Extremes and the Hardscrabble, both are very comfortable, seems the Hardscrabble are a bit stiffer.
The main thing with breaking in boots is to wear them now, find out where the hot spots are and how to alleviate them.
I learned from my brother in law to not lace my boots up real tight and let the boot float a bit. I tend to get heal blisters and
this helped immensely. I do wear liner socks with insulating socks. I remember backpacking trips in college when I would
lace my boots so tight that the nerve on the top of my foot would actually get pinched, I don't do that anymore.

 

[Arcola]

I'll add my 2 cents here. Depends on where you live. I'm in the midwest, so it's pretty tough to find truly steep terrain around the house. I wore mine over 50 miles of local hiking. Found the steepest stuff I could, but it didn't compare to the mountains I hunt. Where I fell short was down hill. If I was to do it all over again, I'd focus just as much on going down hill than I did uphill. Would have saved my toes on that first hunt. That said, three days into those steep downhills, they were totally broken in and good to go. As was mentioned above, I'd also run them a little loose to start and tighten as as your feet warm up. Seemed to help me.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I pretty much took mine out of the box and went on a Colorado elk hunt with no issues. I put less than 10 miles on mine before the trip. Obviously, they feel even better the more I use them.

 

[homerj]

Mine were nearly ready out of the box. I was paranoid about breaking them in so I put about 30 miles on them pre-season, but they were great from day one.

Ease your mind a bit and get started early, but they're great boots

 

[sneakypete]

I broke mine in walking around where I live. A couple of helpful tips, find a sock combination and apply Kenetrek boot dressing.

 

[tom338]

I agree with sneakypete, a good sock combo is a must. And the last couple pair of Kenetrek's I put their boot waterproofer on right away. It seemed to help and hardly any break in time was needed. Just go for a 2 mile walk in them to start, them work it up to 4 miles. You will know if they are ok.

 

[silverlab]

Thank you for all the replies, wasn't sure if there was anything new other than putting the leather to the ground!