Interesting to read these comments. I get a lot of emails about the boots, given I wear them in the show and have worn them before we started the show. Most are questions about my opinions of the boots and a very few have been asking if I have ever had a blister issue.
I have concluded that fit is the biggest issue. I am lucky/unlucky to have Fred Flinstone feet. They are flat and wide. Every pair of boots I ever owned gave me blisters, until I started wearing Kenetreks, and some of those were supposedly the top tier category of the great mountain boots. Maybe those other boots were good boots, but they did not fit me well and thus did not work out for me. Since finding Kenetrek boots in 2007, not one blister and I have hunted more days, with heavier packs, over some uglier terrain, than when I wore boots that did give me blisters on easy terrain.
When I do hear a concern it is often a heel issue. I have wide heels. Maybe that is why the fit is so good for me.
As far as durability, I have the 400 Mountain Extremes that I bought in 2007. I have worn them for every late season hunt since then. In those six seasons I would guess they have well over 25 hunts on them, probably all at least 5 day hunts, with 8 mile per day average. What's that for miles? 25 X 5 X 8 = 1,000 miles. Most with at least 25# pack and rifle. Some with heavier loads. Never had a blister. Still wearing them with no problems. Changed laces once. Will probably get them resoled over the summer.
I have a pair of Hardscrabbles I got in early 2010. In the last three seasons, they have over 15 week-long hunts on them, with those being my boot of choice for the archery hunts in lava rocks of AZ and NM. Those early archery elk hunts probably average 9 miles per day. Again, never a blister or failure. Had them resoled this year.
Last winter I got a pair of non-insulated Mountain Extremes and hunted with them for all but two hunts this year. Never even bothered to break these in before going on a spring bear hunt. Again, never any blister issues. They look brand new after at least 300 miles this year.
As far as ankle support, they provide the best I have found. A stiff boot makes life much easier for legs/knees/feet when carrying heavy loads over rocky ground.
Wish everyone found them to fit as good as they fit for me. Not sure what the issues are, but I suspect it is fit, more than anything.
And yeah, I use them in the show. I was using them before the show, when I had to pay for them out of my own pocket. They work extremely well for me and that is why I continue to use them. I have been approached by many other boot companies and some of them have very large checkbooks to spend on TV shows. I continue to wear what has worked best for me, Kenetreks, believing that if I did not have a quality boot on my feet for four straight months of hunting the west, there is no way my feet would hold up for that many miles, over that terrain, with loaded packs.
