What's your choice in footwear?

[angryocotillo]

Has anybody tried wearing cowboy boots? I am soon to get a pair of double hh western work boots and am hoping they can also be used for hiking and hunting. Has anybody tried wearing westerns or ropers for hiking? If so what are your thoughts?

[presidio]

Heavy, and heavy-duty, Asolo full leather boots for general hiking (mostly off-trail).

Custom-made White's boots for really hard country. 8" tops for ankle support.

[presidio]

Has anybody tried wearing cowboy boots? I am soon to get a pair of double hh western work boots and am hoping they can also be used for hiking and hunting. Has anybody tried wearing westerns or ropers for hiking? If so what are your thoughts?

If you're talking lace-up cowboy boots they'll work fine as long as you have a vibram sole. Of course that kind of sole makes them undesirable for saddle use. You'd also want a box toe rather than the riding style because you'll have sore feet almost pronto and the special pointy-toed socks they need are hard to find.

Whites makes them and I think Danner does also but I haven't looked in years.

[angryocotillo]

Thank you very much for the input, but I was thinking less cowboy boot and more western style work boot (without laces). Much like these. http://www.cavenders.com/product.asp?cat=8&dept_id=510&pf_id=DH1554

[presidio]

Thank you very much for the input, but I was thinking less cowboy boot and more western style work boot (without laces). Much like these. http://www.cavenders.com/product.asp?cat=8&dept_id=510&pf_id=DH1554

Nice looking boot. However, you will find that a traditional cowboy boot will be rather unsatisfactory for hiking on anything but a very smooth trail even with vibram soles. You don't see folks that work from a horse wearing this style of footwear walking very far or if they don't have to, all the TX lawyers in big cities notwithstanding. This traditional form is very much purpose built for stirrups. Any boot that merely slips on will rub you raw over any distance and, more importantly, will not give you the support that lace-up boots designed for walking provide.

Get the cowboys for the dance, get real hiking boots for the desert.

[Sanjuro82]

I picked up a pair of Megellan Canyon's a month or so back from my local Academy.  Based off of this review:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2044267/magellan_canyon_hiking_boots_review.html?cat=11

I read the review and my interest was peaked.  So far they held up very nicely.  Now that I have them broken in they are quite the comfortable boot.  The leather is heavy duty and seems to be of high quality.  For 50 bucks you can't go wrong. 

[MilesOfTexas]

Has anybody tried wearing cowboy boots? I am soon to get a pair of double hh western work boots and am hoping they can also be used for hiking and hunting. Has anybody tried wearing westerns or ropers for hiking? If so what are your thoughts?

I have hiked several times with these (Justin Workboots):
http://tinyurl.com/yanw982

Comfort is incredible, as is traction on wet/damp rocks and such.  The only thing I didn't like was the lack of ankle support.  Despite being calf high laceups, they had no ankle support because of the thin leather uppers.  They also can require a lot of break-in, but I found that rubbing them very generously with neatsfoot oil when they are brand new reduces the break-in time to just a few days.  Plus, when used properly, neatsfoot oil can extend the useful life of the leather (I had one pair that I wore every day for 7 years before I finally retired them for part time duty).

I have since purchased a pair of Salomon Mission GTX's and I immediately noticed a huge difference in ankle support:
http://tinyurl.com/yatwml2

I haven't actually hiked with them yet, but I will be in April.

[Pedreo233]

Crocs for me!