La Sportiva K4S Boot
January 27, 2008
This is one of those reviews that I waffled about writing, because this isn’t a women’s boot. It’s allegedly a “unisex” boot, which we all know is just a men’s boot with a more confusing sizing system. However, because of the dearth of women’s specific boots out there, I decided to go ahead and review this boot.
Because of the “unisex” (bleah) sizing, the fit of this boot is not great. I’m left wondering whether the boot itself fits weird or that it’s just designed for a man. Not sure. Anyway, the fit is what keeps this boot from being a shining star. Everything else about it is great. The grip is incredible, it has just enough flex to make walking decently comfortable, and it performs well on technical ice. Takes crampons easily and is stiff enough for front-pointing all day long. The synthetic material is warm and requires little maintenance, which wins it extra points for me because I don’t like the maintenance associated with leather. My feet stay nice and dry, which, again, isn’t the case with leather.
The lacing system could be better. I’m constantly fiddling with the laces, but again, that probably comes back to the poor fit.
I wore these boots for technical ice climbing at about 6 degrees Farenheit, and my feet froze, but for mountaineering the boots stay warm down to zero – as long as you keep moving.
I realize that this review has a bit of a boring tone, but the poor fit of these boots leaves me cold (ha!) and I can’t bring myself to rave, which these boots would fully deserve had they a better fit. I can see that I’d love these boots if they fit me better. So, to stop babbling and sum up: great technology if your feet happen to fit, but if they don’t, you’ll be squirming.
