La Sportiva  Aequilibrium Trek GTX Hiking Boots - Men's

My 15 year old son required hiking boots for our upcoming trip. After a few hours of shopping, this was the boot that felt near perfect so we purchased. It was a bit above the price point I liked, but a boot needs to fit well, and they did. They are comfortable, supportive and grippy. His feet don't get tired on the uneven hard terrain. The issue with these "waterproof" boots are, they are not. They are to waterproof as a colander is to an umbrella. I was skeptical of purchasing Gore-Tex as I have found it to be a gimmick in the past. I was hoping things had changed. The ingress occurs where there are seems in the material near the sole. The ingress occurred within 7 kilometers on the first use in 2" of water. The water level never made it to the upper material or came over the boot. Great comfort, in dry conditions.

So far so good. Excellent ankle protection and notice I feel quite comfortable in these boots compared to their competitors. I would recommend if you are thinking of purchasing. I typically wear a 10.5 US so I've found 44.5 to be excellent.

I’ve walked around 40 miles in these boots. They are some of the best boots I’ve used. I like the aggressive tread, and the over the ankle protection. I’m unsure what the harder material on the inside angle is, but since I tent to smack my ankle together while I walk, it seems like that reinforcement is in just the right place. Big fan of the multi colored laces too. My wish list for these boots would be a non-Goretex version. We all know the ups and downs of Goretex. A loop on the heel to assist in getting them on/off wouldn’t go unnoticed either. Overall, great boots!

Very thoughtfully designed and high performance. Keep making this one. Sizing is small like all LS shoes, size up.

Very tall heel and incredibly painfully narrow toe box. After putting 30 miles on these they are unbearable, the tall heel exacerbates toes pressure on downhills. The split heel sole does help with gate, but unless you have the feet of a goat, these will only cause you pain. Workmanship and materials are very good.