Just bought a new pair of 3/4 season winter walking boots. I’ll wear them for working outside (i’m a cameraman so spend lots of time outside and standing around in the cold) and for munro bagging and the like. They aren’t for crampons and the most they will see is some kahtoolas for when things feel dangerous.

I bought the size 12’s originally which fitted my heel and foot well. I can fit a finger down the back of the boots stood up in them, in my socks. Stamping up and down the stairs doesn’t cause my toes to touch the end, and where the toe ceases on the boot *looks* right. ..BUT…if i kick down hard on the toe, as if i was hammering the ground, my toes hit the end. I was always taught that if you could at all touch the end of the boot then they were too small.

So I ordered a pair of size 12.5’s which soon arrived at my door and I can’t kick down hard on my toe any more…but they just *look* very big now (…almost as if they are too big for me), the tow creases seems too far forward now and I can fit two fingers down the back of them. There is a little bit of heel lift going on, but these are stiff boots and they are new. There is also quite a lot of volume across the front of the boot at the toe end; BUT…they are stiff and new, so I assume I will be able to tighten this up with time.

I’ve just spent the last 1.5 hours trying these two boots on and off with every last pair of sock combination in the world and all my other boots that I own on. I’m wearing my finest insoles.

Typically I have always left ALOT of space in my boots, but recently suffered from a HORRID case of blistering heels on a long alpine snow trudge…I also don’t have the biggest feet in the world, and always find myself buying the biggest boots shops have (Size 12/13, when in school shoes I am a solid English Brogue 11)…which makes me wonder if I haven’t been overly cautious with toe space over the years and being buying everything too large.

Please help me. I think i’ve already ruined the carpet on the stairs, and the SO will be back home from work soon, and so I need to hide the boots. Posted this on UK climbing as well, but thought I might get more responses on here to be honest!