Walking Boots…

Right, the time has come to replace my aging and never particularly well fitting Salomons.

Any reccommendations from the massive as to a good shop in the Woking/Guildford/Surrey area to get a fitting? Preferably with a nice wide range to look at too?

Cheers

P

Cotswold Outdoors are normall pretty good, don’t know if there is one near you.

Go outdoors/CCC are really good, and always very helpful! Cheap too.

Cheers Nick- One in Kingston, and I know there are couple of other places there too, so its definately a place to try.

Depends what sort you want. If leather, you could do alot worse than Brasher Hillmasters (very comfortable).

If after something more meaty, try Meindl – pretty wide. Scarpa SL come in 2 different width fitiings.

I’ve recently moved to Altberg (British Made!) and they come in loads of width fittings. CHeck their website for stockists.

tootallpaul

i have a mint pair of scarpa sls to sell. size 12.

Salomon use quite a different last compared to most boot manufacturers. In fact, I find they’re the only boot which I can use for any distance. Scarpa, in particular, are completely the wrong shape. Shame, as they otherwise make some great boots.

My scarpa seem to fit fine. I’d recommend them. They’ve been great in this snow.

Cotswolds in Kingston or Reading will be good.

Snow and Rock in Chertsey will also be good (although I’ve no idea what/how much they’ll have in at the moment as they’ll have all their winter stock in).

Just make it clear that you want a proper fit.

my scarpas fit very well – I was lucky to be able to get some 48 Wides in a sale – but I really hate Vibram soles on wet rocks. Terrifying.

I bought a pair of Meindl boots from Cotswold Leisure. Decent fitting service and the boots are fantastic – I did a two week trek in the Himalayas without a single blister.

scarpa sl. last forever.

I have very fussy feet, I tried loads of different boots on but the best by far were Reichle, fairly light, utterly waterproof and feel like a glove.

I cant for the life of me remember where they came from, it was a shop in Liverpool who offered a “we’re so sure we can get your the best boots that fit you can take them home and try them for 30 days, and get a refund if they dont”. They were £160 at the time, which was the cheapest I’d found them, but by god are they worth it! Try to find a shop that doesnt just sell salomons and merrels, and one with decent fitters, not just one that asks you to walk a few steps. They should ask you about what sort of terrain you will use, times of year, check the shape of your foot, ask about stiff and softer soles, decent boots can also be re-soled (this is a sign that they’re a good quality boot designed to last a LOT of miles!).

Cheers all- a trip to Kingston and Cotwold is on the way…

:o)

cotwold were very good as ive narrow feet, they measured and got some in to try. got some zamberlan leather gtx for 8 years. the most comfy footwear i own!

I guess you need to decide whether to go for leather or fabric, also what terrain you will be covering.

Cotswold Outdoor in Reading used to be good (haven’t been there for years), HM Supplies in Camberley might be worth a try. Have also noticed that TK Maxx often have walking boots in there, I bought some Raichle walking shoes there.

Have been seriously impressed with my Meindl’s, both leather and fabric. Tend to favour fabric these days cos I’m lazy!

I love my Meindls – think I’ve got about three pairs at the mo and they seem to age well if looked after.

Or just go in a pair of these:

like half of my duke of ed groups have after refusing to wear boots half way round (after many different excuses for not using the freely borrowable ones in many styles) 🙂

Def go to a shop with a wide range. Scarpa and Meindl are great but don’t fit my feet. Have 2 pairs of Asolo’s and one pair of Raichle which just seems to fit my feet well and are really well made. Decide on leather or fabric – you only really need leather if you are doing lots of rocky walking or scrambling.

Cotswold and Snow + Rock both good. Also Ellis Brigham if there is one in your area. Top tip – do all you can to avoid the weekend as the staff will have much less time to help you, and you might get a weekend only person who is not as good.