La Sportiva TX5 GTX, Men's Mountain Boots

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Although the Mescalito has no membrane, the suede uppers did repel some splashing and coped with a shower or two. The uppers are 1.8mm suede and offer a good snug fit for the foot. The lacing is climbing style, extending to the front toe area. The stiffened toe box has a wide rubber overlay. A polyurethane rand wraps around the lower area of the shoe from toe box to heel cup, which is also hardened for protection. La Sportiva’s TX5 GORE-TEX gives a perfect blend of approach shoe grip and hiking boot protection. Derived from their iconic Trango series, the high-cut ankle cuff is supportive and protective, enhanced by the 3D Flex system for optimal freedom of movement. Stable and comfortable, it’s ideal if you’re carrying heavier loads on those mountain paths. Featuring waterproof GORE-TEX up top and Vibram Megagrip rubber underfoot, the TX5 GTX achieves sure-footed performance in both the wet and dry. The soft padding of the tongue and around the ankles is very comfortable. The round heel and the semicircular shape of the forefoot make the La Sportivas extremely comfortable to walk on. The cushioning of the heel and forefoot is excellent. The removable foam insole also dampens. The insole is made of a nice soft foam. The Scarpa Mescalito with good design features for technical terrain, combined with very good comfort overall.

The uppers are a combination of suede and fabric. They are soft and pliable, making for a comfortable experience. There’s venting on the sides of the shoe which helped keep my feet cooler on warm days. The ankle cuff has a medium amount of foam padding, as does the tongue, but both were comfortable during extended use.

The uppers of the European-made Salewa shoe are 1.6mm suede with an overlay containing the brand’s 3F system that links the top of the lacing area with the shoe’s heel and arch area, providing a good stable hold on the rear of the foot.

The Keen shoes were very comfortable and cool and were a good choice on hot and warm days. They don’t shout ‘outdoors’ so are good for use in the urban environment as well as out on the trail. They are medium weight, tipping the scales at less than a kilo for a pair of 9½s. The outsole has additional stiffening elements in front of the heel section which provided extra torsional stability in what is a fairly pliable shoe.Stand on the A4 paper with your heel pressed firmly against the wall and your foot pointed forward with the edge of your big toe aligned with the edge of the paper. If you can see this amount of space then you are pretty much on the way to making sure that your boots are the correct size. This space between your toes and the end of the footbed ensures that you will not stub your toes on the inside of the boot when you descend. This can be excruciatingly painful. If you can’t see this amount of space then it’s a good bet that the boots will be too small. Best use: technical terrain, scrambling, via ferrata, mountain paths, maintained trails, urban walks. Comfort around the ankle and heel were good too. The Boreal shoe has a short inbuilt gaiter as the rear section of the ankle padding, which gave good flexibility for the ankle. The tongue had just the right amount of padding, but the gusset is quite thin and had a tendency to wrinkle a little if the shoe wasn’t laced carefully, introducing a little discomfort on the side of the foot. The gusset only comes half-way up the lacing, which allowed water to get into the shoe on deeper bogs and puddles.

The sole provides the best underfoot cushioning of any in the test, thanks to its pliable midsole and a little additional foam padding in the ventilated insole. But let’s not dwell on what you don’t have, instead we shall teach you how to ascertain your size using some common household objects.

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However, even after the most rigorous assessment and testing, there is no better way to be absolutely sure than to have the boots on your feet for an extended period of time. We therefore offer our Home Trial Period which gives you the opportunity to wear the boots around your house to give you an indication of how they feel before you venture outside. We recommend that during the Home Trial Period that you wear the boots for as long as possible and at different times of the day, wear them up and down stairs, when moving around and when resting, you can even sleep in them if you want. The main problem I had with the Mammut shoe was that the interior of the heel area rubbed, causing problems on longer walks. The source of the rubbing seemed to be where the heel cup cuts in fairly sharply about two-thirds of the way up, creating an interior ridge. It’s a shame about this as the shoes were otherwise comfortable. In our Hereford shop we offer a professional boot fitting service where we assess your feet, find a selection of boots that match you foot shape and most importantly we make sure that they are comfortable.This iseasy to do in the shop, where we have access tothe right tools, the option of letting you try on as many styles as you like and a knowledgeable member of staff that cancommunicate directly with you regarding your needs.