Vasque backpacking boots reviews

Gear Review: Vasque Breeze 2.0 Kids Boots

Vasque Breeze 2.0 for kids
Vasque Breeze 2.0 for kids

Kids Boots
Vasque Breeze 2.0
$80, 1 lb. 10 oz. (youth 6)
Sizes: kids 10-13, youth 1-6
vasque.com

Finding boots for kids that not only look like adult boots, but are also really built like high-quality adults boots, can be like looking for an honest man in our nation’s capitol. So I was especially pleased with how well the kids’ Breeze 2.0 performed when my 13-year-old son wore them for more than a week of trekking hut to hut through Italy’s rugged Dolomite Mountains, encountering a full range of conditions: rain, mud, puddles, and snow.

Read on

Gear Review: Vasque St. Elias GTX Boots

Vasque St. Elias GTX
Vasque St. Elias GTX

Boots
Vasque St. Elias GTX
$190, 3 lbs. 1 oz. (men’s 9)
Sizes: men’s 7-12, 13, 14 medium width, 9-12, 13 narrow, 8-12, 13 wide; women’s 6-11 medium, 7-10 narrow and wide
vasque.com

I typically prefer a lightweight shoe or boot for backpacking with a load of 35 pounds or less. But when I’m carrying well over 40 pounds—as I did on a recent six-day family hike in Sequoia National Park—I want a boot with big support and stability, both to help me avoid a twisted ankle (or worst), and to prevent my feet from feeling badly beat up every day from the pounding of so much weight landing on them. The St. Elias GTX delivered on both counts.

Read on