I bought a pair of Asolo tps 520 in November of 2016 from REI and the sole just came off this morning while dove hunting. I have a 1st rifle colorado elk tag coming up so need to break in some new boots quick. I loved these boots - fit great right out of the box and felt great in every condition Texas could throw at them, but losing a sole on a $300 pair of boots in less than 3 years is tough to swallow, so interested in other brands/models you guys enjoy for the Mountains?
Hoping to stay at or under $300, but realize these will make or break my trip if I go wrong.
Going to hit up REI tomorrow, but if someone has an opinion I'd listen. Thanks!

I have both Asolo and Lowa boots. I wear the Lowa’s every day and the Asolos on special occasions.

RM Resole in Colorado can resole your Asolos. (www.rmresole.com) Then you’ll have a good pair of spares.

That’s a solid option. Will see what it costs to ship them.
Which Lowas do you wear?

Renegades. They feel lighter and cooler than my TPS’s.

I use SuperFeet inserts in both pair so my opinions might change without them.

I'm a danner fan.

If you need just a hiking boot, inov-8 makes a great one. It's gore-tex and is extremely comfortable. Any shoes or boots these days shouldn't need to be broken in either.

I like Merrell and Keen but I don’t know if they offer anything for what you need.

REI cane out anti NRA a couple of years ago. Just an FYI. They were getting a lot of my money.

Salomon 4d, great mid range/mid prices boot with limited to no break end, but wouldn’t call it a long term heavy use option

I’m on my third resole on my Hanwag Yukon’s. I love them I get about 150 to 200 miles per sole. I have Messina’s on Main Street Grapevine resole them.

I run Hanwag Chillkats for my high alpine boot, the are stiffer and water proof, where as Yukon is just leather lines

Ive ran a lot of boots last couple years. Lowa ticam II is a great boot with a stiffness between the Tibet’s and Camino’s. If you have a wide foot Zamberlan has a good last also

I'm a big Danner fan as well. Have two pairs of them currently. My pronghorns are the 400gr insulated while my uninsulated are the High Grounds. Both are good solid boots, but the High Ground seems to run a little narrower.

I checked out the Salomon 4d and they were extremely comfortable. Unfortunately, the reviews on the sole failures along with water leaks after a short time are what steered me away from them.

Yea I read that about the solomans too, specifically the leaking after a year or so. That would be a bummer as we def. spend a lot of time in wet/mud every Fall/Winter. REI recommended I take them to the Houston Shoe Hospital to get them resoled with some vibrams (that's what they use at Rocky Mountain Resole like Jawohl recommended. It's going to be $90 so I figure I'll start with that, then scramble for some Lowa's like Bobo and others have recommended, maybe some Schnees Beartooth if Im feeling lucky (i.e., like I can slip one past the wife) if that doesnt work out. Worst case this way, I have some nice backup boots to go with some nice shiny ones.

Beartooths are extremely well built, just didn’t fit my feet. Gornell(who makes them, is a very good mfg)

I don’t stress over waterproof if it’s an all leather boot. I specifically hunt in non goretex(L or similar membrane)

My feet seldom get wet, and I have less overall moisture because they breath better.( I wear gaiters and oil them)

If you are truly in a pinch go with the Salomons. If you can afford it I would upgrade to better overall boot(lowa, schnees, hanwag, crispi, zamberlan) IMO(if you use them-they require a lot of break in)). If you only hunt a week or two a year in them get salmons or danner.

Good point about breathing vs air tight. We’ll see how the Resole goes first

I'm all for good boots. $5 Epoxy will fix your removed sole, however.

good info

Well the cobbler said the dry rot was too bad to fix the sole. Don’t think I have time to ship it out for a second opinion, so back to shopping. Stopped by rei and they had a surprisingly low selection at their Houston Westheimer store, will check out Whole Earth Provisions and the other REI today.

Whole earth Southlake use to carry lowa, don’t over look the Zamberlan voiz, I know Southlake REI has them. Main REI in Dallas has a decent selection of mid flex hiking boots last time I was there.

Irish Setter VaprTrek

These are the best boots I ever wore. I have both the 8-inch boot and the 5-inch hiker. Many a mile on both. No complaints.