Hanwag Alaskan Boots.

[Blackhorse7]

Just got my Hanwag Alaskans today.... wore them for a full 10 hours right out of the box, and no blisters.  SWEEET BOOTS!  I can already tell that when they break in more, they will be even more comfortable.  I would have gotten the Hanwag Special Forces boot as it is black, but I hate d-ring lacing.  The Alaskan's have speed lacing.  And with just a coating of black Nikwax and 2 coats of Kiwi Polish, they are virtually black anyway.  I'm sure further coats will to the trick.

If you have the swag, get some.

 

[PhilB]

Worth every penny. I bought a pair of Alaska's and wore them almost everyday of the BTE this year. I threw in a pair of Sole insoles and have never looked back. FYI the Alaska's fit slightly wider than the SF ones.

 

[Blackhorse7]

I need the extra width, so no problem there.  I also love the Sole footbeds, but I don't know if I will have enough room in the boots.  I will wait to see what they are like when they stretch out a bit.

 

[q_1966]

Ive had a pair of those for some time now, great boot, my advice is to get equally great socks to go with the boots (with Superfeet custom footbeds)

The sock has a blue Polypro like liner, and a cotton wool blend oversock?(Black) With wool on the hotspot prone areas like the toe, bottom of the foot and heal (Someone help me if they know the brand)
http://army.ca/cgi-bin/album.pl?photo=ZMisc/Picture_1.jpg

These are the best type of socks for these boots, (Not for combat boots though, they dont work well with those) I went on the West Coast Trail with this Kit and havent had a problem (Using the same socks and letting them airdry and going again the nextday, only one blister, and that was from me falling in a creek and soaked the boots ( Last Night of the Hike) and didnt let them dry out properly, hiking out with damp boots plus walking around Bamfield a bit (That is why I got a single blister) My dad used the same combo and if I recall had no blisters.

although its not really waterproof (as I recall, I could be wrong) up past the gortex stuff on the heal, so I recommend that if you will be hiking in dryer areas, they will work twice as good

also, im not sure putting boot polish would work on the gore tex stuff, (on the heal and top part  of the boot as it has little holes in it)
http://army.ca/cgi-bin/album.pl?photo=ZMisc/Picture_2.jpg

 

[Blackhorse7]

I e-mailed Danner about that very thing, and they said as long as there was not excessive polishing, that the Goretex would not get plugged up.  But that being said, I want the boots to last, not be shiny.  I'm going to leave them be for a bit and see how they turn out.

 

[Gayson]

Why don't you use the polish issued for the WWB?  I'm sure it would work better then kiwi.

 

[Nfld Sapper]

That's why there is a special boot paste for the gortex boots, ask at your unit QM.