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Zamberland 960 & Gaiter Review

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Zamberland 960 & Gaiter Review

Postby idahoghost » 08 10, 2015 •  [Post 1]

I broke down and purchased a new pair of Zamberland 960 Guide boots. My old stand by Lowa's are about shot.

I tried them out this weekend on an Elk scouting trip. It's been really hot here, so unlike most scouting trips, I wore shorts. Big mistake. 1st day we only hiked for about four hours. By the time we reached the truck the new boots were filled with every seed, burr, and twig you could possibly imagine. Never will I wear these boots again without gaiters or long pants. The tops are so stiff (unlike my Lowa's) there is no way to tighten the laces enough to close them off. Both tongues have tendency to rotated to the outside of the boot, creating even more gap in the top front, allowing everything to fall into the boot. My Lowa's have a leather lining so if you do get something in them, you simply dump it out. The Zamberland have cloth liner that the seeds and burrs seem to stick to and burrow under. Took me almost an hour to clean the boots.

With that being said, the Zamberlands to offer more support than the Lowa's and are quite a bit stiffer. Much better on side hills and hopefully more water repellant then the Lowa's. The Zamberland seem to run about a half size bigger then the standard size twelve I normally wear, hence two pairs of socks work better than one, but also are very hot. Should be fine for late fall hunting, not really sure about early September.

The next day I wore the new Kenetrek gaiters. They were really quite, but far worse than the boots for picking of burrs. Another hour spent cleaning there. Finally got smart and found a fine tooth comb and cleaned them. I gave my girlfriend my Outdoor Research gaiters, more noise but not one seed stuck to them. Clean as a whistle.

My 2 cents...........
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idahoghost
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