Lacrosse Rubber Boots, Field Report (pics)
12-27-2002, 08:05 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Goodyear AZ US
Posts: 215
Lacrosse Rubber Boots, Field Report (pics)
Trial by fire, here we go.
Lacrosse Burly ATS 1200gm
Price: $84.95 (Autumnchase)
Insulation: 1200g Thinsulate™
Camo: Advantage® Timber™
Sole: ATS
I had always wanted to try out rubber boots for scent elimination but I didn’t want to give up the comfort and warmth of my old dogs. Clunky, ill fitted, slick-soled, cold but scentless feet did not appeal to me. But after much deliberation, web searching, BBS reading and phone calling I decided to give rubber boots a chance. Best decision I made all year.
I was pleased when they arrived and I took them out of the box. They didn’t look like rubber boots with cleated soles, they looked like well thought out hunting boots that happen to be rubber. The boots are 18 inches with gusset adjustments in the back of the calf and all but the tip of the toe is covered in Advantage® Timber™. The sole is thick and the boot profile is tall giving them a Herman Munster or Gene Simmons-like quality that made me think “clunky, these are going to be hard to drive in”. Still a manly looking boot I wouldn’t be embarrassed to walk around in with my pants legs tucked in.
I thrust my hand into the boot to find out where they put 1200grams of Thinsulate™. Well it’s not above the ankle. The upper portion of the boot looks like a layer of rubber laminated to another thicker layer of rubber that is covered in a durable looking fabric they call Agion. It’s a green nylon material that reminds me of canvas with a really fine weave. Agion apparently has some anti-bacterial qualities but to me it just makes the inside of the boot look nice and it helps your feet slip in easily.
As my hand reached below the ankle I was surprised at how cushy the inside was. My first thought was this is gonna feel good. I was concerned with how well the top of my foot would be insulated so I started there. A smooth nylon fabric (probably Agion) covering insulation thick enough to sink the first digit of my finger into. Nice, interior by Victoria’s Secret, it felt like one of my wife’s fancy bras. When she was wearing it. The sole was not quite the erotic experience I had with the top but it was firm and comfortable none the less. The fiberglass shank gives the boot its form and is largely responsible for making it feel like a solid hunting boot instead of a floppy rubber boot.
I normally wear a size 9 so that’s what I bought even after hearing that the boots come a little large. When I pushed my foot down into the boots my heel clicked in like a pair of ski bindings. With a pair of thick wool socks over a pair of standard cotton socks my toes still had plenty of room around them but my heel was fit perfect. I would have worried because my toes were bordering on that loose, clunky fit but the heel had that nice hiking boot feel to it. I figured that if they didn’t give me blisters then at least my feet wouldn’t be getting the blood squeezed out of them while I was on stand. So I went on a 5 day turkey hunt to the north rim of the Grand Canyon in the Kibab National Forest where we covered several miles a day through steep terrain with temps in the 40’s & 50’s.
With temps like that and lots of walking I didn’t feel I had really put these boots in their element but they were still great. My socks didn’t bunch up, no hint of a blister and they were soon a part of me like any boot. The only thing that took a little getting used to is the feel of an 18 inch boot all the way up your calf. When I tightened up the gusset adjustment strap on the back it just made it more obvious that a boot was wrapped around my calf so I loosened it up and left it alone. One nice thing I will say about the top of the boot is that it’s shaped just right to let your pants leg slip all the way in to just above your ankle. The boots are rubber so I expected my feet to collect a little more moisture during the day. During the mid-day break I would take them off and air out my thick wool socks for a couple hours and they were fine. I’m not sure if I needed to do this because there was never a time when I was wearing the boots that I thought my feet were wet or needed drying out. There were days when we didn’t come out for a mid-day break but instead kept trekking around looking for sign. I was worried that if I didn’t get to air out my socks at mid day that my feet would get all wet and sloppy which would potentially cause me to chuck these boots into that mile-deep ditch just to the south. My feet felt no different at the end of that day than they did at the end of any other day. However, my hunting partner Gumby was still giving me the eye for wearing scentless boots while turkey hunting. We were skunked after 5 days and I kept telling Gumby that the jakes were winding us because of his stinking boots.
Bow season, November, Laurel Mountain in West Virginia. This would be the proving ground for my new boots. Temps in the low 20’s to low 40’s, snow, wind, rain, white tails and black bear. I live for these two weeks each year. I trekked up and down the mountains of WV in the rain and snow for 12 days of hunting and never once cursed these boots for slipping. Not to say I never slipped, but where I did it was not unexpected because of the steep terrain combined with wet leaves or snow. The ATS sole is great. No less manly looking than my hiking boots and holds the ground just as good.
My number one fear when buying rubber boots was that they wouldn’t fit well, running a close second was that my feet would freeze in them. I had nothing to fear for these are without a doubt the warmest boots I’ve ever hunted in. If I was moving my feet were perfectly warm even while stalking through the snow at a snail like pace of less than a quarter mile per hour. A typical morning for me was a good 25-30 minute trek with my bow and treestand to my morning hunt location. I would get settled in about 15-20 min prior to shooting light and stay on stand anywhere from 4-6 hours. At the four hour point I could feel my toes getting chili but nothing some toe crunches now and then wouldn’t fix. At the six hour point my toes were cold and I had been crunching them pretty regular. My heel and the sole of my foot seemed ok. I think we’re all a little different when it comes to body temperature and different extremities. My uncle never wears gloves because he says he doesn’t need them, his hands never get cold yet he puts hand warmers in his boots because his feet freeze 2 hours after he gets on stand. Me, it’s always my feet. In previous years I had gotten out of a stand because my feet were so cold they hurt and I couldn’t take it. In the Lacrosse boots my feet never even approached that level of cold. They were cold enough that I could feel it but not cold enough to bother my concentration if that quantifies it for you. This year I got out of my stand when I could no longer control my shivering from basic loss of core temperature, my feet were not a factor for the first time.
I kept remarking to my cousin about how they were keeping my feet warm and I finally made him wear them. He was taking his ATV down to the creek to wash the mud off. He wore my boots and stood in that creek for 20 minutes washing his Polaris, it was really dirty. He was amazed that he never felt any temperature change on his feet even though he had to kick through ice in parts to get to some water.
Overall: They’re nice looking, good fitting, grip soled boots that keep my feet warm. I would recommend them to anyone. Oh, and they’re scent free.
Next review will be on the Lone Wolf Alpha Hand Climber.
out
Cargo
Edited by - CargoF16 on 12/27/2002 09:40:36
Edited by - CargoF16 on 12/27/2002 09:44:09
Edited by - CargoF16 on 12/27/2002 21:56:54
Lacrosse Burly ATS 1200gm
Price: $84.95 (Autumnchase)
Insulation: 1200g Thinsulate™
Camo: Advantage® Timber™
Sole: ATS
I had always wanted to try out rubber boots for scent elimination but I didn’t want to give up the comfort and warmth of my old dogs. Clunky, ill fitted, slick-soled, cold but scentless feet did not appeal to me. But after much deliberation, web searching, BBS reading and phone calling I decided to give rubber boots a chance. Best decision I made all year.
I was pleased when they arrived and I took them out of the box. They didn’t look like rubber boots with cleated soles, they looked like well thought out hunting boots that happen to be rubber. The boots are 18 inches with gusset adjustments in the back of the calf and all but the tip of the toe is covered in Advantage® Timber™. The sole is thick and the boot profile is tall giving them a Herman Munster or Gene Simmons-like quality that made me think “clunky, these are going to be hard to drive in”. Still a manly looking boot I wouldn’t be embarrassed to walk around in with my pants legs tucked in.
I thrust my hand into the boot to find out where they put 1200grams of Thinsulate™. Well it’s not above the ankle. The upper portion of the boot looks like a layer of rubber laminated to another thicker layer of rubber that is covered in a durable looking fabric they call Agion. It’s a green nylon material that reminds me of canvas with a really fine weave. Agion apparently has some anti-bacterial qualities but to me it just makes the inside of the boot look nice and it helps your feet slip in easily.
As my hand reached below the ankle I was surprised at how cushy the inside was. My first thought was this is gonna feel good. I was concerned with how well the top of my foot would be insulated so I started there. A smooth nylon fabric (probably Agion) covering insulation thick enough to sink the first digit of my finger into. Nice, interior by Victoria’s Secret, it felt like one of my wife’s fancy bras. When she was wearing it. The sole was not quite the erotic experience I had with the top but it was firm and comfortable none the less. The fiberglass shank gives the boot its form and is largely responsible for making it feel like a solid hunting boot instead of a floppy rubber boot.
I normally wear a size 9 so that’s what I bought even after hearing that the boots come a little large. When I pushed my foot down into the boots my heel clicked in like a pair of ski bindings. With a pair of thick wool socks over a pair of standard cotton socks my toes still had plenty of room around them but my heel was fit perfect. I would have worried because my toes were bordering on that loose, clunky fit but the heel had that nice hiking boot feel to it. I figured that if they didn’t give me blisters then at least my feet wouldn’t be getting the blood squeezed out of them while I was on stand. So I went on a 5 day turkey hunt to the north rim of the Grand Canyon in the Kibab National Forest where we covered several miles a day through steep terrain with temps in the 40’s & 50’s.
With temps like that and lots of walking I didn’t feel I had really put these boots in their element but they were still great. My socks didn’t bunch up, no hint of a blister and they were soon a part of me like any boot. The only thing that took a little getting used to is the feel of an 18 inch boot all the way up your calf. When I tightened up the gusset adjustment strap on the back it just made it more obvious that a boot was wrapped around my calf so I loosened it up and left it alone. One nice thing I will say about the top of the boot is that it’s shaped just right to let your pants leg slip all the way in to just above your ankle. The boots are rubber so I expected my feet to collect a little more moisture during the day. During the mid-day break I would take them off and air out my thick wool socks for a couple hours and they were fine. I’m not sure if I needed to do this because there was never a time when I was wearing the boots that I thought my feet were wet or needed drying out. There were days when we didn’t come out for a mid-day break but instead kept trekking around looking for sign. I was worried that if I didn’t get to air out my socks at mid day that my feet would get all wet and sloppy which would potentially cause me to chuck these boots into that mile-deep ditch just to the south. My feet felt no different at the end of that day than they did at the end of any other day. However, my hunting partner Gumby was still giving me the eye for wearing scentless boots while turkey hunting. We were skunked after 5 days and I kept telling Gumby that the jakes were winding us because of his stinking boots.
Bow season, November, Laurel Mountain in West Virginia. This would be the proving ground for my new boots. Temps in the low 20’s to low 40’s, snow, wind, rain, white tails and black bear. I live for these two weeks each year. I trekked up and down the mountains of WV in the rain and snow for 12 days of hunting and never once cursed these boots for slipping. Not to say I never slipped, but where I did it was not unexpected because of the steep terrain combined with wet leaves or snow. The ATS sole is great. No less manly looking than my hiking boots and holds the ground just as good.
My number one fear when buying rubber boots was that they wouldn’t fit well, running a close second was that my feet would freeze in them. I had nothing to fear for these are without a doubt the warmest boots I’ve ever hunted in. If I was moving my feet were perfectly warm even while stalking through the snow at a snail like pace of less than a quarter mile per hour. A typical morning for me was a good 25-30 minute trek with my bow and treestand to my morning hunt location. I would get settled in about 15-20 min prior to shooting light and stay on stand anywhere from 4-6 hours. At the four hour point I could feel my toes getting chili but nothing some toe crunches now and then wouldn’t fix. At the six hour point my toes were cold and I had been crunching them pretty regular. My heel and the sole of my foot seemed ok. I think we’re all a little different when it comes to body temperature and different extremities. My uncle never wears gloves because he says he doesn’t need them, his hands never get cold yet he puts hand warmers in his boots because his feet freeze 2 hours after he gets on stand. Me, it’s always my feet. In previous years I had gotten out of a stand because my feet were so cold they hurt and I couldn’t take it. In the Lacrosse boots my feet never even approached that level of cold. They were cold enough that I could feel it but not cold enough to bother my concentration if that quantifies it for you. This year I got out of my stand when I could no longer control my shivering from basic loss of core temperature, my feet were not a factor for the first time.
I kept remarking to my cousin about how they were keeping my feet warm and I finally made him wear them. He was taking his ATV down to the creek to wash the mud off. He wore my boots and stood in that creek for 20 minutes washing his Polaris, it was really dirty. He was amazed that he never felt any temperature change on his feet even though he had to kick through ice in parts to get to some water.
Overall: They’re nice looking, good fitting, grip soled boots that keep my feet warm. I would recommend them to anyone. Oh, and they’re scent free.
Next review will be on the Lone Wolf Alpha Hand Climber.
out
Cargo
Edited by - CargoF16 on 12/27/2002 09:40:36
Edited by - CargoF16 on 12/27/2002 09:44:09
Edited by - CargoF16 on 12/27/2002 21:56:54
12-27-2002, 09:03 AM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Chatsworth IL USA
Posts: 5,012
RE: Lacrosse Rubber Boots, Field Report (pics)
Cargo, nice review!! But I can't see the pictures. From what I can tell these pictures are on your computer and not on the web. You need to put them on a website that will let you host your pictures. Such as www.hunting-pictures.com
My Web Page
www.geocities.com/hfpmad
My Web Page
www.geocities.com/hfpmad
12-27-2002, 03:42 PM
#3
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Goodyear AZ US
Posts: 215
RE: Lacrosse Rubber Boots, Field Report (pics)
Thanks IBM. I had no idea. I'll try that route.
Cargo
I fixed it I think. Someone tell me if it's still not working.
Edited by - CargoF16 on 12/27/2002 21:58:32
Cargo
I fixed it I think. Someone tell me if it's still not working.
Edited by - CargoF16 on 12/27/2002 21:58:32
01-03-2003, 03:20 AM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Barryton MI USA
Posts: 306
RE: Lacrosse Rubber Boots, Field Report (pics)
CargoF16 a excellent choice in boots I have used Lacrosse for years and still have the pair I bought 8 years ago still in good shape tread is about gone but they are a great boot.Thumb's up on the report also and the pic's are working fine
01-04-2003, 11:17 PM
#6
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Goodyear AZ US
Posts: 215
RE: Lacrosse Rubber Boots, Field Report (pics)
Mike Bell,
I've never had a snake boot on my foot but I can tell you that if I was worried about snakes I wouldnt wear these boots. The material from the ankle up would give you very little protection from something with fangs. Lacrosse does make snake boots.
Cargo
I've never had a snake boot on my foot but I can tell you that if I was worried about snakes I wouldnt wear these boots. The material from the ankle up would give you very little protection from something with fangs. Lacrosse does make snake boots.
Cargo
01-06-2003, 03:45 PM
#7
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Hartselle Alabama USA
Posts: 297
RE: Lacrosse Rubber Boots, Field Report (pics)
<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
I wonder how close they are to the snake boots. I'm fixin to buy some snake boots.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
I have the Lacross Diamondback snakeboot/rubber boots..love them. Definately worth the $$$
I couldn't afford the Lacross insultated boots at the time, so I bought the Cabelas brand 1200 gram thinsulate rubber boots and have been very happy with them also
good review, by the way...this is what this forum was designed for![*]NRA Annual Member www.nra.org[*]TNUSA Annual Member www.tnugent.com[*]NAHC[*]GOA[*]IDPA
Edited by - BrianDamage on 01/06/2003 16:47:49
I wonder how close they are to the snake boots. I'm fixin to buy some snake boots.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>
I have the Lacross Diamondback snakeboot/rubber boots..love them. Definately worth the $$$
I couldn't afford the Lacross insultated boots at the time, so I bought the Cabelas brand 1200 gram thinsulate rubber boots and have been very happy with them also
good review, by the way...this is what this forum was designed for![*]NRA Annual Member www.nra.org[*]TNUSA Annual Member www.tnugent.com[*]NAHC[*]GOA[*]IDPA
Edited by - BrianDamage on 01/06/2003 16:47:49
