>>2280549Pac Boots (Rubber lower, leather upper hybrid, with insulation)
Ex: Schnee's, Hoffman, Kennetrek
Don't have a lot of experience with these. They tend to be very heavy though. I know Schnee's and Kennetrek have had some issues recently. A lot of hunters use these boots though, despite their weight, so I think they work pretty well in terms of heat and have the advantage over rubber boots and even the mickey mouse boots in a better designed lacing system.
Your standard leather boots with thinsulate/primaloft liners. Primaloft is in theory twice as warm as thinsulate.
Ex: Lowa, Hanwag, Meindl
Biggest problem I see with these boots is they are typically overbuilt for the wrong reasons, or a lot of bad designs. They tend to still constrict blood vessels, or pack a ton of thinsulate into a small package which doesn't allow enough space to conserve heat. For example, a lot of Italian Boot makers undersize the boots and/or have narrow toeboxes. German's tend to have wider toeboxes, but some German manufacturers make their boots in Italy. I try to avoid Italy and Portugal (makes a lot of fashion boots). You also have an issue with most modern boots using polyurethane (PU)/EVA midsoles, which are foams. If you don't wear them regularly, they prematurely breakdown in a system known as hydrolysis. This tends to summon the survivalist crowd that goes welted or nothing. Those boots (Wesco, White's, Nick's, JK's, Franks) tend to be really hard on your knees and back as wildland firefighters have countless body issues with less than 10 years of duty.
One other issue I have noticed in these boots is they take a long time to dry. There is usually several layers of fabric pushed in between the leather, liner, including goretex. The goretex can also trap water from the inside or out between leather and cause it to rot.
