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Lots of expertise
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Fast & secure delivery
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Secure shopping & payment
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Lots of expertise
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Why hunting boots are better boots
Hunting boots aren’t your ordinary wellies. Nothing wrong with those, but hunting boots for both men and women offer a substantially higher level of comfort.
Where standard boots are great for working in the garden or having a stroll in the woods, hunting boots will go the extra mile, literary. They’ve got a comfortable footbed with a shock absorbing inner sole, a protective outer sole and often also feature an isolating inner layer, while the outside is strong, yet flexible. Many of our hunting boots have an adjustable shaft, making for a better fit around the calves. If, for example, you’ve got toned legs, the shafts can be adjusted for a better fit. This’ll prevent the calves from slapping against your calves. Not unimportant, as flappy boots won’t get you anywhere near game.
How is a hunting boot made?
Whether hunting boots are made for men or women, they’re built exactly the same. It’s just the dimensioning that is different. Making hunting boots isn’t just a case of glueing together a rubber upper to a plastic sole, as you’ll read below:
Outer sole
Let’s start with the sole. The sole of hunting boots needs to be robust enough to prevent tearing on a sharp stone or being penetrated by a sharp stick or thorn. Some soles even have a protective layer moulded in to deter sharp objects, like those anti-puncture layers in bicycle tires. The material of the outer sole can’t be too hard either, as a hard sole will offer less grip, doesn’t roll off smoothly and will be noisy.
Regarding grip, the profile is very important too. A good profile offers plenty of grip on a slippery slope, but also does the same on a stony track and so on. And on top of that, the profile should also not clog up with earth, mud, grass, et cetera after taking two steps. A smart profile lets you walk off some of the dirt to keep the profile open for grip.
Inner sole
The hunting boots we sell in our store and online in our webshop, all have soft, shock-absorbing inner soles. This will greatly improve the comfort and -as the inner soles feature a pre-shaped footbed- the support is great too. It’s here, where hunting boots really stand out and make a big difference compared to ordinary boots. The comfortable inner soles will make your feet less susceptible to fatigue. You can walk around all day without any problem.
Shaft
If you think the shaft is just a waterproof synthetic rubber mould that’s glued to the sole, you’re sorely mistaken. First of all, the rubber of our hunting boots is natural rubber, enhanced with additives for suppleness and durability. Natural rubber is much stronger and more durable than synthetic rubber and it’s quite sustainable too. The rubber is tapped from trees that continue growing, it’s like milking a tree. The natural rubber is vulcanised, which means -different from glueing- it’s fused together, guaranteeing waterproofness.
A lot of attention has gone to the fit of the hunting boots. They have to be comfortable and supportive, yet be easy to put on. The fit is where the difference lies between women’s hunting boots and the ones for men, as men’s boots are often too wide for women’s feet. Hunting boots with the tightest fit will be the ones that feature a zipper in the shaft that makes putting on a breeze. This, however, means it will just be the foot that’s completely waterproof. If you want your hunting boots completely waterproof to the top part of the shaft, opt for a shaft without a zipper. They can be a bit more spacious above your feet, but in our experience they’re just as comfortable for walking around all day.
Lining
Many of our hunting boots have their shafts lined with an insulating material. Often, this is a soft layer of thin neoprene that not only insulates, but also takes away the moisture from your feet. With that, the insulation is thermoregulating. Your feet won’t get too cold, neither will they be too hot and they’ll feel dry and comfortable.
How to care for hunting boots
Hunting boots often have a hard life. They’re kicked off, pushed into a corner and are forgotten until the next time they’re used. If they’re lucky, the worst dirt gets rinsed off and that’s it. However, it’s wise to clean your hunting boots regularly. Caked on mud is harder to remove and it will dry out the rubber faster.
Sometimes your hunting boots might look clean from above, but don’t take for granted that the underside is clean too. Dirt in the profile should be brushed off and then rinsed while it’s still fresh, otherwise it will be way harder to clean. And anyone who let mud dry up under their hunting boots will know that you tend to forget about it, until you see the trail of crumbles through your home after you put them on again. Sound familiar?
Make sure you air your hunting boots properly. Especially those with a neoprene liner that has wicked away the moisture from your feet will benefit from being able to breathe and let the built-up moisture evaporate. A damp shed is, logically, not ideal. A dry room or (temporarily) airing them upside down on a stick outside is perfect.
And use some conditioning spray every now and then, it feeds the natural rubber to prevent it from drying out and cracking. It also reduces colour fading, but let’s be honest, that’s just a bonus. More important is the fact that the conditioning spay that we sell, forms a UV-absorbing layer, making your boots better camouflaged for game that can see part of the UV colour spectrum such as deer and boar.