Gear Review
Kayland Vertigo Light Boot - Women's
Ugly as Sin, Tough as Nails
By TrailGirl October 15, 2011
Bottom line: you won't find a lighter boot with this kind of support. On the other hand, there's no style points for wearing this one. I have very narrow feet, and thanks to old tennis injuries, also have pronation issues. These boots fit very tightly, but in a good way, once you get used to the sensation of your foot being immobilized in a supportive cradle. The ankle is high, so you don't flex either forward or laterally very much, but the boot is quite light, with a rolling footbed somewhat akin to a running shoe. This means you move from the thigh and knee more, but biomechanically, that is a healthier gait for extended hikes. Tread seems good, and due to the Vibram, I expect excellent traction. They do breathe fairly well, and I don't notice the clammy sensation that Gore-Tex often produces, though they are warmer than a vented shoe. As there is no mesh here, they are more resistant to collecting burrs and fox-tails, but I suspect that the matte grey sides will do little to hide dirt. It is true that the lace-to-the-toe feature allows you to adjust the width of the entire footbed, but I doubt that women with wide feet or ankles would find these comfortable. I have yet to trail-test them, so I can't speak authoritatively to their performance, but my preliminary living room trials have been very encouraging (much to my dog's amusement). One thing I will say is that gusseted tongues are often extremely uncomfortable for those of us with slender feet, as the folded excess digs into the top and sides of the foot. These get away without a true gusset by using a stretchy liner that still "seals" the sides of the tongue to moisture and debris, but doesn't bunch up. I appreciate the thought that went into the design of these well-crafted, high-quality boots, and look forward to giving them a run for their money at the Lost Coast this Fall.
View Details: Kayland Vertigo Light Boot - Women's
Nailed It? 0 Yes
Change me.
1 Comments Last Reply: March 19, 2012 By: TrailGirl
Following up on the above... I have since trekked the 25-mile, 3-day Lost Coast Trail; granted, some of the ruggedest through-hiking territory you could hope to meet in winter conditions. That said, I was very disappointed in the performance of these boots. Once my feet started to warm up under load, my toes were painfully pinched at the forefoot strike, and the arch support which had seemed so firm during pack trials failed to stabilize my feet, causing cramping issues. There was definitely not room to have used my SuperFeet insoles in these unless I had pulled out the manufacturer's insole/padding and likely trimmed my insoles a bit. Support may have increased but impact absorption would have decreased markedly in that scenario. The ankles rubbed a sore on my joint so deeply that it took almost two weeks after the trip to heal out of the flesh. With what I learned, I would strongly suggest that these should only be considered for very narrow, low volume feet. Even so, order a half-size larger than yours, and intensively pack-test under a load before trying them on the trail. If you are considering an insole swap, make sure yours fit! As I noted above, I have pre-existing pronation issues from past injuries, so other women may not encounter some of the problems with these that I did. Also, considering the rotational strain of sand/gravel hiking with a load, a full-height boot may not have been the wisest footwear selection for the trail I chose. That said, the boots held up beautifully to the abrasions of rock and sand, the soles were as grippy and sure-footed as expected, and the eVent membrane kept my feet completely dry as long as I didn't get into water over the base of my ankle. It seemed to make its way over the liner if it was any deeper, and they dry very slowly. The light weight was also a plus for that kind of an endurance trip. So take all of this with a grain of salt, but for me, the boots just weren't keepers...
Nailed It? 0 Yes