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Bestard mountaineering boots - thoughts?

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 Davelim8850 26 Mar 2018

One of my buddies climbed a decade ago in these (at the time) cheap but excellent Spanish-made, double leather boots. Did well on a 6000m peak in Nepal, Essentually it was a leather climbing boot with a removable superlight Gore-Tex bootie - most unusual at the time as you would see this more on double plastic climbing boots than on leather. Their top climbing lineup is here:http://www.bestard.com/ficha.php?t=599-8060-Top-Extreme-Lite

and I wonder if anyone has had experience more recently with their TOP range of boots....Thanks

 Jonny 26 Mar 2018
In reply to Davelim8850:

I'm a huge fan of Bestard boots. Comfortable fit for wide feet (similar to some Scarpa and Raichle models), bombproof build without being too heavy, and great guarantee (resoling/randing within two years).

Thanks for bringing these to my attention. I'm after a tough and sleek double boot for some Andean climbs without the bulk and price of Baruntse/Spantiks. These look like just the ticket - if only they made a leather version (cf. Elbrus vs Fitz Roy).

EDIT: I see they did make a leather version, although it weighed a fair ton, not surprisingly: http://www.bestard.com/ficha.php?t=329.

Post edited at 11:09
OP Davelim8850 16 Apr 2018
In reply to Davelim8850:

I live in the tropics with decent stretches between the 'big' climbs, and the rate of PU hydolysis or "PU rot" is such that many expensive plastic boot, tents - or anything made of or use a PU coating just goes pear shaped after a few years - hence by avoiding boots heavy on PU use like the Spantiks/Baruntses.....

OP Davelim8850 16 Apr 2018
In reply to Jonny:

 

I took a look at the few boots Bestard make that have an inner liner and yes, at about 1250grams a single boot, vs the 1150 gms for eg La Sportiva baruntse, these are heavier and likely to be less warm. The 3mm perwanger leather might also take a bit to break in. "Feel" on rock and steep bits *might* be better than the bulkier Baruntses.  The Baruntse's extra micro insulation on the shell in addition to th inner definitely makes it warmer I think....

 

 Jonny 24 Apr 2018
In reply to Davelim8850:

All good points, although the extra weight of the Top Alpine Pro is because of the leather, and not lack of thoughtful design (the Top Extreme Lites are of comparable weight to the Spantiks, and lighter than the Baruntses, and warm enough for Denali, I noticed). If that's what your tropical environment demands, then they're probably just about as good as it'll get!

I live in Spain, and even here it's not easy to find somewhere to try on their high-mountain boots. I'm assured that the fit will be identical to their walking boots, which I've been wearing for years now. And the TOP Alpine Pro has been discontinued, so you'll be lucky to find a pair.

OP Davelim8850 26 Apr 2018
In reply to Jonny:

Thanks Jonny - at least its an option. As an infrequent altitude mountaineer based in the tropics, I have seen so much of my spendy gear go kaput after a number of years in storage largely due to PU hydrolysis aka PU rot; and am leery these days inspending $$ on top gear that has a lot of built in PU unles its stabilised or a hybrid like Pebax.


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