Zamberlan Ladak Hiking Boot Review
Review by Dan James
- Product:
- Zamberlan Ladak RR (company site)
- What's Good:
- Excellent support, comfort, durability, all leather, relatively light.
- What's Bad:
- Rusting on the top hooks, tongue gets really dirty, not completely waterproof.
In the fall of 2003 I was scheduled to spend 21 days backpacking in British Columbia. The group that I was registered to go with sent me a list of “approved” footwear for the journey. With list in hand I went to the nearest Mountain Equipment CO-OP and tried on the various approved boots. While there were over a half dozen to choose from the Ladaks seemed to fit the best. I bought beeswax waterproofer, hiking socks, and all other necessary foot accessories then went on my way.
While in the store I thought the light color of the leather looked dorky. It looked more like suede than the usual tough looking leather I’d seen on most boots. It was a nice treat when I applied the beeswax to the boot and it magically turned into shiny hiking bootesque leather.
I spent roughly a month breaking in the boots (an absolute must) before my trip. The boots broke in fairly easily and without any damage to my feet. They felt very comfortable, relatively light, and very durable.
I then spent three weeks in these boots only taking them off at night. They held up remarkably well. With three weeks of long travel over very rugged terrain I never suffered from a single blister or foot injury. The boots kept getting more and more comfortable as they adapted to my feet and vice versa.
The boots did keep my feet reasonably dry except for one particularly snowy/mucky day. In retrospect I should have purchase the GT (Gore-Tex) version of the Ladak. From what I’ve read and seen a Gore-Tex lining makes a world of difference.
The only unexpected downside to the boots was that the four upper lace hooks seem to have corroded quite badly on the surface even though I was careful to follow the boot care instructions. While this is a repairable item I would have thought they would have maintained their shine a little longer than this. They are still useable but they are bad enough that I’ll probably get them replaced as a precaution.
All in all very good boots, but get the GT version and take extra special care of the top lace hooks.
Comments
Daniel Burka - May 11, 2004 4:55 pm
Dan, I've got a pair of the Gore-Tex-lined Zamberlan Cervello (sp?) boots, which I'll review soon. I had heard warnings from some friends that Gore-Tex is known to seperate from the lining in the boot after a while, but so far (4 years later) I haven't had any problems with them. Of course they've never been totally waterproof, but they've served me well fording rivers, tramping through the snow, walking through rain forests, and just walking to work in the winter.
Mary - August 7, 2004 3:40 pm
I bought a pair of Zamerlan Treck Lites, gortex lining. After a little breaking in (not long, maybe 20 km) I went on a 32 km backpacking trip. My boots were comfortable, but I did have slight blisters on the 2nd day. I think this is because my socks were wet. Gortex lined boots are hot and it was a long, hard and hot hiking day. I should have changed into a fresh pair of socks. While cleaning my boots I noticed that the gortex lining was seperating around the toe area of both boots. A ridge had formed. I don't believe I felt this on this trip but I was concerned with the lining bunchin up and returned them to MEC. They gave me a full refund. Love MEC. I wanted to replace the boots but the sample they had out in the store had the same bunching problem, although in a different spot. I had a problem with paying $274.00 Cdn. for boots with what I considered to be a defect from day 1.
I think MEC is the only place that sells Zamerlan boots. I didn't like the non-gortex model, although my husband bought them and absolutely loves them. I found them too stiff for my liking, but that is what he was looking for. I hoping that they will come out with a non-gortex lined model of the one I returned.
Leeann - March 22, 2005 12:26 pm
Dan-
Having just come across your review of the ladak boots (I realise its quite an old post) I'd like to point out that even though beeswax might have made them look more "macho" this isn't suitable care for these boots- this should be used on full - grain leather boots.
Dan James - March 22, 2005 1:09 pm
Leeann,
I used Biwell Classic Boot Care on these boots. I researched beforehand what to put on the boots. I believe I also double checked with the clerk at Mountain Equipment Co-op. I hope I didn't receive bad information.
In your experience what type of care should be applied to these boots?
Also, for the record, I never used the term "macho" :-)