I’m looking for a boot for camping and hiking. I’v heard many good things about the lowa zypher from guys at work and the brand in general seems to be very reputable. If any of you have owned the Lowa renegades I’d love some opinions. I will most likely use them at work too for certain ops if they please my feet on heavy hauls.
Lowa makes some excellent boots. The Renegade is a very high volume boot with a wide toe box. The Zephyr is very similar with a little different sole package. Both are pretty light-duty boots, good for every day use. If you’re backpacking, once you get above roughly 25lbs, your feet start to feel it. Especially if you’re on very rough terrain.
For that kind of activity, you want a boot with a moderate shank running at least 3/4 the length of the boot. It stiffens the boot, keeping you from wrenching your foot every which way as you walk over uneven terrain. Back in the day, they used steel for this purpose. Nowadays companies are using plastics, typically a polyurethane. The plastics give you the stiffness you need without feeling like you’re wearing a pair of hockey skates.
Bottom line, look into some more heavy duty boots if you’re looking into rough terrain or heavy loads. Maybe a Salomon Quest, Asolo Flame GTX, or even the Vasque Breeze, which is a little lighter duty yet can handle some solid loads. All are Gor-Tex, all are respectable companies.
CMiller