Hi-Tec Para boot review

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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby gindling » Jul 15, 2013 8:57 pm

I found them on Ebay for 89.00$ but only in the yellow. After looking them over after they arrived they seem to be some nice cave boots. No stitching, good looking glue joints, and some nice aggressive tread. Seems they would be easily repaired with shoe goo or similar. But I haven't tried them out yet in a cave.
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby Hunabku » Jul 16, 2013 6:55 am

Gindling, did they fit true to size, or larger/smaller than you expected?
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby gindling » Jul 16, 2013 8:41 am

Pretty much true to size. I didn't see any half sizes which would fit me better so I went ahead and rounded up to allow thicker socks or thick wetsuit booties to be worn as well. I need to take these to a cold alpine river cave and see how warm they are.

I just found that with different types of heel inserts or whole footbed inserts I can take up any slack in the fit of the boot (especially helpful for those of us with different sized feet). Ive been wearing them all morning and they are quite comfortable and far more supportive than a bata boot or wellie.
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby KWW » Aug 19, 2013 6:21 pm

Is there anywhere local to Chattanooga that carries these boots? I would like to try some on before ordering online. I've never ordered shoes online before and am worried about the fit.
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby BenS » Aug 19, 2013 6:33 pm

Not that I know of... I wanted to do the same since I either wear a 13 or 14 and I don't want to risk buying the wrong size. According to the website there aren't really any U.S. Dealers.
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby gindling » Aug 26, 2013 9:40 am

Thought I would post an update on these boots since I just put them through hell over two weeks working on the caves of Scapegoat Mountain in Montana. After my main hiking boots crapped out on the hike in, these boots became my primary shoe for all activities for the next two weeks. I hiked over 30 miles in them, did many pits trudging across the sharp alpine karst pavement, wore them while traversing the River Gallery in Green Fork Falls Cave which is a series of sumps and swims in 33F water, and did the 12 mile hike out with a 60lb pack. I couldn't be happier with them. They are a lot more comfortable than I expected and handled everything I threw at them easily. The rubber outside is very durable and you can barely tell that I dragged them through caves and over karst. The only downside is that once they are wet it takes a day to dry them out in the sun or wearing them around, but with the rain and dew my feet are usually wet anyways. Hands down the best caving boot I've ever had on my feet.

(they may be a bit warm for hiking around in TAG in summer...)
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby 2.0 » Aug 27, 2013 8:07 pm

I just bought a pair off Ebay for $85 w/free shipping (shipped from Canada, so it may take longer to arrive going through customs). If they are as durable as I hope they are, they could be the next Swaygo-esque must-have piece of equipment for all water cavers. A rubber boot with the support and feel of a hiking boot? Is it good to be true? To be determined.

Here are a couple reviews that sold me, in addition to the positive reviews by cavers on this thread:

http://www.gearweare.com/review/hi-tec-para-boot/
http://pureoutside.com/blog/2013/08/dan ... ara-boots/
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby BenS » Aug 27, 2013 9:38 pm

Well lets hope they don't get too popular since they were discontinued.
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby KWW » Aug 28, 2013 9:49 pm

Geez! Discontinued already??
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby 2.0 » Sep 2, 2013 6:25 pm

BenS wrote:Well lets hope they don't get too popular since they were discontinued.


Are you sure they are discontinued? They are still promoted/available on the manufacturers website: http://www.hi-tec.com/gl/paraboot/
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby graveleye » Sep 3, 2013 8:30 am

click on any link from that website and you get a 404 not found. Makes me wonder if they might be discontinued.
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby Lava » Sep 3, 2013 1:55 pm

Can the boot be taken apart such that just the shell can dry independently of the liner/insole?
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Re: Hi-Tec Para boot review

Postby BenS » Sep 3, 2013 4:58 pm

Well the link you posted of the boot is from another country and yes it is definitely discontinued. I emailed Hi-Tec about the boot sizing and they told me. I can copy the email if you really need me to show proof. I've only seen it available on ebay and amazon and amazon has been slowly running out of stock.
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