Baffin Boots Expedition - Initial Report

Tester Information

Name: Attila Hargitai
Age: 33
Gender: Male
Height: 5' 9"/1.75 m
Weight: 141 lbs/64 kg
Foot size: 8 (U.S. Men)/41 (European)
Email addresses: attila.hargitai@geohidroterv.hu,
 hargi@hotmail.com
City: Szeged
Country: Hungary (Europe)

Backpacking Background

I have been backpacking since my childhood. I usually hike in Hungary (temperate climate, continental weather) in moderately high (700-1000 m, 2300-3300 feet) mountains. (I have also day-hiked higher mountains in Europe.) I go for weekend hikes almost every month, and I make one-week-long trips at least twice a year with my permanent hiking partners. I hike in all 4 seasons regardless of the weather. I am currently in transition toward lightweight backpacking but in some cases I insist on taking my good old heavyweight items. As I hike (and ski) even in winter, I have tried lots of different winter footwear. Currently I use traditional all-leather hiking boots in winter in combination with different liners.

Product Information:

Product Name: Baffin Boots Expedition (Extreme Series)
Manufacturer: Baffin Boots
Year of manufacture: 2003
URL: http://www.baffin.com
Size: 8 (U.S. Men)
Weight: 1.396 kg (left), 1.426 kg (right)
Made in Canada

Product Description

Baffin Boots are insulated winter boots "designed to stand up the most extreme conditions". The Expedition model (this is the one I am testing) is the laced version of the extreme series boots. The boots are made of rubber (sole and the base) and "Timberwolf" leather (full-grain cowhide). The boots have lug sole equipped with a "Gelflex" shock adsorbing midsole. The central part of the heel is made of this material as well. The leather upper part is sewn to the rubber base with triple stitches. According to the enclosed info sheet the leather is water resistant and tanned specially to resist ice, snow, water, and salt stains. The boots are equipped with adjustable snow collars that are made of a sturdy synthetic fabric. The snow collar can be adjusted by pulling the draw cord and locking it in the desired position with a cord lock at the back of the boot. The removable liner, termed "inner boot system" consists of the following layers (from the inside to the outside):

- a black fleece-like layer (3 mm/0.1 in thick)
- an open cell foam layer (approx. 1.2 cm/0.5 in thick)
- a felt layer (1 cm/0.4 in thick)
- a heat reflecting foil layer

Initial Impressions

The boots arrived in a huge cardboard box. As I was not at home when the pack arrived I asked my mother-in-law to open it. She told me that the content were "huge snow-trampling boots". When I first saw them I agreed with her, and thought that I had done something wrong during the conversion of the European size to the U.S. one. I tried them on immediately and (of course) they fit well. I realized that  the liner is very thick (2.5 cm/1 in)  therefore the boots have to be much bigger than the uninsulated boots of the same size.
There were six(!) different tags attached to the boots, a 5 cm/2 in diameter disc sample of the inner boot system, plus a half-ounce (14 g) packet of Sno-Seal "to aid in the proper care of this leather product". The tags contain information about the construction materials of the boots including a cross-section picture (I found a bit confusing to identify the layers), the proper care, the comfort rating, the waterproof construction etc. both in English and French.

Initial Testing

The first thing that I tested was fit. As I have already mentioned the boots fit well, actually they were almost too tight at the first try. Later this tightness disappeared exactly as it was described in the tags ("keep in mind that Baffin inner-boots will expand and conform to the individual shape of your foot").
The boots are very comfortable, much more than I expected. They resembled those rigid plastic ski boots, but turned out to be more flexible than my traditional all-leather hiking boots. They are easy to put on and get off. I experienced a little inconvenience when I tucked my jeans into the boots, as the fabric wrinkled, and rubbed my legs. I found it better to wear the pants outside the boots, and tuck only my tight thermal underwear into the boots. Unfortunately not all kinds of pants are wide enough to wear outside, as the circumference of the laced boot is about 45 cm/18 in. Fortunately my insulated ski pants, my wind pants (RP Outdoors, size XL) and my Bundeswehr surplus coverall (that I use when working around the house in cold weather) are compatible with the Baffin boots.
I have taken the boots for two "test runs" so far, both cases for walking the dog on the flood-protection berm in Szeged (80 m/270 feet above sea level). I walked about 3 km/2 miles each case, and simulated uphill and downhill movement on the sides of the berm. Both tests included 2-3 minutes long standing in the icy river to test the waterproof nature of the boots, and to test them in an environment where the heat loss via convection is more intensive. The weather was (relatively) cold in both cases, -8 C/18 F temperature and a wind chill factor of approx. -15 C/5 F, and around freezing temperature respectively. The soil was frozen in the first case, while during the second test the top few cms (one inch) were muddy with a frozen layer underneath. The boots performed well during the tests, they provided enough warmth even when standing in the river, and they didn't leak during the "wet test". They didn't restrict movement either uphill or downhill. I experienced a little strange "moonwalk" feeling when the liner hadn't been broken in. I didn't really feel the surface under my feet, but it disappeared later. The traction of the boots was adequate on both frozen and muddy soil.

Future Plans

I have had no opportunity (so far) to test the boots in snow, on ice or in really cold weather. I hope the weather will be favourable to provide the proper circumstances for testing under these conditions. We plan to go to Austria this month, where I could test the boots in higher mountains (2000-3000 m/6000-10000 feet), and in more severe weather. I will go for weekend hikes this winter, where I will walk all day in the boots on hilly terrain. I will test, on these occasions, the durability of the boots and the long-term performance of them.