Zamberlan Mens 996 Vioz Gt Hiking Boot Reviews

Specs

Men's
Price	Electric current Retail: $324.95-$325.00 Historic Range: $210.71-$325.00 Reviewers Paid: $245.00-$350.00
Weight	710 g

Women's
Price	Current Retail: $310.00-$325.00 Historic Range: $179.95-$325.00
Weight	640 grand

Very skilful kicking in dry weather.

Pros

• Comfortable
• Proficient support in sole and ankle

Cons

• Slippery when moisture
• Needs a toe cap
• Sole chunks off

Recently used these doing the Old Rag Loop in the Shenandoah National Forest. Very nice kicking until the top of the hike. Boots lacked grip during the Stone Scramble and glace (you think you're adept and and so nope!) on any stone that is wet.

Very skilful support conveying heavy loads. Toe of kicking gets pretty gouged because of a lack of toe cap. I accept noticed the Vibram sole chunking off, only I don't call back it is affecting performance even so..

Experience

I'chiliad comparing these boots to Arc'teryx, Alico, Meindl, Dunham, and Vasque.

Source: bought information technology new
Cost Paid: $295

Lee Patterson +222
January 30, 2015

Very nice looking and extremely well made boot. As Julien mentioned in his review, there is Null suspension-in period for these boots. Made in Italy.

Pros

• Fabricated in Italia
• Extremely comfortable
• Waterproof GoreTex
• Excellent softer rubber sole

These boots are so comfortable and and then good looking that I wear them 24-hour interval-to-24-hour interval quite a scrap. The soles are some of the softer Vibrams I have always worn. The softer soles mean very skillful shock absorption and excellent grip peculiarly on slick smooth rocks.

There are so many chocolate-brown boots out in that location, but I love that these are black. The only affair I didn't care for were the drab grayness boot laces, then I replaced them with bright red and they look neat! These are NOT summer boots! They are very very warm.

I paid $280 for these at REI (worth every penny) and then I scored a 2d pair at an REI garage auction a few months later for merely $100.

The materials and the construction are INCREDIBLE!! Made in Italy!!!! Totally worth what I paid for them.

Highly recommended.

Source: bought information technology new
Cost Paid: $280

Doug M +58
September 17, 2020

Beware of the sole on the Vioz GT/GTX series of boots. Though the kick fits not bad and needs almost no break-in, the sole problem is a trip-stopper.

Pros

• That great Italian fit on my foot
• Premium upper materials
• Well-fitting insoles

Cons

• The sole is plain defective, and...
• Zamberlan does non reply to warranty requests

I cannot go onto what is skillful about this kicking even so, equally the soles are a complete trip-stopper. Within a few miles, the Vibram sole starts coming off in large chunks—whole lugs at a fourth dimension. I have never witnessed this on any boot. That is specially surprising for a premium brand with a premium-branded sole manufacturer.

And and then far, Zamberlan has ignored all communication from me, through either their official warranty asking, or customer service.

The fit, condolement, support are great. It needed no break-in for me. The downhill grip seemed nifty, fifty-fifty on loose DG over hard-pack.

Merely once more, they are done after one 10-mile hike.

Disclaimer: I bought these at the REI Garage Sale, and I did not think to expect at the soles, every bit they looked brand new at first glance. Merely I found the first tear in the sole when I got home. It was and then unusual, I thought the first owner cutting it somehow, then returned it to REI. I am disappointed that REI passed the boot onto a customer instead of returning information technology to Zamberlan. Looking at reviews, it turns out this is a well-known trouble to Zamberlan and REI. They seem to be whistling past the graveyard with this sole.

Experience

I live and accept hiked in Colorado for thirty+ years, then my boots get a workout. I primarily wear Asolo backpacking boots with not bad success over the years. This was my first pair of Zamberlans, as they are a premium Italian brand, and Italian lasts tend to fit my feet well.

Source: REI Garage sale

Gary Gregory +17
September 7, 2020

Very comfy and waterproof, but poor sole construction.

Pros

• Comfortable
• Waterproof
• Excellent upper leather immovability

Like many others, I too have issues with chunks of sole falling off. When I put them on, most comfortable boot e'er had on. Very durable uppers, great looking, waterproof.

Took them on hard trips, noticed chunks missing out of soles, and nose of kick nearly broken off too. Vibram is supposed to be extremely long lasting and durable. So I tin only assume this is a QC result.

I love these boots, but now need to get another pair. I want Zamberlan, just if they don't prepare this issue (it seems information technology is common amongst many other customers also), I volition accept to switch to another kicking.

Experience

Extensive experience with near all brands (Vasque, Scarpa, etc.)

Source: bought information technology new
Price Paid: $350

Amy Van Dam +19
November 28, 2017

Extremely durable and reliable boot. Accept worn for three years and have had few problems.

Pros

• Dry
• Comfortable
• Extremely durable

Cons

• The lace hooks do tend to curve just have never cleaved off the kicking.

I would definitely recommend this boot. I've used it afforestment in thick brush and landscaping and they've lasted extremely well. They've been through mud, puddles, and many overnight hikes and my feet have stayed dry out and completely comfortable.

The kicking fits perfectly and has not rubbed in any places. It did take a fleck of getting used to and wearing in though. They grip incredibly well. I've climbed rocky mountains and worked in rocky, wet surfaces and have never slipped and they've always been warm.

The simply problem I have had with them is the lace hooks take aptitude a little and made information technology hard to fit the lace in to be tied up properly, merely that was easily fixable.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: 300 Canadian

Baldrick +67
June 14, 2017

Best boots I've ever owned. These boots are comfortable, potent, and definitely waterproof. Dandy for hiking and backpacking.

The get-go time you vesture these boots it's like learning to walk again. The soles are shaped differently in a way that rolls your foot and uses your talocrural joint less. Afterward wearing them a few times you don't even notice information technology anymore. This makes them cracking for people with ankle problems (my dad has a bad ankle from a motorcycle accident and he has a pair and it's the just way he can walk long distances).

They fit prissy on my wide foot and are extremely comfortable. I wore mine for a week effectually town before my commencement hike in them and have never had any blisters. My dad used his starting time hike to break them in and his feet were covered in blisters, but he has never got another 1 since.

They are extremely waterproof with both leather and Gortex. I recently hiked in abiding drizzly rain for 3 days. Near people had Gortex boots on and by the end of the hike I was the only one with dry feet.

Overall a great boot.

Source: bought it new
Toll Paid: $350 AUS

Casey Simpson +14
September xx, 2016

Best for backpacking on trails; all the same, I accept used them off trail. If I was limited to one pair of boots or shoes, I would go on these. They are that good.

Pros

• Craftmanship
• Comfort
• Resistance to wet
• Interior lining is a dream
• Accepts Superfeet Green w/o changing fit

Cons

• Leather requires care and cleaning.
• A bit pricey (but the contstruction is beginning rate)

I vesture a size ix ane/2 Lowe kick (Baffin) and this boot is also a size 9 1/2, and so they seem true to size. Minimal break in and it accepts aftermarket footbeds. The boot has a slight rocker and it is a dream to walk in.

I do make clean and treat the leather after a muddied or snowy hike. I have used them on a two-night, early wintertime haversack in snowfall and mud. My anxiety were dry and warm. The leather and stitching are top notch. None of the stitches have unraveled. The soles are in neat shape and I am very happy with the durability.

In the 3 years I have endemic them, they have been on five or 6 backpacking trips and several enervating day outings. I would buy these again.

Boots are a very personal item so I tin can not say they would fit every human foot or see the needs of every outdoor adventurer. If they fit and you have a niche for a medium duty kicking and don't mind taking care of the leather, past all means get them. When I returned from an Afghanistan deployment, I bought these within an hour of arriving home. Guess I wanted to become hiking.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $290

Susan Bray +14
September 19, 2016

I buy men's boots because I need an eleven.5 Thou in women's and those are unavailable in near brands. My 10.v size G Zamberlan 996 VIOZ GTX fit like a dream! No break in needed. I do habiliment with kick socks. Mainly use for hiking purposes. Honey the Italian leather and within cushioning.

Pros

• Perfect comfy fit
• Buy at REI—near home

Cons

• Price is high
• Where tin can I discover additional colored laces?

As I indicated I am a lady who needs to purchase men's boots because of the sizing. In a shoe I buy 11.v. M. The 996 VIOZ GTX fit me like a tee sizing downwards to a x.5 (EURO 45). I wear cotton fiber kicking socks and the boots fit like they are custom fabricated for me.

In the past I wore Vasque boots, but they are non the same in one case China started making them.

Currently I hike and walk a 95 pound German language Shepherd. The Vibram sole gives me great traction on all surfaces. I just hope in the hereafter I tin find the fancy cherry-red/gray laces again :)

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $300

Chris +22
February 16, 2016

Fantastic fit. Most comfortable full leather kicking I have ever had. Only alarmingly prone to slipping on moisture rocks.

Pros

• Supreme comfort
• Perfect support for heavier loads

Cons

• Seemingly good grip so will Of a sudden let go on wet stone!!!

I bought these for wintertime hiking by and large, and found them to be superb for this. In the spring I wore them on a hike with my wife and noticed that they would sideslip without alert on polish rock if fifty-fifty slightly wet.

I do not hateful the typical tendency to slip from wet conditions. I mean a solid feeling grip that would all of a sudden and unexpectedly let go.

I would accept figured I was just having a sloppy day. But we later passed someone with the same boots who asked if mine were glace. He was having the exact aforementioned feel. Nosotros were non on our rears all day or anything like that, only nosotros both noticed a significant trend for the boot to only slip on wet rock more than easily than other boots.

I sent them to Zamberlan USA who I believe honestly tested them and feel that they are but fine. I strongly disagree. Information technology is besides bad.

I tried them twice more than with the exact same result — great feel and sudden slips when fifty-fifty slightly wet. Now I will use them on snow/water ice simply. They piece of work great with Microspikes and small crampons.

These boots have been around for a while, and owners are not apparently dropping like flies. Just I would absolutely non recommend these except for snow conditions (where the rubber compound is non critical) or admittedly dry conditions, where they grab quite well.

Source: bought it used

Julien Arsenault +xiii
Oct 6, 2014

Very expert backpacking kicking.

Pros

• No break-in period
• Practiced ankle back up

Cons

• More than heavy than synthetics but....
• Leather maintenance

• No break-in period for me.
• With a liner and adept wool sock, it is like wearing slipper.
• Stong lacing.
• Nice overall grip.
• I use them in warm/cold condition (v°C to 12°C) and I was very comfortable and dry. Late I will add a winter review.
• Nice support with a seventy pounds haversack. 20 km hike and no blisters.

Source: bought it new
Cost Paid: 300 $ Tin can

jamie hay +iv
January 29, 2018

While these boots look and feel cracking, they have proven useless in my example. After but four walks, I looked at the soles merely to run across that great chunks of the sole on both boots had broken off. I cannot understand how a boot of this price can have such poorly synthetic soles that they fall autonomously like this later less than a month.

Cons

• Completely useless soles that autumn autonomously inside a calendar month of buy

These are boots that are conspicuously well made in terms of the upper. One piece of paw made Italian leather. They wait and experience great.

However, there is conspicuously a problem with quality command with the Vibram soles. They are very mesomorphic and thus seem to be prone to have pieces snapping off. After simply my quaternary time in the boots, I looked at the soles merely to see that there was a huge piece of the sole gouged out of one boot, and several smaller pieces missing on the other boot. I also noticed that in that location was already considerable wearable to the soles despite them existence less than a calendar month old.

The hikes I have completed are by no means lengthy or particularly demanding on boots, and so it is very disappointing that a production this expensive should start falling apart in this way. The concluding hike I did was beyond rocky terrain, just the boots of my companions held up perfectly well while mine did not, despite being significantly more than expensive.

Source: bought it new
Cost Paid: 225 AUD

Marker Mayers +7
Dec 12, 2015

I bought at REI. I hike in the mountains with approximately 20 miles per calendar week. I would not purchase because they do not seal well at the tiptop of the boot.

Cons

• No matter how hard you try to lace them at the summit of the kicking, droppings still comes in

Source: bought it new

Steve Dwyer +60
October 30, 2015

This kick felt great initially, sort of launches your step frontwards like a spring. I am disappointed after two years with the soft sole having worn down and the leather is cracking at the break where in that location is a pucker. I found the toe box too narrow.

For the money these boots should take held upwardly much improve.

Pros

• Petty or no break-in
• Skilful looking
• Flexible
• Soles accept bounce

Cons

• Minor/narrow toe box
• Soles wear out quickly
• Leather prone to bang-up

First, to put my experience into context, I am 6'three" and 240 LBS (non obese!) and walk or hike in the Massachusetts wood and White Mountains, usually 6 to 8 miles per day (at present that I am Older).

I used these boots for daily hikes in the woods and not much on pavement, cleaned and treated them regularly.

Afterward two wintertime seasons the treads are wearing sparse. This is very disappointing since my Scarpas went through much more than strenuous heavy duty utilize and lasted twenty years!

At present I could accept that the trade-off for the more than nimble and springy Zamberlans' soles would need to be resoled often if information technology weren't for the fact that the leather of the uppers is declining. There are creases where the boot breaks and these have now opened upward into cracks.

While this is a comfortable boot and waterproof, I would rather see Zamberlan use better leather and hold the Gore-tex.

Source: bought it new

mahonset000 +seven
November 1, 2014

Great boots that have peachy durability, h2o protection, and back up.

Pros

• Good support
• Adept protection
• Adept waterproofness
• Thick leather

Cons

• No rands
• A piddling heavy

This boot fits me very well. After a lilliputian break-in time it has near no heel slip. Information technology is a tight fit all the way around with pressure that was evenly distributed and no pressure points. I user this boot both on a daily basis and for big trips.

I carried a 45 pound pack eight-xiii miles a day in Montana and was very pleased with the support. I as well utilise these for some warmer snowshoe trips and even early and late backpacking trips in the winter with gaiters. They kept my feet both warm and dry out in the 15-45 caste temps.

I use Zamberlan Proofing cream on these boots at least monthly. The watershed finish that this creates helps keeps the kicking from freezing in the morning. This also keeps the leather in really skilful condition so the boots volition final a long time.

So far the durability has proven really well with these. The leather is thick enough that the few cuts I have in the unprotected toes of the boots have non even come shut to going through. That is my merely big disappointment well-nigh these is that they do not have rands. This is the simply affair that I think will significantly reduce the life of these boots.

Source: bought information technology new
Price Paid: $260 (20% REI coupon)

Ben Wiborg +10
July 9, 2013

I was able to put this boot on and walk out the door without pause in. No hot spots or blisters. I was looking for a new kicking and did a lot of inquiry. I won't go to some other boot.

Pros

• Comfy
• No break-in
• Solid construction
• Dry feet

Although these boots are a bit heavy, I don't find it an result. They are very comfy on my feet, they provide good talocrural joint support, proficient solid construction. I wear these boots all the time working or hiking, I've had them 3 years now and they show very trivial habiliment.

The best part nigh these boots is that I was able to take them out of the box and go hiking without intermission in. I'thousand yet to take a blister or hot spot. Feet stay dry out, I've taken them through shallow creeks and hiked in the rain. I detect the traction to be adequate on wet surfaces, similar with whatsoever kicking wet surfaces are going to be an issue, I don't go out of my fashion to experiment on a wet log.

I've logged a few miles with these boots, on trails and cantankerous country and tin can honestly say that they exceed my expectations.

Source: bought it new
Toll Paid: $245 USD

Chris +12
June 21, 2013

Great boot, super tough and very comfortable.

Pros

• Extremely durable
• Very comfortable
• Adapts to a wide foot.

Cons

• Long burglary menstruation

I bought these boots before a trip to Papua New Guinea to walk the Kokoda track. Having wide, brusque feet finding comfortable boots was a nightmare. After trying on at least 20 different types I bought the Zamberlans and haven't looked back since.

It took well-nigh 30km of hiking to suspension the full leather in (and stretch them around my wide feet) merely after that initial catamenia they take been super comfortable with fifty-fifty the heaviest of loads. The talocrural joint support is first-class without being restrictive and the aggressive soles make excellent use of whatever grip they tin can find.

Over the last few years these boots accept made it through Kokoda, to the base military camp of Everest and the summit of Kilimanjaro too as numerous local hikes and are nonetheless in fantastic status. The but sign of wear is some slight scuffing of the leather on the toes (Mainly from kick mud steps on the Kokoda track and scree running down Kili.).

One downside to these boots is that beingnesstotal leather they don't breathe as well in the hot boiling places of the world as a fabric/hybrid boot would. If you're not travelling to warm locales or don't heed a sweaty foot at the stop of the day and so you would be hard pressed to find a more comfy, better made boot.

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $270 on Sale

littlebug +three
December 28, 2012

Minimal burglary, maximum stability and comfort. Best pair of boots I've everowned.

Well worth the toll. Total comfort right out of the box!

Source: bought it new
Price Paid: $270

Brent Cameron +2
August 3, 2011

Great kicking. I have owned them for about two years and use them for tramping and hunting in New Zealand on a regular basis.

Very comfortable and warm (I use them more often than not in winter so there is a lot of h2o and some snow use) and similar all good leather boots a picayune TLC will continue them looking like new for ever.

Cost Paid: 149 NZD (a Bargin!!!)

John Clement +2
July six, 2011

I tried these boots at an REI retail store, and then purchased them online a few weeks subsequently. I have long, narrow, adequately flat feet, that have been widening slightly as I age and run. And then the boot fitting is always interesting to say the least.

I was replacing a 10-year-old prepare of La Sportive M-hikes that just didn't fit any more. I liked what I felt in the store, merely you never know. The Zamberlans arrived on a Friday afternoon, and I left for a backpacking trip on Monday morning. I only got to try them around the house for a couple of hours, and then this was pretty much right out of the box and onto the trail.

For iii days, I put them through hiking with a loaded pack, on trail, off trail, snow, slush, stream crossings, mud, scree, steep ups and downs, boulders, scrambling, you name information technology. I had not one hot spot or blister. This is past far the about comfortable and dry pair of boots I have e'er endemic. Simply, this is still only a xx mile +- report, so time will tell. The Zamberlans stayed 100% dry out, never felt as well hot, and were and then comfortable that I didn't experience the need to alter out of them at the end of the solar day.

I think that in that location are lots of adept boots out in that location, and basically it comes downward to whether the kick fits your pes or not. These fit mine perfectly. The heel is snug merely not tight, the instep is perfect, the curvation supportive, the toe box roomy. I dearest 'em.

Price Paid: $265

Jerry 58 +115
November 15, 2010

Best hiking kick I've owned. Didn't have much interruption in fourth dimension before a ten-day 75-mile hunting trip up and down a mountain side. No blisters or hot spots. Feet stayed warm and dry out.

Toll Paid: $249

jonescritaiment.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.trailspace.com/gear/zamberlan/vioz-gtx-996/

Share this post