Hi-Tec Men's Bandera Mid Waterproof Hiking Boot

I purchased these hiking boots for husband, who wore out his old pair of a different brand, and he loves them! I always, always, always read reviews from others who've purchased the product I'm looking to buy and I'm glad I did.There is very informative information provided by reviewers on this particular boot and I took their suggestions and their experience and it served me well. My husband has a narrow foot but it is so rare we can find boots in a narrow width without spending a fortune. However, these boots are a "normal" medium width so with a thicker sock, they actually fit him quite nicely. And please take note of others comments/suggestions to size up! My husband always wears a size 8; no exception! But given what others stated about the sizing and their experience that when ordering their regular size they find their toes right up against the toe of the boot, I opted to order a size 8-1/2 and am glad I did! My husband will be wearing these hiking boots primarily in the colder months (which is a good part of the year here in Wisconsin!) so he will also be wearing thicker socks. When he tried these on, a size 8-1/2 / medium width, they fit perfect. These are also a high quality boot. And, I might mention, were half the price of the hiking boots I purchased for him about 10 years ago! He had been in the military and has worn Hi-Tec in the past so he was familiar with the brand. He looked them over, very closely, for any defect and could find none. He loves the color and the support. Again, as one other reviewer stated...the laces are very thick and not likely to keep the boot tied if simply tying them with a regular bow-knot. Instead of going out and purchasing different laces, I suggested he simply double-knot them (I do on every pair of shoes/boots I own) and that took care of the problem. He wore them the rest of the day and they never became un-tied nor did he have sore feet from new boots! He hasn't tested out the waterproof feature yet but he has no plans to go puddle-jumping either. But the snow will fly soon enough here and they'll be tested then. If we find the boots do not deliver on this feature, I'll certainly update my review. In my opinion, these are very handsome hiking boots and I've no doubt he'll get plenty of use from them. The price is awesome, they are high quality and the traction looks very serious; no slipping expected with these!

I bought this after reading tons of reviews of water proof boots in the medium to high price range. They are super comfy to wear and feel solid. I was hoping they would be a bit slimmer like army combat boots, but they are rather bulky in size. That being said, I went to Yosemite in December during snow/light rain, and the two guys with me had high end $120+ REI boots, and they both had wet feet after crossing through river areas and streams. I was the only person who never had wet feet during our 3 day camping trip in Yosemite nation park. I definitely pushed these boots in stream areas and I was impressed that I had the cheapest boots and still had dry feet! I recently went camping in the snow and I burned off the side of the rubber/shoes material by setting my feet too close to a fire. I kinda feel like I might have been too close, but at the time I felt like they were far enough from the heat to not be affected. So I don't know if I can say that was the shoes crappy materials or just my lack of heat awareness with the boots on in extreme cold. overall solid for the price, just a bit bulky in look. (I have size 13 feet too though)

Great boots! I have been wearing these for 5 months 12 to 16 hrs a day. Super happy with these boots. They look just as good as the day I bought them. I wear them to work all day then work in them on the farm evenings and weekends. Wear them hunting and fishing, love the water resistance! Most comfortable daily foot ware I've ever owned. I have to have something tough, rugged and above all comfortable and these fit the bill. At the price they are I wouldn't be unhappy if they fell apart tomorrow I'd just get a new pair, but they show no signs of any defect in wear or workmanship at 5 months of daily use! I would highly recommend these boots.

My son really likes them. The ankle & arch supports are just right for his heavier frame and padded at the soles to reduce that body soreness-which we thought of as he walks a lot in the day.. It's roomy in size 14 reg but my son likes the extra room at toe, and he even said of shoe overall. He will probably use more in "winter" walkng around with bulky socks, so I guess in advance for winter. The soles are ell padded for anytime of the year, hiking and the such. (I bought two shoes and he wears the other more right now due to stylish over function). Color is good, Sturdiness seems good so far. Well packaged and looks really good. Company did a good job and Amazon got it to us quite quickly. We are pleased. I hope you will be also

Powerstep Premium Original Full Length Orthotic Shoe Insoles, Semi-Rigid Arch Support, High Quality Ultra-Thin Design and Heel Cradle For Increased Support The Bandera runs "in between" a half-size small. I wear Hi-Tec "Lite" mids (slash cut ankle) V-Lite anything, Sierra-Lite, Nevis V-Lite, Nevis II V-Lite. I'm V-Lite all the way, when I can find them. I'm a size 9 in all Hi-Tech boots that retail for over $75.00 - and they all have quiet soles and great arch support, and thick shoelaces. You get what you pay for. These Bandera mids have very little arch support and are not an all-day wearing boot as much as a V-Lite. They are boutique hiking mids. The shoe laces are skinny, and border on "cutting through" at the ankle, though the collars ar padded more than a V-Lite's. The top metal eyelets bend with any stress. And the cheaper Hi-Tec always run 1/2 size small. I've requested an exchange to size 9-1/2, but I wish I'd found a better Hi-Tec V-Lite Mid. Removing the Hi-Tec insoles, and replacing them with arch support insoles help. Update: 10/31/15. When I initiated my return and contacted the seller, they offered to send a size 9-1/2 in advance, and included a shipping label, and using the same box to return the size 9 boots. The replacement pair of 9-1/2 seem a bit too large. It seems like these run a 1/4 size smaller, were that possible. So here it is: Buy your regular size, but know that there may not be any extra toe room at all. Once you've worn-in the interior of the shoe cubically, with thick socks, things will give and you'll have just enough room front to back. It seems like they were manufactured using a metric measured "last" (shoe form), instead of an inches "last" (shoe form). You can tell a high quality Hi-Tec Mid (V-Lite) by the hi-impact, black plastic lace loops, and not metal ones. Metal lace hooks indicate a hard carbon and noisy sole, with poor arch support. Anyway, I bought two pair of these Banderas. ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Update 11-10-15 • I ordered another pair of my standard size 9 because I found Chippawa 54" round, waxed laces that allow for a double knot. You can google this "Chippewa Wax Laces Brown 54 Inch" and find out where to buy them online. The skinny laces that ship with the Bandera's have a thin woven cover that soon breaks (see photo), because of the friction crested by the metal lace loops. Not to worry, adding Chippewa laces will cure that problem. Next, you'll need quality insole inserts with arch support like "Powerstep ProTech full length insoles", so google those too, remove the Hi-Tec insole and you've got a decent pair of work boots than you can wear all day long. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 12-12-15 - These Bandera's are killing my heels at the end of the day, even with the PowerStep insoles. It's because of the hard carbon soles and rigid sole layers. I can only wear them for a few hours or after a few days of wearing a pair of 2002 vintage Hi-Tec Sierra V-Lites. Inside the lid of every Hi-Tec shoe box is a message from chairman Frank Van Wezel (fvw@hi-tecsports.com) asking for customer comments on how Hi-Tec® can provide "comfortable, innovative and stylish mid-hiking boots". I'm not sending this extra pair of Bandera's back to the seller, but beware of the hammering your feet are going to endure. They're a bummer boot. I'm asking Frank to remake the Sierra V-Lite, and to expand their V-Lite selection of mids as an urban hiking boot. Not waterproof, if it makes them heavier. We'll see if Frank takes it to heart.

The long story short, these boots are awesome! Like other reviewers recommended I did by the boot one size larger than I normally wear and they fit just fine. Out of the box I wasn't sure I liked them. The wide ankles seemed to be too wide and unlike others who had said the soles were comfortable out of the box mine were less than comfortable. Not bad, but less comfortable than I was expecting. This being said I needed the boots for a casual trip I was taking and my old boots were worn through so I decided to stick with them and I AM GLAD THAT I DID!! After about two weeks the soles broke in and they are now very comfortable for me. Also I happened to be walking through some snow and I realized that snow wasn't getting into my boots from the gap between the boot and my jeans like it did with the old pair. I quickly realized that this was because of that wide ankle that I had not liked initially. I soon realized that the wide ankles would be useful for the many things a person might be doing while wearing these boots. Only time will tell, but these might be the best pair of boots I've ever owned.

I wore out a pair of Hi-Tec boots I bought 5 years ago; they were great boots, so I thought I would try the brand again. If this purchase is representative of Hi-Tec's current quality, I will never buy Hi-Tec boots again. They looked and felt good initially on some short break-in walks, but the first real hike showed their poor quality. The boots leaked and hurt my feet on a 15 mile hike. I could feel every rock on the trail through the bottom of the boot! An examination at home revealed the tread/sole is not solid, but a hollow injection mold that is about 1/8 of an inch thick. Inside the boot it feels like a waffle iron, as the inner surface of the sole is not covered with a permanent insole. The only thing between the corrugated surface and the bottom of your foot is the supposedly waterproof liner and a cheap, thin foam insole. I will try a good $20 insole to see if I can still use them, but I am afraid I have wasted my money on these boots. These boots might be good for light walking, or working in the yard, but they ARE NOT HIKING BOOTS! Update: After a summer and fall hiking and trying to like these boots I have given up. Both boots began to leak and the thin tread has begun to wear through to the hollow space inside the sole. These are not boots for anyone who wants to do some serious walking. I will buy a decent pair from Merrill or Vasque for next year.

Decent shoe for the price.

Used as both work and walking boots. They are a perfect all-rounder

Las botas hi-tec me resultaron mejor de lo que esperaba me quedaron como guantes y el tamaño fue exacto para poder tener varias horas de marcha y no lastimen tiene un excelente soporte un gran agarre y aunque apenas las estoy aflojando me han resultado comodísimas las recomiendo amplia mente para maninatas intensas y hasta ahorita con el clima que me ha tocado me han funcionado muy bien

Worth price, didnt regret after buying this shoe. Comfortable, good looking. One of the best brands Amazon has to offer

Reading some reviews here about the size issues worrying me but thank god mine arrived with correct size and 100% fit. Used to have couple pairs of hiking boots like Timberland and Columbia, they are all expensive and don’t last long. This pair of Hi-Tec was purchased in June and I decided to write review after five walks of trails with different terrain and weather. After five times of wearing, I can really conclude that this pair of hiking boots by far is likely the best one I can have given the money I spent on it. In terms of comfort, my feet don’t feel tired and fatigue after two to three hours non-stop walking on muddy and rocky terrain, while my feet remain warm and dry. The only improvement I can think of is the type of shoelace that the boots come with; the shoelace is very easy to loose no matter how tight I tied.

Excelente para caminatas en el cerro ...