I wear HMK Pro Boas now and I do keep dry socks for the end of the day because I have to.
The Klim's are looking pretty good to me at this point.
The Klim's are looking pretty good to me at this point.
The perfect boot...
- Thread starter CROW
- Start date
I switched to the HMK Pro Boa Focus II this season. This boot is far superior to Klim Adren GTX for riding support and the lack of an elevated heal gives an advanced rider better contact with the running boards. Per previous comments the boa system is the best aspect of these boots. Then add two adjustments and it's excellent for creating a custom comfortable fit.
We found that there are only two ways you get wet in this boot when snowmobiling (I'm not talking about walking around in a 6" puddle like the rediculous waterproof field test). You get wet from either your own sweat or from snow getting past the lacing area or over the tops then melting from your body heat. By wearing a quality pant with a good gator so that snow can't get over the top, making sure that you've got the tongue placed so that no snow gets past on the lower section of the boot, and then by wearing a quality moisture control sock you can completely avoid moisture problems in common day to day sledding.
Each person has different levels of perspiration so experimentation of socks and tightness of the system makes all the difference in the world for comfort and sweat control. The HMK is the best performance boot I"ve worn and now we've got it figured out so it's also warm, dry, and comfortable. Would also love to see the tongue section closed to the shell to completely eliminate snow contact through the bottom half of the boot.
Tough (my Klim's wore a fur patch on the fabric section after two rides), better support, easy custom fit, dry, warm, all make the HMK pro boa focus II a superior performance snowmobile riding boot.
We found that there are only two ways you get wet in this boot when snowmobiling (I'm not talking about walking around in a 6" puddle like the rediculous waterproof field test). You get wet from either your own sweat or from snow getting past the lacing area or over the tops then melting from your body heat. By wearing a quality pant with a good gator so that snow can't get over the top, making sure that you've got the tongue placed so that no snow gets past on the lower section of the boot, and then by wearing a quality moisture control sock you can completely avoid moisture problems in common day to day sledding.
Each person has different levels of perspiration so experimentation of socks and tightness of the system makes all the difference in the world for comfort and sweat control. The HMK is the best performance boot I"ve worn and now we've got it figured out so it's also warm, dry, and comfortable. Would also love to see the tongue section closed to the shell to completely eliminate snow contact through the bottom half of the boot.
Tough (my Klim's wore a fur patch on the fabric section after two rides), better support, easy custom fit, dry, warm, all make the HMK pro boa focus II a superior performance snowmobile riding boot.
I'd have to disagree with this. I've sold several pairs of HMK's for Kirk and we've all experienced the same issue... a wet foot at the end of the day because the boots don't breathe. The Klim's did the same thing before they added Gore-Tex. If HMK found a way to make their BOA boot breathable this would be the perfect boot, but as I understand it there are only 2 sledwear companies that have a Gore-Tex license, Klim and Scott. The only other thing I would say HMK needs to improve would be to make the sole more durable like the Klim's.
A little off-topic, but these 2 companies (Klim and HMK) are the model of customer service that all should strive for.
30 rides on the new PRO BOA FOCUS II (better everyday)
Now we are getting into the swampy part of the season. Once again I reiterate what I already said. My feet have been dry, warm, and comfortable each day every day. I even drug my feet to fill the center with slush and see if they would leak or get me wet (my Radiums did this like crazy). NOPE I've been wearing Cabela smart wool socks (love em). One thin layer. I don't have sweaty feet and I make sure my HMK Stealth pants gaitor is locked down. If you don't sweat excessively and you don't allow snow to melt over the tops you stay dry. I have both KLIM and HMK and I absolutely prefer the HMK for riding, comfort, fit, support, appearance, durability. So far for me the only time KLIM stood out was not having to remove my boots to drive from the house to the parking lot and running down the hill to fetch my buggy when it goes ghost. The HMK Pro Boa Focus are not track shoes!
Now we are getting into the swampy part of the season. Once again I reiterate what I already said. My feet have been dry, warm, and comfortable each day every day. I even drug my feet to fill the center with slush and see if they would leak or get me wet (my Radiums did this like crazy). NOPE I've been wearing Cabela smart wool socks (love em). One thin layer. I don't have sweaty feet and I make sure my HMK Stealth pants gaitor is locked down. If you don't sweat excessively and you don't allow snow to melt over the tops you stay dry. I have both KLIM and HMK and I absolutely prefer the HMK for riding, comfort, fit, support, appearance, durability. So far for me the only time KLIM stood out was not having to remove my boots to drive from the house to the parking lot and running down the hill to fetch my buggy when it goes ghost. The HMK Pro Boa Focus are not track shoes!
