Has anybody had any success in stretching the width of a heavy hunting/back packing boot?

I bought a pair of Lowa Tibet Pro GTX (12 Wides) from Zappos.com and they are still slightly too narrow in the middle section even with a regular athletic sock. Zappos has an easy return policy, but they will not accept them back (of course) if I attempt to have them stretched wider and they are still not wide enough.

So, I am weighing the probability of just returning them or taking a chance to make them better.

Any thoughts?

There is a product, the name escapes me for now, in the UK you can use to stretch footwear.

The caveats are:

Shoes have to be leather, the type you would wear with a suit or smart casual jacket (called ?street shoes in US)

The aerosol spray product is used in conjunction with shoe trees, inserted inside shoes to force the leather outward.

I do not think it is possible to increase the width by 'much', it is more of an easing process. Additionally, I wonder what the stretching effect has upon the shoe / boot stitching - loss of waterproof 'tightness'.

If it was me, I would return them for a larger size, width fitting or go with a more generous fitting boot make. I use Meindl for this reason.

Boots that are made of leather CAN be stretched and by a couple of methods. I have done this while working as a "boot fitter" for a major Canadian mountain gear store and have adjusted my own boots, as well.

The type of construction shown is usually marketed as superior for harsh, rocky terrain and thus a better mountain boot. This is horseshit as this construction will NOT allow the boot to "break in" and conform to your feet as a leather boot will, over time. People who should know better are sucked in by this crap, just as by the use of "Gore-Tex" in boots, a poor way of waterproofing them.

This type of "rand" is used as it is MUCH cheaper to manufacture and most people will not pay the cost of proper "Norwegian" welting and "full grain-rough out" leather in boots....although they last several times as long as these newer types.

So, simply put, NO, you will wreck the boots if you attempt to stretch them and should exchange them for a pair that fit properly. Almost all backpacking gear now is MUCH superior to the stuff we had in the '60s, '70s, '80s and so on, EXCEPT boots, most of the current ones are crap.

I just found an unused pair of Galibier Vercors that a guy had who bought them and used them once, then, put them in a closet. Galibier, made the BEST of the traditional mountain boots and I have owned, used, fitted and sold them all for nearly 50 years and I am ecstatic about getting these...I paid $75.00 USD and they are better than my custom Van Gorkums which now sell for $1600.00.....there are still lots of these out there......

I tend to agree that it's not worth the risk of attempting to stretch them...I'm sending the Lowas back.

I went ahead and ordered a different pair to try:

Alico Summits
They have the stitched Norwegian welt construction and one piece leather upper made in Italy. There is a pretty damn good deal (assuming that they fit my foot) at sierra trading post for 53% off when you use the 20% off coupon code...total deal of $140 delivered to my grubby paws.

I'll update the thread when I receive these.


Alico Boots at Sierra Trading Post

Cane-


Those Alico boots are excellent.
I've been wearing them for the past fifteen years or so, they wear well and are quite durable.
I've had mine through countless hundreds of miles Sierra timber, rough motorcycling, ultra jobsite madness, and day-to-day use.
You can't go wrong with them.



Cheers
Tinker

I have Lowa Sheephunter GTX boots and the only stretching they did was in the toe box area.

Alicos came in the mail today; definitely keepers. Good fit and finish... off to break them in.