Several decades ago I seem to recall L.L. Bean making their Maine Guide Pack Boot with an optional sole, that being similar to one having large diameter rubber hobnails rather than lugs or what I describe as their "chain mail" sole pattern. Bean claimed the rubber hobnails furnished excellent traction, especially in snow and gumbo-type mud, without picking up snow or mud that would cause the boot to become very heavy and clumsy. . . . At least this is what I think I remember.

Several times when hunting, I have had to cross shallow streams or brooks. My boots were, and are, about six-inch uppers; the water is always 8-10 inches deep. Include hunting in two feet of snow and the Bean boot lug pattern that I think I remember becomes rather attractive.

Bean's web site does not show their pack boot as being available with such a sole. Has anyone noticed this sort of bobbed sole as being available in an insulated pack boot?

Get yourself a pair of Whites Elk winter packs!!

Forget about LLBean

The nice thing about Whites, they are rebuild-able!!

Bobbed, vibrom or chalked(replaceable nails)

Best boots I've ever worked in.

Schnee's make a nice pack boot,not quite as heavy as Whites, multiple soles and designs, up to knee high.

As a fisherman there's a long debate over studded...metal...boot soles and felt boot soles. Studded is better on grass and mud. But felt is better on slimy stones on river bottoms. So like ice on land I guess.

But what to do where both may be encountered? Just get a wading staff. Or on land a long staff. And with your new 'third leg' at least you'll be slightly safer. And it's cheaper! And when hunting makes an aiming support.

We Brits broadly term then 'shooting sticks'. And there are the ultimate. Quad sticks. One big thick staff but that is really four smaller sticks that shake out to make a shoulder high rifle rest. Google 'deer quad sticks' on You Tube and you'll see some.

Whites boots are legendary among loggers, ranchers and wildland firefighters here in the Pacific Northwest. They were sold to LaCrosse/Danner in 2014, and I hope the new owners don't wreck the White's reputation.

I kind've blind-sided myself. I bought a pair of Bean's pack boots with "chain mail" soles - 10-inch uppers for $60.00 delivered. They are nice boots and appear to be more manageable than I would have believed. Their Thinsulate® lining is integral with boot rather than available by way of a replaceable bootie. . . . But wait! There's more!

Having acquired a nicely serviceable colder weather boot, I wasn't satisfied. I bought two-year-old Schnee's Pac Boot - a "super-duper" 13-14 inch upper (haven't measured yet) significantly taller than Bean boot, Thinsulate® booties, bob sole for a buck or two more than $200.00 delivered.

I must report that the difference in workmanship and materials is significant. Schnee's boots appear to be superior to Bean boots to the point of embarrassment. The only caveat I have regarding the quality difference is that the boots are not precisely identical in their features. Bean's boots may be of less quality because Bean offers a similar pack boot model whose features' list matches the Schnee's boot I acquired.

Hope this information helps anyone considering a pack boot for winter hunting in snow.

Always ask- where were they made?
Sadly , lots of fine boots turn to poor boots when they start making them off shore .

Bean's I have were made in Maine. Schnee's were made in Bozeman, Montana. So manufacturing locations are a "push."

One pair of whites will last a lifetime if you have them rebuilt every 20 or so years. There is no other boot as good as a white IMO..not even close. They are very expensive..

Hobnails failed at the market place when outdoor men married indoor wimm'en..Walk thru moms kitchen in hobnails was a ass whupp'en event. When mama ain't happy, nobody happy.

Hobnails were the best sole in snow and ice, they did not slip...Ruber sole lugs today will slip on on ice and snow and track in mud, They do make a metal clete that will clamp on shoes and boots for ice and mud and they work.

++++++++++++ on Whites.