User Review: Lowa Civetta

Lowa Civetta
Above: The current Civetta, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed March 27, 2001 by Dang Dave

Rating:
Materials: plastic with liner bootie
Use: construction, and snowshoeing and mucking around in the winter
Break-in Period: zero, these were used rentals I bought
Weight: 5 plus pounds, not sure
Price Paid: regular around 325 dollars, used for 90 bucks

I had a tough choice between a nine and a half (my street shoe size usually) and a ten and a half (USA sizes)....

I found the 'rocker' on the nine and a half to be perfect but that my toes bumped the front of the boot and I had only a light sock on..... so though the boots worked fine for working out in the snow for the few hours I knew if I did a whole day backpacking my feet would swell and give me a real headache!! unfortuantely, the next size wasn't available so I stepped up to a 10 and half... now I can stay warm and cozy with two pairs of socks plus liner..(as my excellent La Sportive Makalus weren't warm below 10 degrees farenheit).. The only downside so far though is that the larger boot's rocker seems a little too far foreward and some clumsyness is a result. For steep climbing perhaps the smaller boot would be better and thus why I see some people wearing overboots even with these plastic boots... I've spent two whole days on concrete slabs and in deep snow moving lumber and carpentry and so far they are comfortable, but just a little clumsy (like a reinforced Sorel boot..) I may have to wait til next year for a more backcountry use... these are not as comfortable as my Scarpa new T3 telemark boots... (except for walking) or my aforementioned Makalus....which are only 9 and a halfs and maybe a little tight for long treks but so far have worked great a day in and day out construction and mild hiking boots... and keeping my feet without usual pain due to heal spurs (another review earlier on the Makalus I did>>>)