User Review: Raichle Montagna

Reviewed January 4, 2005 by Tom Horn

Rating: rated 5 of 5 stars
Materials: Heavy top-grain leather outers, soft leather insoles, Norwegian welts, steel shanks, Vibram lugged soles and a gusseted tongue with a heavy leather flap secured by Velcro
Use: Expedition backpacking
Break-in Period: Weeks, very gradually
Weight: Jeez! Don't ask.
Price Paid: $185

I'm very glad I bought my Montagnas when I did. They had already gone from $165 to $185 at REI, and as I recall, the price increased substantially before Raichle finally quit making them.

These boots are distinctly old-school in the best sense of that phrase. Footwear the likes of which Amundsen, Scott, Mallory and Peary would respect and admire. The only pieces of full-bore macho clothing I have ever owned. They are great!

My friends have worn out several pairs of lighter boots with Gore-Tex and nylon or whatever in the time it has taken for my Montagnas to become a rugged outer extension of my body. I love these boots. They are heavier than anything else I have ever worn on my feet, and that is fine with me. When I'm going up in the mountains or anywhere else with a full pack, massive kicks help me drop it down into that lowest gear possible. Safe and slow is the way.

If you live long enough, I'm afraid that inevitably you'll start sounding like your parents at times, saying things like "They don't make 'em like they used to." Well, with these boots that is absolutely true.

I broke them in slowly at a place where I used to work standing on my feet ten hours at a time, gradually increasing the time I wore the boots from about an hour or so until I could stand them for the whole shift. It's like breaking in a saddle. You have to do it right.

When I'm out on the land, I wear polypropylene sock liners under cotton socks under wool socks; I also favor the full-length original Sorbithane foot beds (not any knock-offs or Dr. Scholl's jobs). Getting all these layers set just right so there is no seam rubbing is important, and (especially in winter) as the boots warm up as I get going & eat breakfast or take a brief trowel stroll & go through my beginning of day routine, I may re-lace them three or four times. So this process takes a while but once it is done, my feet and my ankles are effectively armored until I'm ready to call it a night as many hours later as I have the stamina to keep going.

These boots take good care of me while I'm out, so once I get back home I return the favor. First the interiors need to dry very thoroughly (and slowly--not next to a heating vent). Then all the remnants of dried mud, soil and caked sand come off with brushes; then I'll rinse the outsides with water & let 'em dry all over (which may take days); then I'll use a good conditioning cleaner like Kiwi Camp Dry (actually formulated for deck shoes & boots exposed to salt water) or Aristocrat (which is hard to find) & let 'em dry again, then have another go at it; then I'll rub in globs of Sno-Seal beeswax (using a judicious amount of heat to open the pores in the leather & let it soak in) before I buff them & call it done. After that they go back in the original cardboard box to sleep until I need 'em again.

I do NOT recommend Mink Oil or other animal-fat leather treatments. That stuff weakens stitching.

This overhaul process on the boots may take a few days. But since I'll never find another pair of boots like these, that's okay by me. I will eventually have to get the boots re-soled, but I will never part with them.

Can you tell that I have a strong attachment to these boots? Well, there's good reason for that.

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