Asolo Alpinist GV

Buying boots is a personal affair, so let your feet decide. My feet love these boots. I use them for guiding backpacking trips into remote parts of Alaska, and they support my feet on rocks and lumpy vegetation happily. They are a stiff boot, but they have enough flex and rocker to make walking comfortable for the long haul. I've used them pretty hard for 2 seasons, and they are holding up OK.

My only qualm with Asolo is that some of the stitching appears to be designed to wear out so that you'll have to buy a new pair eventually (planned obsolescence). On these boots, instead of continuing the rubber rand all the way around the foot, there is a patch of stitching that goes right down to the sole. I covered mine in seamsealer as soon as I bought them, and that has helped, but I think those vulnerable stitches will be a problem in the long run.

They get a 4.5 because my feet smile whenever I put them on.