Review: Lems Outlander Boot

Sweet relief! After months of foot pain from plantar fasciitis, the Lems Outlander Waterproof Boot has delivered my dogs from boisterous barking. All my other hiking boots have narrow toeboxes, so all the gains I made during the day—arch-friendly daily drivers, therapeutic rollers, PT exercises ad nauseum—were wiped out after one long hike in my Chinese foot-binders. The Outlanders, however, allow the balls of my feet to spread out, stretching the muscle and fascia as I hike. Which means no more limping afterward—a long-overdue restoration of the natural order.

A couple caveats, for those in the same boat. One, the toebox is huge, and my feet do swim a bit whenever I leave solid, even ground. This makes boulder-hopping and steep downhills a little shaky, so go easy until your feet adjust to the extra room (a sticky insole might help; check out this review). Two, the Outlander is certainly well-made, but it's not designed for intense, high-alpine activity. If you make this your all-purpose mountain boot, scrambling across scree toward lofty summits, it'll fall apart. Best to limit your Lems to low-impact day-hikes, and let a more rugged boot take you into the high country.

Which is fine by me. No boot can do everything, and the Outlander is designed to heal and protect your feet, not help you bag peaks or pack out elk. But if you let them do their job, your own dogs might just quit barking, too.

Available at lems.com; $195.