Oftentimes, winter is the best time of year to take a hike. It is serene, empty, and pushes you to experience nature in a new way. Baffin, a Canadian-based expedition footwear company, has a storied history of helping you walk through cold, ice-covered landscapes.
The Baffin Zone winter boot is rugged, well-built, and comes with a host of features that will provide support and security to any winter trek, whether it’s a quick jaunt on an icy trail or a hut trip deep into the wild.
The Baffin Zone winter boot.
The Baffin Zone has built-in warmth meant to keep you feet warm down to 4 degrees F (with appropriate socks), has impressive waterproofing, and an outsole that will blow you away. It’s available for men and comes in a wide array of attractive colors.
This is the heavy-duty winter boot with a hiker cut that you have been waiting for.
See the Men’s Baffin Zone Winter Boot
Polar Proven
Baffin’s tagline is “Polar Proven,” so it makes sense that their winter boot built for hikers can take on basically any level of freezing. What’s unique about the Zone is that it’s a hiker-cut boot — meaning it doesn’t go up to your calf, but rather provides ample ankle support and warmth — unlike many more traditional, larger winter boots.
The Baffin Zone is a winter boot with a hiker cut.
The Zone stands out as a winter boot that’s comparatively lightweight at just under 4.5 lbs, while still providing impressive levels of insulation, waterproofing, and tundra-walking. This combination makes them ideal for anyone who hikes often in frigid environments, but doesn’t need the protection granted by huge winter boots.
What makes them Polar Proven — aside from the origin story of Baffin’s owner personally testing boots on both the North and South Poles — are the combination of unparalleled insulation and icy grip.
The Softshell exterior is excellent for protecting against ice and rain.
The fix-lined inner boot is comfortable, generously insulated, and helps to truly lock in the warmth of your foot while the burly exterior keeps out the cold. This plus a heavy-duty soft-shell upper repels the cold with ease.
The outsole rubber is custom to Baffin, and does very well in wet, icy, and snowy conditions. It’s coupled with a TPU plate, an EVA midsole, and a fixed frost plate, all of which are comfortable and protective in freezing environments.
Burly, all-weather ready outsoles.
The Zone boots have a speed-lace system that makes quickly tightening and locking them a cinch, but also allows you to exit them easily. This is a huge plus over calf-style winter boots, which take about a year to get out of.
The quick-lace system makes it easy to slip your foot in and a cinch to tighten.
Finally, the Zone has reflective webbing built into the exterior soft shell for easy visibility. The soft shell is unique for boots: a rugged material that’s comfortable in hand, and will keep your feet free from dampness.
See the Men’s Baffin Zone Winter Boot
Who is Baffin?
Baffin is a Canadian expedition company that focuses on technically advanced footwear and apparel. All of Baffin’s products are designed and heavily tested in cold-weather conditions (like the Poles), and aim to make you toasty and comfortable in any environment.
See the Men’s Zone Winter Boot, and the comparable Women’s Hike, and learn more about Baffin.
This article is sponsored by Baffin.
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They are not only the best winter hiker I’ve owned but the best hikers I’ve owned. They are just as at home on a snow free trail on a cool day. I’ve used the in spring and fall hikes and your feet feel comfortable and not clammy as you would whereing a heavy winter boot. The construction of the heel is a sore spot with even very expensive hikers like Keen not with these guys they have ample padding and the boot design locks you heel into the boot with no up and done slippage giving you no hot spot where blister can start. The outer material is super durable, I’ve walked through extremely muddy conditions and bush whacked with them and they can be washed with a pressure spray with no danger of damage. Simply the best boots I’ve even owned!