“Let me know when you’ve walked a mile in my boots.”

I can still clearly hear my pop uttering those words as clearly as the last time he made his sarcastic request. Most often, the words were used to emphasize my lack of experience, as well as my lack of capacity at the time to understand what it took, as a sheet metal worker, to provide for our family; however, I learned quickly when, at 18 years old, I stepped onto yellow footprints and soon after, traded sneakers for combat boots. Lord knows how many miles I trekked through eight years of Marine Corps service. While miles took their toll on my feet and hiking up hills was quite taxing, heading back down them was where most of the damage occurred — hot spots, blisters, shin splints, bad knees. Unfortunately, Marine Corps regulations regarding boots were strict. I could wear slick black Cadillacs… or slick black Cadillacs.

Growing up in a blue-collared, factory-working home, I also understood early on how important it was to take care of your feet. As much as he reminded me I hadn’t taken a step in his boots, he also emphasized the importance of good boots — “You’ve got to take care of the money-makers. They’re your most important tool.” While I clearly did not have a choice in footwear during my military service, I headed into the factory after my discharge and I did exactly has he suggested. I took care of my money-makers. Fortunately, the lessons of my blue-collared stepfather trespassed from factory work into my outdoor lifestyle. From my first hunts, clear through to today, I have been ever mindful of the important role boots play on and off the grid. 

This is a make-or-break lesson your customers also desperately need to know, and it is in your best retail interest to guide them. Sure, footwear is a vital factor in comfort and reliability, but more importantly, hunting boots, especially in cold weather, can mean the difference between great memories and traumatic, downright deadly circumstances. Your customers need to know before they go, and you need to outfit them with the right gear. Fortunately, doing so often leads to more sales and fosters the kind of relationships that bring your customers back. In the spirits of good advice for them and great inventory decision-making for you, here are seven highly effective boots to warm up your retail sales. 

Rocky Arctic BearClaw 1400G

Seemingly the epitome of starting with nothing, William (Bill) and F.M. (Mike) Brooks founded Rocky Boots, quite literally, on a shoestring budget. In 1932, Nelsonville, Ohio, like the rest of the country, languished in the Great Depression that started just three years earlier. The Brooks brothers weren’t fairing any better, but deadset on entrepreneurship while America’s economy lay in shambles around them, they scored the keys to a rent-free building and borrowed some machinery, and William Brooks Shoe Company was born. Now, 88 years later, Rocky remains in family hands. Even better, the company has amassed quite a following and has become a top producer of hunting boots. One model well worth space on your cold-weather retail shelf is the Arctic BearClaw, especially Rocky’s 1400-gram insulated offering. 

Rocky 10-inch Arctic BearClaw Boots are designed from the ground up to provide your hunting customers with warm yet dry feet even in brutally cold, wet environments. Arctic BearClaw boots boast 1400 grams of 3M Thinsulate Ultra Insulation, breathable yet waterproof Gore-Tex liner, 3D welt construction and a full-grain leather/nylon upper. An Air-Port cushion footbed keeps your feet dry and comfortable during all-day activities, while a BearClaw 3D outsole provides slip-resistant confidence on icy, uneven terrain. www.rockyboots.com

Kenetrek Mountain Extreme 1000

Sheep hunters are a different breed of adventure-seeking animal. From steep fields of shale to perilous summits shrouded in jagged rock outcroppings with gut-wrenching drops on either side, the only tools at their disposal to close the distance with confidence are brains and boots. While Kenetrek can’t do anything about decision-making, boots are covered; in fact, it was a 2002 sheep hunt, and brutalized feet, that led to Kenetrek’s founding in 2005. Moreover, sheep hunting and the toll such adventures take on the minds and feet of hardcore, high-altitude hunters are what motivated Kenetrek to develop what many consider to be near-perfect hunting and hiking boots, one of the most popular being the Italian-made Mountain Extreme 1000. 

Truth be told, if you’re serving discriminating hard-core hunters with an affinity for extreme cold and ridiculously high altitudes, Kenetrek Mountain Extreme 1000 Boots need some of your shelf space, and your customers need some of your retailer guidance to pick them out of your inventory crowd. Mountain Extreme 1000 boots feature 10-inch-tall uppers constructed of full-grain, 2.8mm-thick leather; swiveling boot hardware; seamless tongues for improved waterproof reliability; double and triple stitching; 7mm nylon insoles; reinforced rubber sole guards and slip-resistant K-Talon outsoles. For ultra-reliable, breathable waterproofing and warmth, Kenetrek Mountain Extreme 1000 boots also include 1000-gram Thinsulate insulation and Windtex membranes. www.kenetrek.com

LaCrosse Aerohead Sport 7mm

Depending on the weather, I may spend weeks at a time in neoprene boots I affectionately refer to as “mud boots.” Honestly, hog hunting in expansive Texas crop fields after heavy rain has led me past wandering ducks on many occasions and, as it happens, my go-to mud boots are LaCrosse. Of course, freezing cold weather is generally fleeting down South, so my uninsulated Alphaburly Pro boots may not be a great fit for an ice storm, but Lacrosse 18-inch Aerohead Sport 7mm boots just might be the perfect fit. These boots are rated for cold weather temperatures ranging from -60 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. 

LaCrosse Aerohead Sport 7mm boots offer the comfort, waterproof protection and warmth your hunting patrons want without being cumbersome. As the name implies, these Aerohead Sport boots boast ultra-thick 7mm neoprene insulation, spandex and Lycra composite shells, jersey knit comfort liners, ridiculously comfortable yet removable EVA footbeds, adjustable over-the-calf-buckles, integrated polypropylene board shanks, and bonded, taped and double-stitched welds. One other huge benefit of LaCrosse Aerohead Sport 7mm boots is the flexible neoprene gusset for added comfort and enhanced fit for your customers blessed with larger calves. www.lacrossefootwear.com

Irish Setter MudTrek Insulated

The Irish Setter story begins long before the first branded boots hit shelves in the early 1950s. Decades earlier, Red Wing Boots took footwear by storm in 1905 and migrated into hunting by 1929. A couple of decades later, Irish Setter was forged from Red Wing’s legacy, and the brand continues as an industry-leading hunting boot brand today. My personal story with Red Wing and Irish Setter boots began at a young age. My grandfather’s hunting boots were Irish Setters, and for as long as I knew my stepfather, a sheet metal worker, Red Wings were on his money makers. For my many years on a factory floor, I wore the same. The quality, comfort and reliability of Red Wing and Irish Setter boots have never been lost on my family, and I still own a couple pairs of Irish Setter hunting boots. That said, looking at the brand’s latest offerings, the 11 inches of rain that fell recently and the cold fronts routinely accompanying late fall, I would do well to jump into a pair of Irish Setters new MudTrek insulated boots. Perhaps you should be looking at what these boots can do for your customers, too!

When temperatures plummet, Irish Setter MudTrek Insulated Boots keep your hunters’ toes toasty with ThermalBoost — strategically placed, multi-zone insulation barriers — and 1200 grams of PrimaLoft insulation.  For durability and comfort, MudTrek boots incorporate TempSens, a temperature-reactive control system, as well as RPM technology, a “breakthrough composite material that significantly reduces the weight of the boot, providing extreme comfort and added endurance.” Finally, what would a hunting boot be without scent control? MudTrek boots include ScentBan, a scent control treatment designed to kill bacteria responsible for odors that is embedded throughout boot materials including the footbed — imagine that. www.irishsetterboots.com

Danner Pronghorn Realtree Edge 1200g 

Over the course of 88 years, Danner boots has built a reputation here in America of uncompromising craftsmanship, comfort and durability, and the legacy continues. In their own words, Danner is committed to continuing “to craft high quality boots, using the best possible materials we can find, to create a product built to last.” Relying on Danner’s Ballistic boots for all of my gritty range work, I can attest to the brand’s quality and durability. As a Jarhead, factory worker and outdoor writer, I have always made my money on my feet, and Danner’s Ballistic boots have been my best choice yet. I can only imagine the brand’s cold-weather offerings perform even better. One such Danner cold-weather hunting boot is the Pronghorn 8-inch Realtree Edge 1200G. 

For more than 20 years, the Pronghorn has been a hinge-pin in Danner’s success story. Now, five Pronghorn generations later, it seems Danner has reached the pinnacle; of course, I have suggested that of a trusted brand before and have been forced to eat my words. Just when you think something can’t get better, it does. At least for now, the current generation of Danner Pronghorn boots has stepped up to stake its claims in quality, comfort and reliability. 

In terms of cold weather, Danner Pronghorn 1200G boots are tough to beat, and I might even argue that for value, they rank among the best the market has to offer. Pronghorn 1200G boots are built upon Danner’s Force Next platform with an internal and external shank system, and they feature full-grain leather hand selected after comprehensive testing, 1200-gram PrimaLoft insulation, 100-percent waterproof and breathable Gore-Tex lining, Vibram SPE midsole and a Vibram Pronghorn outsole. www.danner.com

Lowa Tibet Superwarm GTX

Cold weather? How does Mount Everest cold strike you? Jim Whittaker was the first American to summit Mount Everest in 1963, and he did so in a pair of Lowa mountaineering boots. In 1923, Lowa was founded by Bavarian cobbler Lorenz Wagner in Jetzendorf, Germany, just about 90 miles south of Nuremberg. While Lowa was forced to make military boots through WWII, the company stepped back into civilian footwear soon after the war’s end and never looked back. Today, the Lowa is a premier boot brand throughout Europe and is also exceptionally popular among elite adventurers throughout the U.S. — and for good reason. The company continues to innovate and produce top-shelf boots for high-elevation exploits. Case in point, Lowa Tibet Superwarm GTX Boots. 

Designed specifically for cold-weather, high-altitude hiking and hunting, the Tibet Superwarm GTX follows the same popular design as Lowa’s Tibet GTX and adds Gore-Tex PrimaLoft 400 insulation as well as an Insulated Pro insole. Tibet Superwarm GTX Boots also boast a Vibram Mottarone Arctic Grip sole, DuraPU midsole, waterproof yet breathable construction and a Flexfit system. Additional features include dual-zone X-Lacing, C4-Tongue, I-Lock technology, minimal seams and roller eyelets. If you’re serving discriminating hunters who demand the best in warmth and comfort for mountain-top hunting adventures, Lowa Tibet Superwarm GTX boots should fit them quite nicely. (www.lowaboots.com)

Chippewa Weddell Bay Apache Arctic

Founded in 1910, Chippewa Boots have been staple footwear here in my home state of Texas since Justin Boots, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, acquired the shoe company in 1984. Today, you would be hard-pressed to find a group of us Texas hunters absent of at least one pair of Chippewa Descaro-style snake boots. For 36 years, Chippewa boots have been nearly as Texan as, well, Texas, so naturally the brand is one of my top choices, including for cold-weather footwear. Of course, while Chippewa may be owned by Justin, the boots are still made in the USA with “global parts” in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and those folks know cold so well that Weddell Bay Apache Arctic Bay Boots have to be highlighted here for those customers of yours who demand high-tech cold-weather innovation in classic leather boot styling.  

Beyond the throw-back look of Chippewa’s iconic Descaro snake boots, the brand’s single greatest cold-weather boot offering just might be the Weddell Bay Apache Arctic. Weddell Bay Apache Arctic Boots are constructed of a lace-up design, brown Bay Apache leather exterior and rugged, slip-resistant Vibram outsoles. Inside, Weddell Bay Apache Artic Boots feature Chippewa’s popular Chip-A-Tex waterproof membrane (breathable but prevents water infiltration), Texon 460 waterproof insoles and a warm, insulating lamb shearling wool polypropylene felt lining. For maximum durability, Weddell Bay Apache Arctic Boots also include a leather welt, 4-iron rubber midsole and triple-ribbed steel shank. www.chippewaboots.com