Kenetrek boot delamination

[RobStar]

After about 100+ miles or so on my four month old Kenetrek Mountain Extreme 400s I decided to brush them off and treat them with the Kenetrek leather wax today. I put them out in sun to soak in the wax for about 2-3 hours. Temps were 100-105 or so.


When I went back out to brush off the excess boot wax, I noticed the soles were delaminating around the edges.


Frankly I don't think this is normal.


Worse of all I've got them super comfy and broken in at this point and the thought of new boots before my Oct 1 elk hunt in NM is just plain stupid! Hopefully they can reglue the same soles on or new soles so I don't have to break-in new uppers.


Anyone else in a hot climate have any thoughts on this?


I just spoke to Kenetrek and I'm NOT VERY HAPPY. The lady was very professional and said of course to send them in for evaluation and in 4-6 weeks they'll get to them and let me know if I have to pay $150 for the resole. She did offer to let me continue on wearing them through hunting season but I can't take a chance on a elk hunt to have a boot go bad in the wilderness. She claims they are not warrantied for heat damage. I can understand a fire or stove heat but the sun? Really?


They may ultimately warranty them and I love the boots but a big sturdy hunting boot ought to be good in just about any temp a human can hunt in.


Robert

 

[kcebcj]

I feel your pain. I just had to send in a pair of Sorrel Caribou Pac's as the rubber started cracking in two seasons of use. They replaced them with an upgraded pair so I'm happy.

I have been considering a pair of Kenetreks so am interested as to why they cracked. So were there any signs of them being cracked before you put them in the sun? What did you set them on as if it was a dark object like pavement it could have been very hot with a 105 air temp.

They will hopefully replace them but if like the Sorrels it will take 4-8 weeks. Good luck.

 

[RobStar]

Hi Jim, they're great boots and among the most comfortable out of the box for me I've ever had.

They didn't crack, the glue they use gave up in the heat.

I sat them on some light colored gravel in my front yard, it is a decorative gravel of sorts used commonly in desert landscape in the southwest.

I posted this on an archery forum I'm on and several others reported the exact same issue and the lady at the factory explained what failed as if she's done it many times. There was no "never heard of that happening".

Love these boots and I don't want a new pair just repaired and it would be nice if they could assure me it would never happen in the future but I didn't get that at all which is a bummer!

My advice is to look for other boots unless you are prepared to baby these and guard them from the heat. 105 is hot but not by our standards and a car on an 80 deg day can get a lot hotter than that.

Really such a shame for an otherwise fantastic boot!

Robert

 

[Ridgerunner665]

I've had that happen to a pair of Rocky Bear Claw 1400's...

I glued them back myself several times using super glue, but that never lasted long...then I tried Gorilla Glue....that has held for 3 years now and shows no signs of letting go anytime soon....thats 3 years of North Dakota winters (these boots are for work) at temps down way below zero and hard use while nearly frozen stiff.

The Gorilla Glue stays flexible....the super glue hardens...made all the difference in the world.

Use this one...not the "super glue" version... http://www.gorillatough.com/gorilla-glue

 

[Ridgerunner665]

Snapped a pic of my Rocky's...still holding strong after 3 years...the boots are about 6 years old, the bottoms came loose on both of them after only 2 years...pretty sorry glue for a nearly $200 pair of boots....but the Gorilla Glue has allowed me to get my moneys worth out of them ...and they're still waterproof too!

 

[Rick Richard]

I don't believe it is just isolated to Kenetrek. I have seen several post with this same issue for different makers. In fact, I just recently had a pair of Asolo boots that did the very samething. However, I was able to get an immediate exchange.

 

[Sully2]

Buy Rocky boots next time

 

[Makaira]

I have two pairs and haven't had any issues but a friend had his come apart in about 4 months.

 

[Boman]

I've had my kenetreks for about 4 years and no problems at all. But if mine did that I'd be pretty ****ed.. I hope they take care of you. Please let us know what happens.

 

[RobStar]

Good or bad I'll let everyone know how they finally settle it.

Stuff happens, it's all in how companies handle it. They have a good reputation.

If they do bone me on this four month old set of boots because the heat from the sun somehow is not covered by warranty, they'd better be prepared to show me in writing where it says do not leave in the sun.

Fingers crossed but frankly they shouldn't have to be!

Robert

 

[SidecarFlip]

I have a pair of Kennetrek Extremes and a pair of Meindl Hunters and I like them equally. I just exchanged the Meindl footbeds for Kennetrek. Neither boot really needs to be broken in and moleskin is a thing of the past.

I'm curious as well. For what they cost (Meindl and Kennetrek) there should not be issue one. Neither are sweatship China footwear.

 

[RobStar]

UPDATE:

I heard from Kenetrek already this week and they are repairing the boots under warranty which is good news!

The gentleman who left the message also said "they were repairing them so that situation would never happen again". That is even more good news!

Hopefully I'll be able to talk to him next week and see what the fix was as I really hate to have to baby a $400 pair of boots or be afraid to wear or leave them outside.

If I have more information I'll report back. Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions!

Robert

 

[Korhil78]

Well thanks for the update and that is good news. I was actually in the market for a pair of kennetrek mountain extremes (Non insulated) but was waiting to see how they handled this situation. I can now feel good about going ahead and ordering them.

 

[Boman]

That's great news. They seem like a great company, so I'm glad they're taking care of you.