I am venturing back to hunterland after 25 years. I have been riding racehorses so I am not unfit…I don’t think. Trying on boots I seem to be getting conflicting ideas. I am looking at the cheaper end boots Ariat or Donetellos (sp). Some people tell me they should zip easy and one girl wrestled me into a pair, and said the will stretch. I will say the zippers are sure a welcome invention after spending years with boot hooks.
I spent my whole life being told that the boots should be hard to zip up and that they need to be tall enough to allow them to drop.
I bought a pair of Deniro’s a couple months ago and it was a totally different experience.
The boots I got have zippers but no elastic. They’re tight, but I’ve been able to get the zippers right to the top from day one. They’re tall but I have a heel lift in them so they don’t dig into the back of my knee.
I broke them in and have shown in them twice. There are zero ankle wrinkles, and they aren’t squished behind my knee.
IMO the zipper should go up right from day one. The leather will only stretch if it’s being pulled.
Thank you. Were your fairly snug to zip? The pair I have in mind do all the way up to the top. But they take a bit off effort.
Which Deniros do you have? They have one with an S curve and I’m wondering if that is supposed to make it easier to zip? I don’t think that would feel comfortable… but it is less expensive than the straight zip one. I’ve been having a lot of trouble finding zip tall boots that I can get to zip that also fit in the foot. I tried a friend’s used boots and accidentally broke the zipper.
In my experience from selling mostly Ariat, Tredstep, and Der Dau, the softer the leather the snugger you want them to start. Der Dau wants the boots to be darn near impossible to zip the first time or two they are put on, per my training.
Realistically, I think you should need a little help the first time or two but it shouldn’t be a wrestling match. I think if they zip up too readily, they will stretch and fall too much, like a pair of half chaos.
I aim for snug but manageable. I think too tight and it can actually promote stretching with the ultra fitted boot.
It also depends on the quality of zipper. I know the Sergio Grassos have a crummy zipper and it doesn’t zip nicely. You can help the zipper by putting zipper ease which is sold at Dover for about $3. It is a waxy pencil and you lubricate the zipper with it. Candle wax works well too. Finally, as you wear your boots make sure you clean dirt out of the zippers every time you clean the boots. That will protect zipper too.
Can you tell I have had to fix three zippers in the last year and have educated myself about them! :winkgrin:
True confessions: I have hit the wine already tonight.
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In my experience from selling mostly Ariat, Tredstep, and Der Dau, the softer the leather the snugger you want them to start. Der Dau wants the boots to be darn near impossible to zip the first time or two they are put on, per my training.
Realistically, I think you should need a little help the first time or two but it shouldn’t be a wrestling match. I think if they zip up too readily, they will stretch and fall too much, like a pair of half chaos.[/QUOTE]
Half chaos. All comfort. The world is not ready.
Lots of great advice. Thanks folks.
I have many pairs of Ariats (Volants, Sport V, Monaco) that were snug to zip up, but manageable. But they always end up too big after a year of two of use.
This season I bought myself a pair of Tuccis and they are SO HARD to zip up! They have an elastic insert along the zipper that I have to stretch it to get the zippers to zip. Scares me that I’m going to kill the zipper, though so far so good. I’ve been wearing them once or twice a week since August and they’re just starting to get a little bit easier to get on. I am wondering if this is how tight I should have aimed for from the beginning to get boots that stay fairly snug. I can say for sure that the quality of the boot and zipper make a huge difference. My first pair of Monaco zip boots had little weenie dress-type zippers, and despite not being horribly tight, burst - naturally right as I was about to walk into a big class.
And I will agree with the gal who wrestled you into a pair - all boots stretch. Since zippers became a thing, I’ve had Sergio Grassos, Vogels, and many pairs of Ariats. Every single pair I’ve owned have stretched with use…and dropped.
I think the whole ‘they should be so tight you can barely get them on’ is a thing of the past. I buy boots that fit me then. They aren’t loose, but I don’t need to preform yoga moves or have three people help to get into them. You should be able to zip up with one hand. My boots have never been too loose following this.
I have tuccis and they were very difficult to get on in the beginning. It took a couple months before they stretched enough to be easy to get them on but now they look and feel great! I also have another brand that started out so tight I could feel the pulses in back of my legs but they eventually stretched so much and dropped that now they’re too short
It varies by brand and leather softness, but the rule I go by is that there should be some resistance when you zip them up. If they zip up effortlessly right off the bat, they’re too big. If it takes two people and some walking around and letting the leather warm up to get them to zip to the top at the beginning, that’s fine - but they should zip all the way. Walking around or riding in a half-zipped boot while they ‘stretch’ is a recipe for a broken zipper.
I just went through this this week!!!
For me, I want a pair that takes a person or two to zip up. Good quality boots will stretch. I recently got a pair (Monday) Ariat Volant Front Zips. I actually measure in a full calf but I always buy a regular calf. It took me a good 5 minutes to zip up, yes I could feel my leg pulsing, but after about 10 minutes the pulsing went away and the boot was comfortable. On day 2, I had to help the zipper some, but much easier to zip up and no leg pulsing.
I have gone through two pairs of boots this year (1 pair of Ariat heritages and 1 pair of Ovation Olympia) Both zipped up easily on their own. Had a great fit when I first put them on but too wide now 
and I loved the Ariat Heritages (Eclipse version)
So my advice is to get a pair that is tough to put on and may take an additional hand or two at first as they will stretch and fit well after a couple rides.
They should zip up all the way but it should take two people the first couple of times if you want a sung looking boot. I also agree that a less snug boot will stretch less, its a matter of personal preference I’ve heard. When I was fitted for my last pair of tall boots my feet were going numb when I was walking around the store and was told that meant the fit was good. They fit me like customs now so I guess that worked?
