I am off to Norway in January and am looking to buy some new boots. Any advice on what to look for? I am assuming I am going to need a winter boot for snow etc. But other than that I have no idea. I currently have a pair of Lowa's that are quite warm but I dont know if they will be good enough.
Ok, depending on where in norway you're of to, there is a lot of alternatives (huge difference between finnmarksvidda and oslomarka). But seriuously skip the gore-tex military boots, there crap in winter (IMO the rest of the year to). They get clammy and the midsole has less then admirable insulation capacity. I've done military service above the arctic circle and lived on spitzbergen for 9 months, so I know how cold your feet can get. It needs to be repeated: skip the military gore-tex boots in winter! (I still have problems because of my meindl performance I used in the army)
If you're going buchcrafting I hope you've understood that much of norway will be covered in snow during this time of year, and hence skis are a good idea. That just leaves skiing boots really (not just, there is a veritable ocean of models there to).
If your going on foot (as opposed to the recommended skis) I would recommend a high all leather hiking hunting boot with no membrane and a couple of sizes to big so you can fill it with thick high quality woolen socks. If you're going above the tree line or arctic circle consider a double boot, i.e. an removable warm inner boot. Lundhags makes some nice models which work fine during winter (and summer to). Insulation that can't be removed is not an option since it takes forever to remelt it ones it's frozen, (if your sleeping out they will freeze) an uninsulated leather boot takes little time to reheat.
If I had the money I would go for the Jörn antifreeze model:
Cellular rubber foot, all leather upper, and woolen felt inner boot, but still comfortable to walk in. This is IMHO the perfect cold weather boot. It is more walking friendly then e.g. sorels different versions.
EDIT: Tack was a couple of minutes faster..
