LaCrosse sets my gold standard

Share

Let’s see if these new boots I bought pan out. Literally, pan out. Ok, it’s a pun.

I actually bought these for the sole purpose of gold panning. You see, there is a creek near us called Gold Creek. Most people say there is no gold in said creek, however I thought perhaps I could prove them wrong with a quick gold panning setup that I bought during Covid to keep the kids (and me) busy. A couple of test pans later I found a few “flakes” and decided I wanted to go deeper, literally, in the water.

Enter LaCrosse Footwear. Yes, we have worked with them on PR over the last 7 years. I have always been impressed by the level of quality and how great their people are to work with. I always say we truly believe in the brands we represent.

I quickly looked online at what they had to offer in the waterproof department. Full hip waders seemed a little intimidating to me, but I needed something beyond the Aero Timbertops I have worn extensively over the last 5 years in mud and snow. My new requirements called for something fully waterproof, with no big heels, offering minimal but some insulation, and traction on slippery rocks. I wound up selecting the The ZXT Guardsmanfrom the website.

They arrived quickly, and to the creek I went. The boots performed as desired: waterproof and warm enough but not too hot. High enough thatI could get into the good gravel spots, but low enough for my comfort level. They gripped well while hopping over rocks. Let’s talk about the rubber a bit because when you first open them up they feel, maybe a nice way to say is, supple. They just feel really nice. The product page says it’s “Built with more natural rubber than most other boots, our hand-laid rubber remains durable and waterproof year after year. Our ZXT rubber is specially formulated to be ozone and tear resistant for added protection.”

That all being said, I’m happy with the purchase and perhaps I will pull enough gold out of the creek to pay for them (not that they are crazy expensive, it’s just that I haven’t actually had much gold pan out… yet.)