Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I don't know what happened to the Kamik boots. I am completely perplexed!!!! We have loved Kamik boots forever. Our family has been buying them for the kids for the last several years, but I have used them for much longer over the decades and I just retired my last pair of 11 year old Kamiks. The latest pair I got for my oldest daughter has been HORRIFIC. She has been complaining all winter about her feet getting cold, but I couldn't fathom how that was possible. They look the same as the old Kamiks, but when I finally got my hands on them and compared them to the 2 older pairs we have, they are simply awful. How? 1. Well the soles are so thin and flimsy that I can bend them every which way with little effort. They feel like a thin pair of summer flip flops and not a rugged durable winter boot. There is nothing between your foot and the snow. 2. The boots don't keep water or slush out.... this means her feet get wet during melt offs and the boots begin to stink like a 12-year old boys feet. The sides of the boots simply get soaked and leach water into the liner and feet. It seems to come right through and at a rather rapid pace. 3. The boots wear through the soles and get holes in the bottoms. Now I expect for every shoe to get worn through at some point, but my son's 6 year old kamik's that were used by 2 other kids just wore through. These new ones are almost shot after a season of 5 months use. Simply Terrible and unacceptable. I don't really understand how the quality of these boots has gotten so bad. I have always loved Kamik boots, so I went into our local shop and low and behold, in a side by side comparison with my 11 year old Kamiks... they are not the same. The soles are thin (aka let the cold right up to your foot), the soles are very pliant and bend every which way, and the uppers are simply not very good quality and there seems to be no waterproofing which is mandatory in a good winter boot. I am very disappointed. In a rugged winter climate where we live out in the snow doing winter activities during 4-5 months of the year these will simply no longer do. Finally, I bought my daughter some Baffin Eigers and she couldn't be happier. They are enormous, but they also go down to -78. There is no way the Kamiks were making it to +20 and that is no Joke. I would stay away from Kamiks until they bring the quality of their boots up to what they were in the past. Unfortunately, the quality of all the boots seems to be going down now that everyone has taken their production to China et al. Even my favorite Baffins have gone there. I just hope there will always be someone who can make some quality boots for me to buy. For now, Baffin still has the edge. I understand that these may work for some people with less harsh winter conditions. We live where there is snow on the ground for 4-6 months. One of the basic needs for winter footware when one is outside for extended periods in very cold weather is a boot that will keep the moisture out and will allow you to stand around for long periods without feeling even slighly cold. Kamik simply cannot do that as of now and in my mind they fail to hold up to the basic the winter boot standard.