Heated Hiking Boot Uses Electricity to Keep Feet Warm
The Bugathermo heated hiking boot from Columbia is certainly an, errr, interesting idea. Plug your boots in the night before an epic slog through snow and cold temps and you’ll have up to 8 hours of heat keeping your tootsies warm. The Bugathermo has three heat levels, dual heating elements, and an LED display, all powered by an integrated lithium ion battery. The boots also feature Omni-Tech, Columbia’s version of Gore-Tex plus Thinsulate Insulation rated down to -25° F. These boots are certainly rugged looking but they aren’t cheap: $250 for the men’s version.
If you’re like me you can probably see there might be some problems with these boots. First, it seems like adding a lithium ion battery to footwear might make it a tad heavy. There’s no info on where the batteries are located (sole? uppers?) but wherever they are, they can’t be comfortable. Then there’s the whole issue of replacing the batteries when they stop holding a charge.
Columbia says these boots are perfect for mountain trekking or Arctic exploration but I’d add a caveat to that and say you need to have access to electrical power to make these boots effective. For other users like ski lift operators, these boots seem like they may be well suited.
I always hated buying those chemical heaters for outdoor winter sports and the heated hiking boot is certainly an interesting alternative. For now I think I’ll keep heating my feet the old fashioned way: extra socks and vigorous physical activity. 
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December 1st, 2009 at 11:26 pm
What an innovative idea. But you’re right, I don’t think I will try wearing this one. Heavy boots is not comfy. It’s also a big problem looking for an electricity when you’re mountain trekking
December 10th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
[...] so apparently hiking boots aren’t the only pieces of outdoor clothing getting juiced these days. Mountain Hardware has [...]