Geared out and ready to hike!

A couple of months ago I was contacted by STONZwear about reviewing some of their awesome footwear for the kiddos.  They said they wanted the review done by the end of October…which in many areas of the country would be easy, but was potentially problematic here in the South.  While the weather can definitely get cold by then, we are more often than not still sporting short sleeves well past Halloween.  So when I saw the weekend forecast a couple of weeks ago, I was psyched for the chance to try out the newest kicks for the crag-kiddos on our adventure to the New River Gorge.

Our family has a history with STONZ – in 2013 we partnered with them for a series of reviews (here, here, and here.)  So I went in to this venture expecting to be impressed, and I was not disappointed.  Here’s what we tried out, and here are our honest, unbiased thoughts about each piece.

FOR THE CRAGBOY:

Big C got to try out some Winter Bootz, advertised as being for “extreme cold weather.”  While our testing conditions may not have been considered “extreme,” it was still below freezing (in the morning, anyway!), which counts as cold in my (Southern) book.  Big C’s feet were kept cozy warm all day, and the boots seemed very comfortable.  At times he can be pretty picky about what he wears, and I was relieved to find that he liked these so much he wore them to school the first day he tried them on (on a 60 degree day no less!)  In fact, here’s a sum-up of some ACTUAL quotes within the first 5 minutes of wearing them: “Look how much faster I can run in these!”  “These are my Jedi Boots!”  “Do I look like President Business in these?!?”

The only downside is that all that warmth and coziness means a little extra weight.  We hiked A LOT that weekend, and by the end of it, my ordinarily strong hiker was dragging a little bit.  That being said, these boots are pretty versatile – perfect for jumping in the leaves on a crisp, autumn day, as well as frolicking around in fresh snowfall (hopefully we’ll get a chance to try them out in the latter in a couple of months!)

FOR THE CRAGGIRL:

Although she’s going on 2, Baby Zu still has munchkin feet, so we opted for a pair of booties for her.  My favorite part about these was (once again) their versatility.  They can be worn in pretty much any combination you want – over bare feet, socks, slippers, shoes, or just by themselves.  The addition of the Linerz adds a comfy warm layer – upping the cozy factor for sure!  Baby Zu’s favorite part was the owl, and “Hoo-hoo!” seemed to be the sound of the day.

Baby Zu also received some Mittz to try out.  The Mittz come in 2 sizes.  Infant Mittz feature one “hole” for the entire hand, which makes getting them on and off a breeze.  The size range is large – 0-2, so one pair will last multiple seasons.  The Youth Mittz are a regular mitten, with one hole for the thumb, and another for the rest of the fingers. Big C has a pair of those (reviewed here), and they have held up great!

Winter gear is so hard to buy here in the South…it only gets REALLY cold for a small portion of the year, so it’s hard to justify all that expense for such quickly-growing hands and feet.  But in my opinion, if you want your children to enjoy the wonders of winter, you’ve got to keep them warm!  Stonz offers great options that are a little more versatile than most, and their durability is top-notch, which means they’ll last a lot longer than your child will be in them, making perfect hand-me-downs.  We’ll be reviewing some more winter gear in the coming weeks/months, so stay tuned for more good options for cold weather!

Sweet kiddos