Mad Rock Alpinist - Tongue Falls Down

I recently picked up a pair of Mad Rock Alpinist Boots. So far I have done a fair amount of hiking and climbing in them.

Over-all, I am very happy with my purchase. They are fairly light, they climb MUCH better than my Koflachs and they keep my feet warm.

My only concern is with the tongue. I have low volume feet, even when I'm wearing two pairs of socks. When I hike in these boots for any significant period of time, the tongue slips down and bunches around my toes. This is uncomfortable and in really cold temps could be a hazard to my circulation.

The shoes have an external neoprene "booty" on the outside of the boot, so the tongue is just a free standing piece of material. The laces aren't able to hold it up. I'm not sure if any other mountaineering boots share this design / flaw but I'm looking for creative solutions.

Suggestions / Ideas for holding the tongue up are greatly appreciated.

Andy Choens wrote:I recently picked up a pair of Mad Rock Alpinist Boots. So far I have done a fair amount of hiking and climbing in them. Over-all, I am very happy with my purchase. They are fairly light, they climb MUCH better than my Koflachs and they keep my feet warm. My only concern is with the tongue. I have low volume feet, even when I'm wearing two pairs of socks. When I hike in these boots for any significant period of time, the tongue slips down and bunches around my toes. This is uncomfortable and in really cold temps could be a hazard to my circulation. The shoes have an external neoprene "booty" on the outside of the boot, so the tongue is just a free standing piece of material. The laces aren't able to hold it up. I'm not sure if any other mountaineering boots share this design / flaw but I'm looking for creative solutions. Suggestions / Ideas for holding the tongue up are greatly appreciated.

Try a tongue depressor. Not the kind you get at the doctors that follow with a lolly pop :-) Get the kind that take up volume in a boot.
Most cobblers or gear stores carry something like this. It sounds like you may have too much volume in the boot. This depressor will go in between the tongue and your socks and take up some more room. This should help your laces get a tighter squeeze on it. If that does not work then maybe it is a design flaw. If it is a non gore tex boot you could just sew the tongue in as if it were gusseted.
I would not sew a goretex boot since you would obviously puncture the memebrane. Hope this helps.

A pair of velcro dots should work, too. Once you've found the best location, glue them on with SeamGrip.

Or you could sew the tongue in place (to the neoprene, you might want to use a fabric backer) with a speedy-stich and/or floss, then seam seal or silcone caulk over the stiches. Unless you're walking around in streams impacting the waterproofness of gore-tex shouldn't be an issue.

Then again, I'm always looking for a reason to break out the speedy-sticher.

I have a pair, and without taking them apart or anything, the tongue seems to me to be about the same as any other boot, but like I say, I haven't paid attention to it. I've been on Baker and a few winter forays on Colorado 14'ers and not had any problems. I agree they are about as warm and certainly hike better than my old Koflachs.

I have a pair of the Sole Viestur insoles to take up volume.

I did have an issue with the lower ankle hooks coming off - took them to a shoe shop to get a better rivet.

Malcolm Daly wrote:A pair of velcro dots should work, too. Once you've found the best location, glue them on with SeamGrip.

I am now in the market for some velcro. I agree that I could sew them in place AND retain the waterproofness of the fabric with effort, but then I would be unable to ever move the tongue again, independently of the neoprene.

The velcro should help hold it in place and let me move the tongue about if I want to.

Thanks for the great ideas everyone!

BTW, I did send this same question to Mad Rock. I am curious to see if they respond and what they might have to say. If I get a reply, I'll post it in this thread.

I sent Mad Rock an email requesting their input on this problem on the same day I posted it here on the forums. I started this conversation on January 31st, 2007. It's now the middle of February and I have received a total of 0 replies from the company.

Overall, I like the boots, I really do. But, I would rather do business with a company that is willing to discuss problems and concerns with their customers / community.

Climbing is a potentially dangerous sport. I want to know that the companies I buy products from stand behind their work and want to support me in using their products safely (warm toes r good!).

I will submit a copy of this post to Mad Rock directly. If I'm going to bust on them for not communicating with me, I should make sure that I am making reasonable efforts to communicate with them.