 I'm preparing myself for a bit of winter walking next year. I'm looking at winter skills courses and upgrading bits of my kit in readines. Most of my intended climbing will be in the lakes and Snowdonia. Today though, I took the plunge and bought a pair of Scarpa Mantas. They were in the sale and a bit of a bargain. I'm currently wearing them round the house to make sure they fit ok. But - have I gone OTT for the type of stuff I'm going to be doing in them? I'm only doing the course in case I need crampons etc - its not like I'm going full Alpine. just wondering if I should have gone for some SL's or another B1 rated boot instead. Any thoughts - I still might end up taking them back if they dont feel right!
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 when you say next year, do you mean this year?
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 Get some G12's and you will feel like you can take on the world..... but one step at a time  .
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Thats just pernickety Yep, this year.
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 G12s and mantas will see you OK for all your winter walking (and you mentioned climbing?) and more than ample for graded gullies, ridges etc. I know some on here espouse light weight boots but every winter I am grateful for my Sportivas and SLs with G12s. Basically I doubt you will 'grow out of them' and they will be more than enough for all your UK winter needs unless you get into serious climbing.
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Like BEN says,nowt like having the right tools for the job,makes the experience that little bit more enjoyable imo...
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 Unless you want to tackle 'serious' winter routes, Mantas and G12's will do everything you need. Just make sure you get the right "binding", as I'm not sure if Mantas can take a "clip on' rear.
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didn't mean to be pernickety - just checking no thats not overboard- they're lovely boots you can kick great big steps and platforms with. what the didster said
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"didn't mean to be pernickety - just checking no thats not overboard- they're lovely boots you can kick great big steps and platforms with. what the didster said" Yep, I know (hence the winky thing). Its the whole new year thing - it confuses me! I'm just a bit bothered that (whilst these are obviously great boots) I'll be a bit over-gunned for Fairfield in December or the Glyders in Jan. As far as climbing I should have been more descriptive - I mean a bit of scrambling and possibly winter ridges aka Striding Edge (which I believe is classed as Grd 1 mountaineering under snow..eeek).
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For the likes of what you are describing, no not OTT, more like what is the sort of boots you need!! I had a pair of Mantas 'on loan' when they first came out and used them all year, summer and winter, they where pre-production boots. Had an 'issue' with the soles, (not grippy enough), but new ones where/are the dog's danglies.
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I've been using SLs more and more over the last few years for Scottish hillwalking, Munros etc, as the conditions rarely warranted the heavier winter boots I have. But I bought a pair of the new Mantas last year as these now come in a wider fitting and I anticipated more serious conditions. I also bought some Grivel Airtech crampons, preferred to the G12 as they are a little wider for my wide boots. The combination is great, and the Mantas are, amazingly, 3 ozs lighter per boot than the old style SLs. Very comfortable for walking, too.
I also got the springier bars for the crampons, which enable their use with SLs, but use the standard ones on the Mantas.
So, Craig, my advice would be, hang on to the Mantas if you anticipate doing much winter stuff, but if not, the SLs will be fine.
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 Hi Craig, I was in the Glydders this weekend and saw lots of B2 boots so you won't look out of place. I am a winter newbie myself and went for SLs as more comfortable to walk in and only intend to do walking rather than climbing. My gripe with them is that they have no proper rand and already look very scuffed. For the small price differential I would probably go for the Mantas if I chose again.
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 I cant speak for the Manta's but I have the next boot below and the next one above and they are great 
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Thanks for all the opinions guys. After walking around the house in the Mantas for the past 2 evenings I'm slowly getting a feel for them and the difference to my normal 3 season boots. I suppose in a way I'd rather bee overgunned than not prepared enough so am thinking I might just keep these, but please - any one with any other opinion let me know.
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 Without reading anything other than your title and basing my answer purely on my experience of this forum...yes. This was a post about Meth Stoves right? There aren't post about anything else are there?
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Without reading anything other than your title and basing my answer purely on my experience of this forum...yes. This was a post about Meth Stoves right? There aren't post about anything else are there?
Perhaps reading the post next time will save you time replying then
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