The Forty Below® Light Energy™ “TR Model” is a unique and dynamic overboot that helps extend the range of trail running, light hiking boots, bike boots, and some cross country ski boots, in a variety of cold weather wilderness conditions and uses. 

 UPDATE 9-25-24
Please note: due to continued supply chain disruptions, these are currently out of stock, projected availability is February 2025.
If you would like to be notified when they are back in stock, please use the “RESERVE NOW” button, or email us via our Contact Us page, or call us, and include your boot/shoe details (brand, model, size, and sole length measurement). This will get you on the list for immediate notification as soon as they are ready to go! We are so sorry for the delay!!

Key Features:
Designed to help insulate and keep snow out of trail running shoes and light hiking boots for lightweight snowshoeing.
Great to go over camp booties too!
Can also be used over bike shoes and cross country ski boots (with modifications).
Superlight and very compact for packing!
Low profile, and dynamic fit design.
Stretchy nylon covered neoprene foam insulation on sides of foot.
Upper gaiter has stretchy side panels to allow for wide range of clothing and temperature range.
Coated rear calf area to reduce snow buildup and melt through.
Removable closed cell foam bottom inserts to help reduce conductive heat loss and fine tune fit with different footwear.
Light and flexible Rubber Diamond patterned sole fabric.
Easy to put on in the cold.

The Forty Below® Light Energy™ overboots are designed to be a very lightweight and compact shoe and boot cover.  With the addition of this multi featured insulated boot cover, you can have a pair of lightweight base footwear be layered on top of, similar to the classic layering system of clothing, now for your feet! They are slender fitting, stretchy, and easy to put on in the cold,  There are a wide range of uses, including keeping snow out of your boots, adding insulation around the foot, enabling a set of trail running shoes or hiking boots be used for lightweight snowshoeing, and also use them as covers for use as a cover for camp booties while winter snow camping.  Additionally, they have been used to help extend the range of  bike shoes using clips and cross country ski boots with NNNBC and SNSBC bindings.  (modification by cutting a hole in the sole for access to the bindings is required to be done by the user).

The Forty Below® Light Energy TR model™ are insulated with a stretchy nylon covered closed-cell neoprene foam that is 3mm thick.  This provides insulation that doesn’t absorb moisture and is stretchy to allow for a range of different shoe shapes and clothing.  The sole uses a thin rubber dot fabric that remains flexibility in the extreme cold, such as -40 below temperatures, and provides a small amount of traction.  The upper gaiter has stretchy side panels that accommodate a range of different clothing combinations and is breathable to allow perspiration moisture to escape.  The rear calf area of the gaiter is made with a coated nylon fabric, specifically to help reduce the melting of snow seeping through from the snow buildup from snowshoes that gets kicked up.  The front closure goes all the way to the toe area, and is 1.5 inch wide hook and loop.  Elastic and cord lock top closure with a snap and grab tab.  Two different thickness of closed cell foam pads 3mm and 7mm,  for the inside bottom are included and are removable.  This ability to remove and vary the sole insulation gives a wide range of different fits with different footwear.  Easy to repair too!

We have had several very unique trips that have used the Forty Below Light Energy overboots.  A very unique trip by Andrew Skurka used two different test pairs on his remarkable 7,775 mile Sea-to-Sea walk (C2C) in 2004-05, used on over 1,000 miles with his light weight trail shoes in the Midwest States during the winter months with snowshoes. Check out his very informative website at www.andrewskurka.com for more information. 

The Light Energy™ overboot is also featured in the National Geographic published book by Andrew Skura titled: The Ultimate Hikers Guide 2nd Edition, here is the link to it at the National Geographic Store:  https://shop.nationalgeographic.com/products/the-ultimate-hikers-gear-guide-2nd-edition

The Wilderness Classroom students and teachers used test pairs on a several hundred mile dogsled/snowshoe/ cross country ski trip in Canada.  Here is a link to the Wilderness Classroom website.  Several bikers have used them on their bike shoes with pedal clips for cold temperature use in the arctic fat tire bike/ultra races in Minnesota, Alaska, and beyond. The Cascades Mountain Range, and especially Mt. Rainier which we are located next to, has been our “local use zone”.  We have a very long snow season, and have had numerous trips over the past several years with various versions, in a wide range of snow types, and conditions.  They have really helped footwear to be used in a much wider environment than without them.

PLEASE NOTE:
PLEASE DO NOT USE “CHAIN” STYLE TRACTION AIDS WITH THESE OVERBOOTS, IT WILL DAMAGE AND CUT THROUGH THE FABRIC OF THE SOLE AND UPPER MATERIALS QUICKLY, AND IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. For example, traction aid products such as Kahtoola Microspikes (which we love, and use in other applications) have a “chain style” traction design, and will cut through the fabric quickly and damage the overboots. This is difficult to repair. We suggest other styles of traction aid products that have rubber bottoms with cleats such as those from StabilGear, and the Hillsound Flexstep model. These overboots can be also be used with strap-on style crampons, and snowshoes. Be advised that some snowshoe bindings have sharp spikes that point up to grip the sole of the shoe, and these will also rip into the sole fabric of these overboots and is not covered by warranty, and we suggest that these spikes be removed or covered, if using the overboots. Please contact us for more information about this or any other use tips! Happy Trails!

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