Arcteryx Acrux AR Mountaineering Boots Long Term Review

I've had two full winters in these and can't say enough about them for mountaineering and ice climbing in the Lower 48. So comfortable!

Detailed review here: https://northeastalpinestart.com/2018/10/22/gear-review-arcteryx-acrux-ar-mountaineering-boots/

Great review BTW however , I am curious as to how they compared in sizing to other boots, or your "street" shoe size  ?   

Harold Sutton wrote: Great review BTW however , I am curious as to how they compared in sizing to other boots, or your "street" shoe size  ?   

I found them to be narrow and difficult to get my foot through the gaiter.

@harold sutton I wear a 12.5 in brooks and hoka and wear a 12.5 in the Acrux or a 46 in the G5. I also have room to put in superfeet. I'm not really sure how people can't manage the gaiter, maybe i got lucky but you toss the inner on, roll the gaiter down, pull the tongue out for space and it slides in. Reasonable boots for mountaineering but nothing special. i like the g5 more for ice however. 

Harold Sutton wrote: Great review BTW however , I am curious as to how they compared in sizing to other boots, or your "street" shoe size  ?   

I'm a medium US Size 9 street shoe and the 42 fits me perfectly. Ditto other comments about the gaiter, just put the liner on first, roll the gaiter down, and slip on in. Easy peezy. I love these boots, but I am hoping to try the G5 soon!

Arc's sizing can be a little frustrating.

https://arcteryx.com/sizing-chart.aspx?country=us&language=en&article=sizing-chart-fit-guide-popup-footwear 

In Acrux I wore 12.5 US which they translate as 47 and 1/3 Euro.

In LS Batura I wore 13 US which they translated at 47.

Most of my street shoes are 13.

Richard wears the same size Acrux but one size smaller LS. Dave is a 9, wears a 42 which Arc says is 8.5 US. As you can see it's a crapshoot :-) If you're buying online best to order 3 sizes to compare.

I personally found the boots too narrow and the lateral footbox short (vertically) so my little toes couldn't wiggle enough. YMMV. You can see the lateral side of the boot is pretty angular when viewed from the front. Maybe your feet will love it though.

​https://i0.wp.com/www.thealpinestart.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Arcteryx_Acrux_AR_Boot_Review-8.jpg?ssl=1​​​

good point, my foot measures 28.5cm long and 10.5cm wide at its widest. Hope that helps.

Thanks so much for all replies folks.  I really love the climbing community.   Its one of the few you can post a question, and get thoughtful detailed answers.  Either way it looks like i am just going to need to find a store that has my size range in stock, and then try a bunch on. When i called around on Friday the only store that had enough on hand was OGE up in Vermont.  

Right now i am a toss up between the Acrux AR, the LaSportiva G5 and the SCAPA Phantom Tech.  From what i have been reading the Phantom is actually colder than the rest.  And the one thing i really do not like about the G5 is that they are not waterproof.. I have a friend that dunked his foot while on a approach, and got the inside of the boot totally wet.  They seem like an awesome boot but i would get nervous doing anything more than Front country cragging in them.  And that's a steep price for a boot that i don't feel comfortable taking in to the back country.  

I've had the Acrux and the Phantom Tech, I don't think the Scarpas are colder on my feet but again fit is important.

My Acrux 12.5s are on consignment at OGE if that happens to be your size. 

G5...meh. No boas for me. I didn't bother to try them on. 

If you're not going to be standing on your front points for long periods or spending tons of time on ice i'd stay away from the G5. The scarpa and the Acrux have fewer failure points and are waterproofed. Theboa  anchor near the toe came apart on my first G5s, but they warrantied. They are stiffer and the Boa is great when it works. Take that for what it is

The acrux has a much narrower fit than either the g5 or phantom. Keep that in mind with your decision.

jdejace wrote: I've had the Acrux and the Phantom Tech, I don't think the Scarpas are colder on my feet but again fit is important.

My Acrux 12.5s are on consignment at OGE if that happens to be your size. 

G5...meh. No boas for me. I didn't bother to try them on. 

how is the warmth on the Acrux? 

Richard Ross wrote:Theboa  anchor near the toe came apart on my first G5s, but they warrantied. 

Yeah, another poster had issues too. 

https://www.mountainproject.com/forum/topic/113580426/batura-20-vs-g5-sizing#ForumMessage-113625203

Few others with the G2 as well, though those were actual Boa failures, not the tab (which you can't really blame Boa for, but at the end if the day it's just a finicky system). 

bearded sam wrote:

how is the warmth on the Acrux? 

For me suboptimal due to the fit - too narrow overall and not enough wiggle room in the toe box. I could only use a very thin sock which didn't help, thicker socks aggravated the issue. I don't think another size would have helped, the length of the boot was fine. They're just not for everyone.

If they fit you well I imagine they'd offer comparable warmth to the G5 or Phantom Tech, but certainly not the warmth of the Phantom 6000 or G2. 

Their main advantages are that they're doubles and they walk surprisingly well, not quite as stiff as the LS or Scarpa. No free lunch though, squeezing a double boot into a supergaiter sized shell it seems like it being narrow was inevitable.

FYI per my ski boot fitter I have a very average volume foot. I've never needed wide shoes.

Agreed on all above.The outer shell does seem to soften a bit, affording moderate accomodation to varying foot sizes but shes narrow. I wear a darn tough" hiker boot sock cushion" https://darntough.com/collections/mens-hike-trek/products/boot-sock-cushion?variant=30180783687 and I'm warm. I haven't been able to test above 5k or in really cold temps.

Agreed, no fault of boa's, it was the stitching on the achor tab.

I will echo the sizing point for future readers: I really wanted to buy the Acrux, and I tried on a pair.  They were simply too narrow for my foot.  If you are a traditional Scarpa fit rather than Sportiva fit, you probably can't wear these boots.  It was absurd how narrow they were (for my foot).  It was a bummer because I think they are a great idea.  I won't be surprised if Arc'teryx  has created a new market niche with these boots, but I'll have to wait for other manufacturers to make something similar.  FWIW, I ended up getting the Phantom Techs, and I couldn't be happier.  

I had the exact same experience and ended up with phantom techs too. The dead bird boots seem awesome...if they fit

I have a medium width foot that is low volume and I fit the Acrux perfectly.   I think it is the boot for the cascades if it fits you.

Has anyone whose owned these had issues with the toe cap coming apart? Seem to have read a lot of reviews about that. 

Chris Topher wrote:

Has anyone whose owned these had issues with the toe cap coming apart? Seem to have read a lot of reviews about that. 

My buddy who uses them has had this very issue. They started doing it within a year but he will still rock them until they start letting water in. 

Gabe B. wrote:

My buddy who uses them has had this very issue. They started doing it within a year but he will still rock them until they start letting water in. 

Same here... I’ve noticed after about 40+ days the toe on either the right or the left (but never both) will have some delamination but it seems only cosmetic... I’ve never had any water get through... I’m on my second pair since my original review and I’ve accepted the cosmetic failure of the extra toe rand because of how damn light and comfortable these are on my feet. YMMV