FEB 94 BOOTS THAT FIT LIKE GLOVES Plus soles that let you walk on ice, and a fold-up canoe L.L. BEAN CRESTA HIKERS It's not very smart to take boots right out of the box and stride off into the serious backcountry. But that's exactly what I did when my L.L. Bean Gore-Tex and leather Cresta hikers arrived five days before I left for a lengthy trip in Alaska. I already had boots, so I examined the new footwear with a suspicious eye. The unobtrusive brown-fabric and leather Crestas boast full-grain leather reinforcements, plus a padded nylon scree collar, and a half-length steel shank, all of which augured well for balancing a heavy pack on tippy tussock grass. The stitching looked good, and the Skywalk soles seemed like they'd do well on both topsoil and talus. Besides that, they seemed to fit, so I took them along, realizing the uncomfortable consequences if I happened to be wrong about how they felt. Fortunately, luck often suffers fools, and the Crestas turned out to be the most comfortable heavy trail boots I've ever worn. For two months the no-longer-new boots forded mud holes and squished across wetland tundra while I stalked caribou (with a camera). The boots let me edge up rotten talus cliffs to hawk nests, and I pounded along cobble bars left by the ebbing river. The Crestas sailed through it all without popping a stitch or so much as raising a blister on my normally wimpy feet. For swamps and river wading, I was forced to wear knee-high rubber, and when North Slope temperatures surged toward record 80F summer heat, the leather and Gore-Tex construction got a bit hot. No surprises there, though. Nevertheless, Bean's beefy Crestas scored high on performance, fit, and durability. If you're not hiking swamps, snowdrifts, or sun-baked alkali flats, your feet will probably smile. Crestas can only be purchased by mail order (unless you're within driving distance of Bean's Maine headquarters). Take advantage of Bean's justly renowned service department and get the fit right, even if you have to mail a couple of pairs back and forth. For me, the boots fit true to normal shoe size. ---Steve Howe Gore-Tex and leather Cresta hikers, $132. They weigh 3 lbs. per pair of men's 9 medium. Available sizes: Men's 9-12 narrow, 7-12 medium, and 8-11 wide (EE). Women's sizes: 6-10 narrow and 5-10 medium. An all-leather model is available for an additional $8 and weighs 10 ounces more (men's sizes only). Contact: L.L. Bean, Casco St., Freeport, ME 04033; (800) 341-4341. ANTISKID STABILICERS SOLES Ice-climbing gear---crampons, ice axes, screw anchors, and the like---has dramatically improved during the past two decades, lending unprecedented security to the brave few who risk their polypro-covered necks climbing glaciers, frozen waterfalls, and mountains. But in the cold down-to-earth world of winter, far more people risk life and limb hiking frozen trails and traversing icy streets and sidewalks. On any given December day, pedestrians in peril outnumber all the alpinists who've ever touched a crampon. Yet these huddled masses yearning to walk freely have lacked truly effective skid protection---until now. Stabilicers are like river sandals crossbred with studded snow tires. The steel-cleated soles strap onto regular footwear; I've tried my Stabilicers on street shoes, hiking boots, Sorel pacs, and telemark ski boots. The hook-and-loop web attachment straps are easy to don or doff, and they hold the studded soles to boots surprisingly well. The textured top surface of the soles keeps the Stabilicers stable under your boots. Stabilicers grip tenaciously on snow or ice, yet don't impede traction on rocky trails or dry pavement. Their Vibram soles bristle with deep chevron-shaped lugs and soccer-style cleats armed with 20 screw-head studs. On ice, you feel unstoppable, at least until the angle verges on technical terrain (Stabilicers are definitely not crampons, after all). On hard-packed snow, you can chug uphill like a Snowcat. The soles come in five sizes and can be adapted to most footwear. Fit them the same length or slightly shorter than your boot soles, otherwise the protruding toe flap will collect snow and/or trip you face first onto the icy stuff. Hikers will find Stabilicers a boon on icebound trails, as will skiers attempting to cross those skating rinks that masquerade as parking lots. When your newfound ice-stomping enthusiasm wears down the Stabilicers cleats, just stop at the hardware store for a handful of fresh sheet-metal screws to replace the worn studs. What I've found most intriguing is that Stabilicers lend themselves ideally to a novel form of winter athletics: river walking. I live near Rocky Mountain National Park, where winter turns the creeks and rivers into smooth, well-paved, but slippery byways that lead me to places almost unreachable on foot any other time of year. What a delight to soak up creek-canyon silence in the dead of winter, treading securely as the cleats crunch into the crystalline pathway underfoot. ---Steve Komito Stabilicers, about $40. They're available at sporting-goods stores or from 32 North Corp., 10 Oak Bluff Dr., Kennebunk, ME 04043; (207) 846-7822. ALLY PAK CANOE My first resupply point would be 43 days downriver, and from there, the Arctic Ocean lay another 100 miles distant. A little Cessna 185 was the biggest plane that could land where I wanted to start---the upper Colville River in northwest Alaska. All of this meant I couldn't take a hard-shell canoe, so I borrowed a well-traveled, well-used 15-foot folding Ally Pak Canoe. Upon first setup, the Norwegian-made Ally Pak didn't seem worthy of the job that lay ahead. The aluminum frame (keel, two gunwales, three pairs of longitudinal struts, and seven precurved ribs) is made of 16mm tubing covered by a snug skin of PVC-coated nylon. A sheet of closed-cell foam between the frame and hull pads the structure against knocks and scrapes. The recommended assembly process requires a methodical approach and a rubber mallet to gently pound the ribs into alignment. The resulting boat looked shaky, but it was my only ticket to 23 million acres of America's most remote country. Peregrines and wolverines called to me. I began to rationalize, admiring the Pak canoe's minimalist Eskimoish elegance, and so I practiced the assembly until I could do it in a half hour. Stripped down, the Ally Pak weighs less than 35 pounds and fits easily into a large duffel. After a hairy ski-plane landing at No Luck Lake, I launched the Pak down Storm Creek, an upper tributary of the Colville, on the tail end of spring breakup. For the first 20 miles, the Ally saw a lot of unexpected whitewater: Class III rapids carving through ice jams, 3-foot diagonal waves, ice chunks larger than the canoe competing for best line. Rocks scraped the hull and the keel flexed alarmingly over the larger waves, but the boat rode over it all. Initial and secondary stability was good enough that I could stand up to scout the river, an invaluable advantage. For six weeks, I lived out of the Ally, traversing the immense tundras of northern Alaska. After my wife flew into the small bush outpost of Umiat, we spent two more weeks paddling the Ally tandem, eventually dragging the overloaded little boat across the sandbars of the Colville delta and into the Beaufort Sea. I put the Ally Pak together once, and it worked for 400 miles. The bottom required a few drops of glue on one abrasion spot, but otherwise the foam layer between skin and frame effectively padded the hull. Maneuverability was surprisingly good; I just rolled it on edge and it carved to the opposite side. On the downside, the Ally's flexible keel demands careful packing. The hull speed is slow, particularly in still waters. It tracks OK against winds when heavily loaded. With less ballast, winds would have pushed it around like a glass on a Ouija board. And if I'd wrapped it around a rock . . . well, I had a big repair kit. Windy lakes aren't the Ally's forte, but it's a decent whitewater canoe and truly at home on nontechnical rivers that carry good current. For extended whitewater use, it's recommended that you fit custom saddle seats and replace the hook-and-loop attachments on the optional spray cover with snaps. Consider the standard seats disposable; a cargo box or river bag work better. Ally Pak's current Norwegian-made models come with stronger framework (2018 aluminum with a T6 temper), a laminated foam pad, and a thicker skin of 18-ounce PVC-coated nylon. For hard use or shallow rivers, the "DR" (Down River) models have 24-ounce bottom fabric for increased resistance against abrasion. Hard-hull purists may scoff at the flexy little Ally, but after trusting my life to one, I'm a believer. ---Steve Howe The Ally Pak Canoe, $1,390 to $1,770. It comes in five sizes, from 13-1/2 feet to 18 feet. Contact: Pakboats, P.O. Box 700, Enfield, NH 03748; (603) 632-7654. GEAR CORNER -- Scuba divers aren't the only outdoor- folks who sometimes get into trouble. That's why Safe Signal, a day/night signal mirror designed for divers, is a handy device for hikers, climbers, canoeists, and hunters as well. With a plain mirror on one side and a red reflector on the other, Safe Signal comes in a buoyant case, is lightweight, and easily fits in your hand. Price: $11.95. Contact: (602) 743-7322. Reader service #121. -- The latest in eco-sportswear is right in front of your eyes. ProPlanet Sunwear has developed an ecologically responsible technique for reprocessing the zyl (cellulose acetate) normally discarded as nonbiodegradable waste in the manufacturing of sunglasses. ProPlanet's zyl frames sport "snap-back" temple hinges, and the lenses provide 100 percent UV protection and have multiple antiglare coatings. Price: $85 to $100. Contact: (602) 451-5522.