Sorel Joan of Arctic vs Carnival: And The Winner Is?

With so many great Sorel boots to choose from, it’s hard to make the right choice.

The Joan of Arctic is a stylish boot that sits very high on your leg, protecting you from the snow and cold.

The Carnival, on the other hand, looks quite similar but is significantly lower.

There are a few other big differences which I will explain below.

Style

Apart from some minor differences, these boots look quite the same, at least in the lower section. Same rubber protection around the bottom, lace loops with leather attachments along the front, and general look to it.

The big difference comes in the length, with the Joan being 12 inches from the arch and the Carnival on 7.5.

The Joan of Arctic also typically has a significantly overflowing fluffy faux fur cuff, while the Carnival has a more restrained and neat Sherpa Pile cuff. There are a couple of models of the Joan with this style of cuff too, but it is not on most of them.

Colors

The Carnival has quite a few color choices, and many of them are quite bright: Purple, Sky Blue, Aviation (Blue), Peatmoss (Green), Candy Apple (Red) as well as White, Pewter (Gray,) and Black.

The Joan of Arctic also has some great color choices but perhaps not quite as bold as those of the Carnival.

Material

This is another of the big main differences between the boots. The Joan of Arctic has a suede upper with a faux fur cuff. The Carnival uses waterproof nylon for the upper and Sherpa Pile for the cuff (which is more like a wool texture).

Weight

Weight is a bit of an issue with some of the Sorel boots like the Caribou, as it is quite heavy. But these two are quite similar and perhaps the difference in weight (0.5lb) is really only due to the diffe