I walked a lot this year. I did at least two 5-10km walks a week through the winter. Through the rain, sleet, slush, and very deep snow…
The leather was stiff and thick, especially on the right shaft. The left shaft was better. These boots took a long time to break-in. The stitches on the middle inside of the right boot’s backstay burst in the first month, and other stitches threatened to do the same almost tearing the leather in doing so. I didn’t condition these much in the first 3-4 months, until they started soaking-through when having to walk through the deep snow daily. I started out by using VSC, before applying dubbin twice (with heat) to waterproof. Lastly, I used horse oil once about a week before the end of the contest. Cheers.
Very snug, supportive, and comfortable fit to this last. Compared to the CN-S last, these fit my D-E width foot, with a high instep, much better.
The mixed panels was pretty cool. The leather on each shaft was drastically different, but the vamps matched. Then, the heel counters contrasted the vamps. It was a cool combo and looks great. I need some stitching repairs already, but generally the construction was good. I was pretty hard on these trying to force them on and off my foot, so three of the four pull straps are also currently ripped/torn. Will get that stuff repaired during a resole. No worries.
Started out with great traction on the snow and ice on the half sole, but as it wore down it because more and more slippery. The heel was basically suicide if I ever stepped heel to toe… I only actually slipped and fell twice, but once pretty badly. Haha.
Well, I didn’t really abuse these, or work on a job site in them, but I also didn’t wear anything else for the entire 6 months. I walked roughly 600 km in them through countless snowstorms in -35 C weather… You wouldn’t know it from the boots. I’m really looking forward to wearing these during the summer for years to come.