Update: Still loving these!

So I wear these basically doing everything in my life, except work, during the Thunder-dome. This includes getting groceries, going for walks or short hikes and recently renovating and moving to a new place. I’ve taken these trough basically every situation I could think of Really wet grass, deep snow, thorny bushes, sand and mud. And they kept my feet dry and safe.

I waxed these once in the first month of wearing them, other than that I just brushed them regularly and wiped them down with a wet cloth if they needed it. The patina develops beautifully, the scratches are very visible of course but the leather develops a really nice dull shine in the high wear spots almost burnished looking. The leather gets nice contrasts with the sagging, and scratches between light grey almost white and darker spots being a rich graphite colour. The breathability is quite good especially in the unlined parts of the upper. The leather held up great though all the abuse I took it through, it’s really a lot tougher than it looks at first glance. Of course there are still a few scratches and some thorns imbedded in it but that’s part of the game.

First of the comfort is great in these, I experimented with different insoles because I wasn’t really satisfied with the original ones but I dialled it in now. I went with a half insole to get a little bit more toe room as I like a little wiggle room and that really made the difference. The leather insole has really moulded to my feet. The heel is really well shaped and looks your feet in really nice. It’s a really dramatic difference to my Iron Rangers because the heel feels really flat now. But I’m sure once I rotate my boots more again I’ll get used to it again (I hope).

The design of these boots is really one of its greatest strengths, it works in almost every situation. The lug sole, thick midsole and moderate heel make this boot really capable off road. But due to the recessed lugs and the not to broad toe, they are also really versatile for casual wear. You won’t look like a lost hiker or forester in the city but they are just as capable in the brushwood. The stitching, leather and midsole all held up well absolutely no issues. The hardware though, that was a problem. It looked like eyelets that were made to be two piece ones but they forgot the back half. Almost all of them had a split that really cut into the laces. But not like eyelets that are supposed to split those are bad enough, even filing didn’t help. I swapped them out which luckily was really easy and cheap but still a bit disappointing considering how great the rest is. One thing I would change though is the lining in the toe. I really wish they would have made the lining rough out. The leather is good quality but it’s also pretty water resistant. That would be a pro but it also means that it doesn’t absorb moisture too well when you are sweating.

I would definitely recommend these boots to everyone. They are incredible value and great quality. They are currently only available in Europe though and I wish they would expand their sizes a bit at least to 48EU.