What a journey

These boots were part of quite a few adventures. I’ve visited castles, explored cities and medieval town centres. They have been worn on many day hikes and short stoles and they encountered basically every condition I could come up with, form sandy beaches to wet grass to muddy puddles and ankle deep snow.

I only waxed these once when I entered the dome, other than that I only brushed or wiped them down with a wet towel if they needed it. Break in was pretty average. The upper broke in rather quickly because the leather is pretty soft and supple but the thick midsole took quite a bit longer. Breathability is great it regulates the temperature quite well. The only problem area is the toe because the vamp lining leather is not that great at wicking away sweat. Flipping the lining would have definitely been better but I do have pretty sweaty feet so that’s also why. Durability is great we have lots of thorny twines growing low to the ground and they can chew up boots pretty bad. These made me feel really confident walking through them and they protected me well, nothing went through or compromised them in any way.

I definitely could have gone half size up in these but I made it work. Sadly this was the largest size available but switching to half insoles worked wonders. Due to this fit at the toes is definitely snug but ist still comfortable even though I usually don’t even like if my toes touch the sides in any way. The heel is very well shaped and fits perfectly. Instep is pretty low which is perfect for me as well as the quarters for my skinny ankles.

The design is in my mind rather unconventional because the upper is very light weight and built for flexibility while the sole is extremely beefy and tough. They skipped some of the reinforcement on the eyelets and the collar but this hasn’t compromised the durability as far as I can tell. Finishing was beautiful the welt joints we’re basically invisible and every stitch was perfect. Edge finish was one of the best I’ve seen on new boots. Clicking was good as well but I got unlucky with some grain break on one vamp. The hardware wasn’t great however, the eyelets sliced through laces like butter even after filing them down. So I just changed them and that was that.

The Vibram 2040 Fighter sole works great and it doesn’t look as rugged as it actually is. It’s the same compound as the v100 lug so it’s kinda slippery on wet smooth surfaces but everything else is great. One thing that I noticed is it doesn’t seem to tack mudd as bad as the full lug.

These boots are absolutely stunning, they are one of those things were the honeymoon phase doesn’t really stop. Even though they have their flaws I absolutely would buy them again. The value you get with them is hard to beat for 250€ with shipping. I’m also pretty blown away by how these aged it’s a lot more dramatic than I expected.