A good while back, I had to replace my work boots, which were waterproof originally, because they began to leak like a sieve and were just about worn out. I made the decision, the questionable decision, to go back with another pair that was waterproof. Mainly, I did this because I sometimes get caught in the rain at work. Loading or unloading gear and tools from the work truck, or just going into a job site from the truck while it is pissing down rain is a fairly common thing here in southern Mississippi. We get storms. Bottom line is, I hate getting my feet soaked in the rain. They never seem to dry back out, and I get especially ornery when my feet, socks, and boots/shoes are soaked. Ask my wife. I'm fair certain she's had a belly full of my bitching about getting my feet wet in the rain, poor thing. At any rate, I did go with another pair that was rated especially waterproof, and was pretty happy with them overall, other than the fact that they did not breathe at all due to the waterproofing. I was a bit worried about this in the beginning, but again, for some damn reason made the call to go with them. I went back to my old trusty brand, found the exact ones I thought I wanted, and the rest is history, more or less.
About a year in, and the sweaty foot, non-breathing, hot boot thing is getting on my nerves. Big time. Especially in this infernal heat that our ridiculous summers manage to conjure up. On top of all that, whether it is my horrible foot sweat (which I am fairly sure is actually some kind of foul, noxious death-liquid used for an unspeakable purpose in hell's torture routines), or the insides of the boot, or the gel inserts I put in the boots, something is making a horrible smell come from the boots when I take them off in the evening, and it has been getting worse and worse. It has gotten to the point now, that it almost smells like a cat pissed on a freshly baked tire, still steaming and reeking of pitch and industrial rubber. No, it's worse than you think. Really. Yeah, that smell you just imagined does't come close either. Trust me. Foul. Super foul. I finally wound up spending an entire weekend repeatedly soaking boots, inserts, the whole shebang in Febreeze until I had nearly used the whole bottle up, just trying to air out that horrible stench. Finally, sometime late Sunday, the smell started to subside a bit. I still decided, much as I hated it, to not wear the boots for a time, and switched to my sneakers. Great shoes, but not what I want to wear to work, unless I have to. The boots still smell a bit, by the by.
Well, while all this nonsense was going on, my camping itch was working on me something fierce. I was planning, plotting, and daydreaming. I was mentally going over my gear loadout, locations, whatever I could think of. Then I started physically going through my gear, cleaning and checking it. Months in advance, which is nigh pointless. Eventually, my mind wondered back to a topic that had been a thorn in my side for a bit. Camping boots. Stop laughing. Yes, I actually think I need a pair of boots just for camping/outdoorsy stuff. Why? Because Wolverine work boots don't exactly work the best for tromping around the back country. They will work, but they are not built for that. They are built for working a job site, for protecting your toes from falling objects, for keeping your feet and legs from hurting if you are on your feet all day. There is a reason they make "hiking boots" much as I hate to admit it. I had toyed with the idea of getting something like those to take camping, but had some reservations. I knew I wanted something very lightweight, breathable, and built for rugged terrain. They also had to be super comfortable. I started doing a little digging. Around this same time, one of my coworkers shows up in a new pair of boots. He's always worn sneakers to work, but decided to jump on the bandwagon with the rest of us and "try out some work boots." These were not work boots. I was curious about them, though, as they had popped up on my camping boot radar before. I asked him to keep me up to speed on how they did, and how he liked them, and then promptly forgot about all this for weeks.
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| 5.11 ATAC 8inch. |
These are technically classified as either hot weather or desert boots, and are obviously modeled after, or intended for, soldiers in a hot environment. I've had combat boots before, and liked them just fine. The hot weather aspect really got my attention, but on a subconscious level, which I will get to in a minute. These are very light weight, about as heavy as a pair of running shoes. They are also very comfy, although the stock foot bed inserts are too thin and flimsy for me. The heel area was the main weak spot, very thin and not supportive enough, but the ball of the foot area was almost as bad. I have replaced them with some Dr. Scholls work boot gel inserts. My heels are not hurting after wearing these all day now. The boots have a list of "features" as long as my arm, and while I'm not sure if there is anything to any of it or not, I can say that they breathe very well, don't tend to get as hot as my work boots by a mile, and the moisture wicking bits work like magic. My feet stay pretty dry and comfortable so far. I also really like the side zipper. The idea is that once you get the boots laced the way you like, just unzip them to get out, and zip them back up to get in, so you never have to re-lace them. So far so good with that, and I can see where that will be very convenient for me when camping. Putting boots back on in the middle of the night, without contact lenses in can be a huge pain in the ass. The tread pattern is aggressive enough for the type of terrain I'll be in, but is also very grippy in urban environments too. It's said that these boots require no break-in; just start wearing them like sneakers. So far, I'd agree with that.
I actually started wearing these, the day after they came in, to work. Partially to see if they did need a break-in, partially to to just try them out, and subconsciously, to try them as work boots. That was the little mental trick my brain had been playing on me the whole time. It was not just looking to these boots for camping, hunting, hiking, walking around in the woods, etc. My primitive brain had been conspiring to replace my work boots with these things, if possible. While I don't like the idea of wearing them out even faster by doing this, and really don't like the idea of potentially replacing an expensive pair of purpose-built Wolverines I just bought about a year ago, I do see the merits of the argument. It is my brain after all, and I guess I'm expected to agree with it most of the time. I think that's normal anyway.So I have been using them every day at work, wearing them out on the weekends, pretty much putting them on whenever I need something other than my "house shoes" just lounging around. I haven't had the chance to really give them a good outdoor test, other than being outside a construction site in gravel and dirt, but they should be awesome. They haven't started to stink yet, somehow. They have been comfortable as hell. They are light, and I have begun to forget I have them on. This is good, as my stupid cerebellum tends to focus a lot on something new on my body for the first month or two. New shirts, pants, shoes, socks, doesn't matter, my damn gray matter keeps checking in on whatever it is, making sure it is cutting the mustard. I think that might be some kind of condition. Wonder if it is part of OCD?
-Owen
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| Side zip is super handy. |
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