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Originally Posted by Pattaya
I just ran a pair through the dirt, catus, and rocks in the NM desert for about a week acting in an OPFOR capacity. (bought them from Botach - online) Great vibram soles !! Overall, I would buy another pair.
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Mr. 'P':
I was impressed by the original posts on this boot so bought a pair a couple weeks ago through Onlineshoes.com.
I think Bates is on to something with these boots. I can't take any type of insulated boot unless the temp goes below freezing and was worried that these boots would cause too much sweat in temps over forty and rain. However I have been wearing them almost daily for the last week in temps in the mid 50s - 60s with rain and have found them to actually be decent in terms of coolness.
I took a pretty decent tree down by my house over the weekend so abused them considerably with no ill effect. I did note after nine hours of tree removal and splitting that my quads felt like I had done a very heavy squat and dead lift work out. Very unusual for me. I think there is something to a fellows post about them being hard on the legs in terms of balance. Their soles are rugged and quite soft at the same time. Seems my legs are having to move quite a bit to keep balance due to the cushoning of the heel part of these boots and I think this may have something to do with my quads being sore.
However, my feet, knees, and back are so screwed up that any boot that allows me to stay on my feet for ten or twelve hours straight without causing agony in my feet, knees, and back is pretty good IMHO. I finished a nine hour day on a range today without one iota of agony so I am pretty happy with them.
I found the size to be absolutely perfect and they support high arches quite well in fact. My feet wll swell when they get hot so I need boots that may be a bit wider than medium and with round toes. These Bates boots are well designed for my dogs.
I am also surprised at the light weight of these particular boots. They don't make a sound when wet and moving across smooth surfaces. Very innovative. No more embarrassing moments squeeking away while walking across polished floors.
Oh yes, I stepped in a pile of relatively fresh dog ---- with them today so was able to evaluate the ability of the tread to clean out easily. They seem to 'throw' mud like substances pretty efficiently and rinse off with water quite easily. Lugged soles that throw mud or mud like substances indicates good design IMHO.
I am pretty impressed with these boots. May have taken the Army 200 plus years but perhaps they found something for the dogs that actually works.
Gene