Buggered Boot
This pic is of one of a pair of Gri Sport vibram sole light leather boots just before it was consigned to the rubbish bag. As mentioned on one of the "Gear" threads these boots only lasted sixty one days of use in the field. (they should have been discarded earlier & were held together by duct tape for a few days)
Note the toe is completely gone & a lot of the stitching is gone. The leather joining the moulded sole is split meaning the upper is in danger of detaching. The sole has worn completely smooth on part of the heel and under the ball of the foot it is the same. The inside lining/padding is stuffed having worn thru in lots of places.
The boots were used mainly for off track work in the bush, boulder hopping in water courses & tops travel. Sixtyone days is not a long life for boots marketed as specialist hunting/tramping boots! Are Gri Sport boots worse than other similar style light leather vibram sole boot brands? Do all of this style of boot lack durability?
Comments
-
glennj For the record the Shoen boots lasted 127 days of field work before the splits in the uppers became so bad they had to be discarded. Was a bit of a shame as there was still some life left in the commando soles. [Still got more than double the life expectancy than of the vibram sole light leather boots such as the Gri Sport or Kathmandu boots!]
I'm now running a pair of "Tramper" boots bought on line from BootsNZ (Frames). I've used their boots before & had good durability out of them. The Tramper style has changed little since the 1970's but the leather is perhaps thinner these days? I'm keeping a diary record of when they are used so it will be interesting to see if they outlast the Shoen's. So far I'm very happy with the grippy soles. Like all full leather commando sole boots they take a bit more breaking in than the lighter padded boots.
They've done twenty long days so far and have only just become really comfortable.
9 September 2011
-
glennj I tend to get approx double the life out of commando sole style boots! It is the leather that goes in the uppers of these boots rather than the soles. My current Shoen boots have done around 100 days in the field and the commando soles are only half worn but the uppers are 90%+ stuffed.
Last month while doing contract work in the bush involving lots of walking I reverted to spiked sole forestry gumboots.
They are great but are too hot in the warmer weather!
My mate JH recently had a pair of Kathmandu light leather vibram sole boots that were stuffed after three trips. He wanted his money back but they replaced them under the guarantee. JH joked I could have free boots for life if I switched to Kathmandu because they replace them if they fail within a year of your purchase.
8 June 2011