The Boothill: Danner Mountain 600 Enduroweave

MILE 0

Last summer I bought a pair of these babies after a friend of mine extolled the virtues of a non-waterproof footwear for hiking in the warmer months.

I ended up doing quite a bit of off trail travel in the Cascades with the last pair, and really beat the hell out of them. They did well enough though, that I figured on an actual maintained trail, they’d hold up even better.

At $160USD, they’re not the cheapest boot, but also not gonna leave you in the poor house, and hell they’re made in America so, Yay USA!

I probably put less than 50 town miles on the boots before I hit the trail, so by the time I laced them up down on the Mexican Border I was still digging that new shoe smell…

Not too worse for wear!

MILE 112

So far so good! Some minor wear and tear, but no real damage to the boots or the soles, but at the toe, the rubber is starting to ever-so-slightly separate from the boot.

Not many people wearing boots out here in the desert, people seem to be wearing trail runners with low gaiters mostly.

A few people have asked me if wearing boots in the desert heat isn’t like rocking a pair of Easy Bake Ovens on my feet, but really the feets haven’t got excessively sweaty at all, and I’m loving the ankle support.

Houston, we have a problem.

MILE 266

The boots are getting rather chewed up now. What started as light abrasion just behind the left foot big toe is now a total breach of the outer layer.

I really dig these boots, but a reoccurring thought of mine is that they really need some extra armor over the toe box and other key points to protect against abrasion.

They’re obviously due for a replacement in the next couple hundred miles, which is a bit disappointing, having had higher hopes for this pair.

MILE 363

I decided to swap the Danners out in Wrightwood after buying a pair of Altra Lone Peak 4’s.

By this point the boots had developed a long tear along the bottom of the left boot, where the fabric meets the sole.

Although a thin inner layer remained, I felt that it was best not to change a critical boot failure out in the middle of nowhere.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

THE VERDICT

Overall I liked these boots, but will not likely buy them again.

My last pair did alright over a summer of weekend trips in the cascades, but the day to day punishment of the PCT was just too much.

While there is much to like about the Enduroweave boots, ultimately I feel that for the price, there’s much better options, at least out here on the PCT.

R.I.P.

The Boothill: Skechers Rugged Industrial Hikers… again!

What’s a hiker to do when the going gets rugged and industrial?

Strap on a pair of Skechers…

RUGGED INDUSTRIAL HIKERS!

25 OCT 2018 – 04 APR 2019

Like I said in the obituary for the last pair, I happened to be near a Fred Meyer one day and decided to pop in and replace my previous pair of Rugged Industrial Hikers which were sufficiently dilapidated.

Out of the box these things are comfortable for a work boot with a safety toe. A nice plus!

… and at a price point of around $70 USD things can only get better! right?

27 NOV 2018

It was pouring today, so thought I’d mention that these things do not grip in the rain. I’m sliding all over the pavement.

No shit; on a steep enough grade I’d just be along for the ride if one of these 2 yard dumpsters decided to take off down a steep Seattle hill!

Just skidding on my boots pulled along by several hundred pounds of booze bottles and Amazon boxes.

Sometimes you just gotta go down with the dumpster.

04 DEC 2018

It’s been getting frosty in the mornings. My hands have been getting rather cold just using the company supplied blue atlas gloves, but thus far the RIH’s are keeping my feet warm and dry. We have yet to get hit with frozen precipitation.

11 DEC 2018

Officially taking on water today. Not much though, didn’t really notice until I took my boots off, but seems to be coming in right around where shoe and sole meet.

14 FEB 2019

Valentine’s day, and I’m SO not in love with these boots!

They have so many leaks at this point my feet get soaked in a light rain.

Why haven’t I replaced them by now?

Well, because I’m a cheapskate! … and my time as a garbage man is coming to an end in early April, so I’m gonna let the RIHs run for a little while longer.

Here in the Great Northwest, we’ve been getting hammered with record setting snow. It’s made collecting the garbage next to impossible, and is likely to see me lose my soggy feet to TRENCH FOOT because these rugged industrial hikers have held up like frail geriatric shufflers!

12 MAR 2019

One time I found a booklet on hospice care in the garbage. Inside there was a section that talked about how when people begin to pass away, they might begin to see people and places long past, and interact with a world not visible to anyone else in the room.

I thought “That’s fascinating; perhaps it’s like the soul separating from the physical body. Like briefly inhabiting two worlds simultaneously.”

Guess that must be where my right boot is at, because it’s sole began separating last week.

Really hoping that Gorilla Tape can tether the soul of my boot sole to the physical realm just a little longer!

Hold strong brave boot, soon your struggles will forever pass…

04 APR 2019

The day is finally here, the contract is over and I’m no longer a garbage man.

On the way to my car, I unceremoniously chucked my seriously compromised pair of Rugged Industrial Hikers in the trash compactor.

Honestly I’m feeling pretty cold about that, kinda wish I’d done something special for them like maybe filled ’em with flowers and set ’em ablaze, but its too late for that now, so I wrote a poem instead:

“They weren’t the best boots, but weren’t the worst. They weren’t the last, and weren’t the first. Many boots I have owned, some held up, but these got pwned.”

○●○●○●○●○●○RIP●RIH●○●○●○●○●○●

The Boothill: Skechers ‘Rugged Industrial Hikers’

July 2018 – 25 OCT 2018, RIP

I’m currently employed as a garbageman. It’s a tough job, and it’s a boot destroyer.

This pair of Rugged Industrial Hikers fit well right out of the box, and stayed waterproof… up until the sole started wearing away about two months after purchase.

Between the rain, discarded syringes, and alley water, a fella just can’t be having a breached boot out here!

I happened to be near a Freddy Kroger when I’d finally had enough of my failed boots. So what did I do?

Marched right in there and bought another pair. Probably the best safety toe work boot on Freddy’s boot shelf…

…but what’s that really saying?

○●○●○●○●○●RIP●○RIH○●○●○●○●○●○●