After hiking in the ADK High Peaks for 10 years and 22 peaks (Marcy and Algonquin twice), my Hi-Tec leather boots are showing many signs of being old. There are many scratches on the toe, several wrinkles throughout, and the sole isn't as firm as before. They are still great shoes but only to be used on camping trips and other little adventures on the woods. I really liked the idea of being all leather and waterproof. I did waterproof them a couple times over the years just to make sure. Although they weren't really water resistant during a hiking trip when we walked in pouring rain for 4-5 hours. But they were great once again after they were nicely dried.
So this year sounded like a good year to invest in a new pair of boots. After a couples of hours online, I was able to find something that I thought would work well for me and my adventures. With a few brand names in mind, I went to EMS and Dicks Sporting Goods to try out some boots. I was surprised that the boots that received good reviews, like Vasque and Keen, actually didn't fit well on my foot. I wanted to make sure that the new boot would work well for backpacking trips, had good arch support and it had to be mostly leather. Cost and tread were also important factors. At Eastern Mountain Sports I tried on a pair of Oboz Bridger Mid BDry. Out of all the pairs that I tried they felt really good. A unique thing that these boots had was an insert very similar to the SuperFeet inserts. Other features that I liked was: r
ubber randing (glued-on outer layer) on toes and heels, high-friction, nonmarking rubber outsoles, and toothy side lugs and 1/6th" (4mm) directional lugs underfoot.
After acquiring these new Oboz boots I have been breaking them in, in preparation for some hiking coming up in the near future.
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