by
Geohawk85,
from KS, United States
Written on September 30, 2017
I’ve been back-packing and climbing (and more recently stumbling about) for nearly 50 years. It all started with blue-jeans, flannel shirts (I know, cotton kills) single-wall pup tent (aka wet and damp tent) and heavy, Norwegian-welt tank-like boots. I owned a pair of Vasque Hiker II boots resolving them 9 times and trying a 10th, for over 30 years. I technical climbed mountains in the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountains and wore then daily for 8 weeks when at Geology Field Camp. They were repaired several times loosing a D-ring eyelet along the way and actually patching in new(er) leather to cover the lacerations made from sharp igneous and metamorphic rocks. The point is I was and still am to this day “old school”. So, when it came time to purchase new boots I naturally looked at what had given me such great service in the past; they are out there, but I’m not so sure that they are “better” than what I thought was nothing more than glorified high-top tennis shoes. I am wrong about the design, construction techniques and quality of the current crop of hiking/backpacking footwear. While I am certain I won’t get 30 years and 9 soles from the boots being sold now-a-days, there are many sound reasons for choosing them including: less cost, more comfort out of the box, and lighter on the feet which means less fatigue. So, after this rather long-winded introduction my initial impressions for the Vasque Talus Trek Ultra Dry boot are all very favorable. They do run small, especially ...
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