thoughts from gav & jof

Well, boots actually. I just couldn’t resist the Twin Peak reference from Leo Johnson when he’s reduced to a vegetable dribbling on about new shoes.

Last weekend after looking at many boot sites we finally went through Newcastle and got ourselves a new pair of boots ready for this years activities. We had looked at several brands including Scarpa, Berghaus, Magnum, Caterpillar, Merrell and many more. We’d liked the look of the fullsize Magnum Boots, in particular the Elite Series and the Stealth Series, but the problem was finding a stockist in our area. We’d ventured into a good number of outdoor specialists in the past and could not find any. Already owning a pair of excellent Merrell Chameleon II Kahuma Sandals, I knew they were good quality but wanted something different.

The Scarpa Boots looked very expensive, very good, but perhaps a bit overkill for what we’d be using them for. Again, Cat Boots were expensive and the styling did not immediately grab my attention. Berghaus had a good range, but again they were expensive, looked suiting for someone doing mountaineering and were ridiculous colours. I mean wearing a pair of these Quake 3 moon boots would look the norm for Sarge, but I don’t think I could put them on my feet.

Hiking Boots Guides

Being a novice on all things hiking, I had to read up and get some quality advice on what to look for in my footwear. This little guide titled “How to choose the right outdoor footwear” contains some nice common sense tips and advice on choosing a suitable boot for my needs. Cotswold’s Outdoor Advice section also contained a wealth of information together with some nice videos with tips on hiking boots, etc. Cotswold also had a fairly nice store attached on the site, but it was built completely in flash and pissed me off when trying to use my browsers navigation to go back and forth through pages I’d previously visited. I know flash is a trendy new technology and looks very slick but I wish more people would simply work towards the WCAG guidlines instead of simply offering an advanced website (flash) and a… what did they call it? accessible site.

The new boots

After a long trek around Newcastle we stumbled across Adventure at Freemans around the Big Market area. This stocked loads of camping, military and workwear items and was very large inside. Definately worth a look if you’re after any outdoor gear. The reason we liked this store so much was because they had a massive range of Magnum Boots.

After much deliberation, and bearing in mind that we could not both get the same pair of boots (without not already looking like the Thompson Twins) in the end I opted for the Elite II 8.0 WP Leather/Nylon while jof got the complete leather Elite II 8.0 WP Leather Insulated.

Features as listed:

• Water Resistant Leather Upper
• Waterproof/Breathable Sympatex® Membrane Constuction
• Thermo-Dri Insulation
• Aerospacer Mesh Collar Lining
• Flex Cuff Comfort Collar
• Heavy Duty Hardware
• Composite Shank
• 3D2 Max Contoured Sockliner with Memory Foam
• Slip-Resistant Vibram® Outsole
• EN ISO 20347 Certified

Sympatex is an equilivant to Goretex material, only cheaper, and helps with the waterproofing. Coupled up with a pair of waterproof socks from SealSkinz would ensure your feet would stay dry when trekking in wet conditions; at least that’s the theory. I’ll have to grab a pair and put them to the test and then report back. The composite shank should offer good support for extended hikes and when on uneven surfaces, and one of it’s advantages was “airport friendly” lol.

Enough talk show me some photos

Magnum Elite II 8.0 WP Leather/Nylon

Magnum Elite II 8.0 WP Leather/Nylon (Detail)

Magnum Elite II 8.0 WP Leather/Nylon (Tread)