The evolution of boot choices for me has been long and convoluted. 30+ years ago, when I was always dead broke, i wore a pair of nubuck hiking boots from Kmart to hunt in. They were 1/2 size too small and uninsulated but i found them on sale for $12, so I doubled my socks and wore them in the woods. I lived in an apartment and didn’t really have much need for workboots. 10 years later, after a stint in the Army, I wore my old Army boots for yard work, etc. Near indestructible but hard on your feet. When those wore out, I walked into redwing store and left in a Pair of electricians boots. The were great and after breakin I found them quite comfortable. For hunting I had bout a pair of Rocky 1000 insulated hunting boots. They were a little clumsy but way more comfortable / warmer than anything I had ever found before. In winter 2012 I was on a hunting trii and realized I forgot to pack my boots. Waked into a gander mountain and got a pair of Danner Pronghorns with 400 gram insulation. Amazing difference in comfort. The next year I picked up a pair of insulated muck boots for swamp hunting.
As it stands right now, I have 3 pair of Danner boots. That first pair of 400 gram pronghorns, a pair of 6 inch uninsulated pronghorns that I wear with shorts in the summer(working on farm) and a pair of air force spec Danner boots.
When my son graduated from Air Force Basic training a year ago, we were having dinner and I asked if he wore the standard issue boots. He said al the guys in his unit had bought the Danner or Nike boots and some had tossed their issue boots in the trash. My son had fished them out of the trash and cleaned them up and put them in the donation bin. He did that a few times and before long the other airmen in his unit were doing the same. The blatant wast had bothered him but he was still wearing issued boots because he didnt feel that he could afford the others. In the next day or so, I took him to the exchange and put him in a pair of Danners. I remembered how unforgiving my issued boots had been years before. He kept his issued boots in case he had to pull some kind of messy detail.
This thread reminds me that he might be due for another pAir of good boots and he has a birthday coming up.
As for comfort level, I can work on the farm or on building my house, all day in the Danners and at the end of the day the rest of my body aches but not my feet.
Yes Steppenwolfe . . . made in Portland, OR at least some of the PNW get a few things right . . . :laughing: