Shooting fashion?

[JCS]

From Rhett's gram post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmDUsOFM...YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D
"dcon_training
@lemsshoes Boulder Boot is the best action shoe I’ve found. As comfortable as a house slipper. Silent when hunting. Protective uppers for yard work. Lightweight for big miles. And best of all… NOT tactical. Think wrestling shoe meets work hiker. I have little need for anything else.
@lemsshoes doesn’t give me anything to say this… but if they offered I’d never turn down another pair 🤣"

I embraced the zero drop/minimalist/barefoot lifestyle years ago and wasn't loving my options when looking for a daily wear boot for 1/2 the year. I've had these Lem's Waterproof Boulder Boot for about a month now and am very pleased with them.

Thank you for this...

As much as I dig my Salomon Speedcross shoes, I've gotta get something new...

I have those exact boots. I do love them. But they are slick and in a different category than Solomon speed cross. I went all in on the minimalist shoes, to my detriment and ended up getting a foot injury. My podiatrist turned me onto Altra which are zero drop but with more cushion. I have their trail runners and they are legit. Very grippy and the rubber is less slick than Salomon. Very wide toe box and zero drop.

I have these but they have a newer version. https://www.altrarunning.com/shop/me...ariationId=020

They are my hiking shoes and this seasons uspsa shoes.

[JAD]

I love Merrell's Vapor Trail 4 but subsequent generations have sucked. My current daily wear shoes are either Chucks (which are finally available in wide) or Xeros.

I hike in Merrell Moabs, because they're legit wide.

eta: and for other purposes, I'm trying to buy as much as I can from San Antonio Shoes. Great fit and support and made in the USA. They don't have a good lifting shoe, though.

[revchuck38]

Re: Fashion...I found this year that I have to stop running due to spinal stenosis. Shortly before that, I bought new road and trail shoes. The trail shoes are Brooks Cascadia 16s and I really like them. When I bought them I figured the screaming zonker yellow would be fine on the trail, and the one run I did with them they were. Now they're my hiking shoes...and I'm wearing them for a class the weekend after this one. I'll be the opposite of tacticool.

[Rick R]

A year or two back, after a thread here, I picked up a couple pairs of Altama Maritime Assault shoes. They’re comfy and have worn like iron. Their soles have lost some of their “Tier 1 stealthiness” however and have become somewhat hardened for some reason. To the point where one pair sounds like I’m practically wearing wooden clogs when I walk. It’s enough to get you kilt in da streets....

I have Altama MA shoes in green with black soles and coyote with coyote soles. The coyote soles seem to be getting harder with age, however the black soles are spalling little chunks off of the grip bumps as they get older. Both pair still have great traction on wet or dry surfaces.

FWIW, My wife bought a pair of Altamas, liked them but then bought a pair of Woobies and wears them much more often than her Maritime Assaults.

[masternave]

Another vote for Lems. They have a couple different sole types. I really like their Primal Zen. Very light. Breathable. I can go for a run, hike, or walk around town.

[entropy]

LEMS to me feel like my feet are in marshmallows. Zero support. I’m old tho, and my bones need all the help they can get...

[Noidslo]

I’ve got a couple of pairs of the Lems Boulder boots. Love ‘em. Good everyday shoe, walk 3 or 4 miles a day in them. Wear pretty well. Able to polish the leather (I have the leather and nylon ones) to spiff them up. The “ minimalist” form factor is good for my lower back. Looking to get a pair of all leather ones. Wear converse all stars, Xero and Bedrock sandals in the summer a lot.

[RevolverRob]

A year or two back, after a thread here, I picked up a couple pairs of Altama Maritime Assault shoes. They’re comfy and have worn like iron. Their soles have lost some of their “Tier 1 stealthiness” however and have become somewhat hardened for some reason. To the point where one pair sounds like I’m practically wearing wooden clogs when I walk. It’s enough to get you kilt in da streets....

After about 3-4 years I find the sole does harden, but doesn't lose much in the way of grip stickiness. I sort of like the clonky hardness sound as you walk on tile or concrete in them. But I'm no stealth ninja.

For boots, when my last pair of Asolos delaminated a few years ago, I went with Zamberlands (Made in Italy) as my replacements. They work well in mud and heavier snow. But as I found out yesterday shoveling the drive, not so well on wet/damp concrete. I nearly ate it about 10 times. So much so I went in the house and threw on my Maritimes and went back out and finished shoveling.

For my money the Maritimes are really the best I've found. For those who want a taller shoe - Altama recently released an 8" variant: https://originalfootwear.com/collect...time-assault-8

That all said, these shoes aren't well insulated. Even with thick wool hiking socks, somewhere around 20-25-degrees is their limit. So, I'd call them 3-season shoes, depending on your location.

[vcdgrips]

Ramble/generalizations follows:

I have been a shoe/clothes geek since high school when I worked at Macy's and then Dillard's when it acquired Macy's in our market.

Shoe quality, with very few exceptions, have been on a spiral downward since the 80s. Overseas, with some exceptions -the pattern went made in Italy/England/Germany, then from those countries to Spain/Romania(for hiking boots) then, every few years, to Mexico-Brazil-India-China.

Made in the USA often went to Mexico/Brazil or the India/China route.

Sewn on construction ( Goodyear welt or otherwise) has given way to glue on soles across the dress/casual/hiking boot continuum approaching 300USD retail.

I get that glue on soles mean footwear that is often lighter, requires less less break in etc. It is also more cheaply made and not as long lasting. The glues and "rubbers" bonded to each other have a finite life, even when well taken care of and rotated.

I had a set of REI/Raichles Made in Romania All leather hiking boots. They were great for sub freezing weather/BSA Campouts etc. right up to the time they delaminated out of nowhere. I shoe glued them and they delaminated again the next season on the repair side and the other boot was about to open up like pre sauced barbacoa street taco.


In short, if a shoe has a glued on sole, dress, hiking, casual, running or otherwise, it is a consumable. Buying two pair and alternating wears is a fine strategy, as is never wearing the same pair of shoes two days in a row unless traveling. But, any glued on shoe has an end date which often reveals itself very quickly, with little to no warning. Maybe that was not always the case but it sure is now.

[blues]

Last pair of Raichles I owned had a Norwegian welt and I chucked 'em finally in Alaska for a pair of newfangled Cordura and Leather shoes that were so much more comfortable to wear for weeks on end. I had 'em for about 11 years at that point.