Slippery soles, leaked terrible, and eventually came apart inside while hunting and tore my feet up. I still have tender spots two years later. Worst boots ever..
Danner sells a lot of models. Many are made offshore. Some are no more than expensive shoes. I cannot imagine that your bad experience was with the (locally manufactured) Super Rainforest models that John specified, or the regular Rainforest that I own.?ÿ For example, the soles are Vibram, the gold standard for good traction in a boot. My only complaint is that, at the $400 price, I'm afraid to wear them. They are super comfortable on the feet, if a bit heavy.
My daily boots are Danner "Steel Yard", which are very comfortable. But not locally manufactured.?ÿ The soles are not as knobby as Vibrams are but haven't been a problem in general use. The interior of the boot is showing some wear after 2 years, but I'm not disappointed with the service life.?ÿ ?ÿ
NOTE! These Steel Yards are on sale at half price at this moment!?ÿ
You haven??t experienced good boots until you get a pair of handmade custom fit to your feet:
In my youth I wore White's 10" Smokejumpers, had 'em rebuilt twice.?ÿ Then my feet changed, and the White's were out of my budget, so I switched to a comparable model from Drew's Boots.?ÿ The loggers just got to be too heavy, so I bought a pair of White's Hikers.?ÿ Murder to break in, but now I can lace 'em up @ 6 AM, and wear them 14 hrs straight without discomfort.?ÿ Fortunately I have off-the-shelf feet, so no need for custom building.
https://shop.whitesboots.com/all-boots/hiker/
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I haven't worked in the field for decades, but I still take care of my feet. For me, Crispi boots are my choice, although Kenetrek are a close second. Not really muck boots, but I have no desire or reason to need those.
I really like my Oboz.?ÿ Tried a lot of boots, but these are my favorite so far.?ÿ Hard enough soles to protect your feet on rocky ground, but soft enough for everyday wear.
I go with the lightest boot possible, with the lowest rise from the ball to heel.?ÿ I'm not aware of any good zero rise options for boots that are meant to be work boots.?ÿ I have average shaped feet, so have had great luck with lightweight mil-spec boots.?ÿ?ÿ
One thing I've noticed in NC is the blind faith in cotton socks.?ÿ Spend some money on some high quality wool socks and you'll never go back.?ÿ I buy Darn Tough, their midweight hikers are great for all day work in the heat or cold.
I put insoles in the same class as chiropractors and clairvoyants.?ÿ Like most of medicine in the USA, they treat the symptom not the cause.?ÿ There are muscles attached to the bones making up our arches.?ÿ In stabilizing or supporting these muscles, insoles increase atrophy.?ÿ The human foot evolved over hundreds of thousands of years.?ÿ In it's natural form it does not have a raised heel (but they make my butt look so good) or something undermining the arch by holding it up.?ÿ In fact, if one were to look at a skeletal diagram of the foot and imagine any arch ever built by man, why would one think that the human foot is an exception to every other arch and needs to be held up from below?
It's easier to take a pill for high cholesterol than it is crawl, walk, jog, then run off the weight.?ÿ It's easier to have your podiatrist custom fit an insole than it is to strength train barefoot.?ÿ Right now there's a barefoot man in China running with a rickshaw over uneven cobbles (okay, maybe he's actually under forced quarantine) that has healthier feet than a majority of Americans.?ÿ While this extreme is not an ideal, it illustrates the ridiculousness of the argument that we must have insoles or high heels because we walk on hard surfaces.?ÿ Strengthen your foot and your arch will rise without "support".?ÿ
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I think I've been lazy in my walking style. To get that strengthening you are talking about, you need to push off vigorously with your toes so those muscles get a workout.
But I don't see any harm in insoles that keep the bottom of your feet from feeling bruised.
@murphy I think you are spot on there. I??ve become something of a footwear collector, which really accelerated after a bad bout with plantar fasciitis. Everyone is different but I??ve found most stiff soled boots with a heel lift to not work in my favor. The Scarpas are ideal for steep and rocky ankle twisting country but 80% of time in summer I??ve found a trail running shoe made by Altra to work best for long days on my feet. The key thing with them is an extra large toe box that allows my feet to splay out on pushing off, which is as close to the natural barefoot condition. Rigid boots and my feet just don??t play well together unless it??s really steep rocky country and I need the ankle support.?ÿ
I like these for rough country. https://meindlusa.com/
The pair I have is closest to the Vakuum Hunter, but I bought them when they were sold by Cabelas.
