Gettin' the Boot(s)

It's not what you think.

A little while back, I discovered a cool blog called ApocalypseEquipped.

I think I found an idol in this guy. He sounds like a bit of a laid-back survialist-ish person, much like a few of my friends (and, I suppose, me). What drew me to his blog was his review of some really neat gear.

I loves me the gear stuff as demonstrated by the numerous posts of my own mentioning things that caught my ever-acquisitive eye.

Okay, got the intro out of the way.

Earlier in the week, I read a review on ApocalypseEquipped of the Bates Delta 8 Boots.

I was fascinated, mainly because he reviewed side-zip waterproof boots.

I've wanted good side-zip boots ever since my trips to Japan. When I travel I try to wear sturdy footwear. My Japan trips were in winter, so I went with a pair of very comfortable Ecco short boots. As footwear goes, they were (and are) unmatched in terms of comfort.

Alas, they also require lacing action to take off or put on. And in Japan, you're taking off and putting on your shoes a lot. Most folks there have simple, slip-on shoes. Logical, given the situation.

My choice of footwear caused more than a few delays (and some entertaining jokes) for my trips, making me wonder if there was a compromise out there.

I tried a few side-zip "police-style" boots. I got some Converse police boots, but the soles were crap and wore out quickly. Others I tried simply weren't comfortable.

I recently tried Blundstones (and have raved about them earlier). My first pair is mostly-comfortable, but sized a bit oddly so it gives me a blister on one toe if I wear it a long time (yes, this is TMI. Deal with it.) I tried larger sizes but the Blundstones just seem oddly-constructed and give me trouble over the course of the day.

That brings me back to the Bates Delta 8 boots. I liked the review on ApocalypseEquipped and did a little more research.

There's some love out there for the Bates boots. There's a fair amount of love. I looked on Zappos, Amazon, and other places. Some whining, but overall folks seemed to like these. Plus the boots have an interesting construction that allows the wearer to adjust the firmness of the heel padding. Read the linked review above for details. He covers it better than I ever could.

So I found a pair in the correct size on Amazon, which turned out to be the least-expensive offering Google could find for me.

The Amazon seller was ridiculously-fast. I mean it was unbelievable. I somehow got upgraded to overnight shipping, but not charged for it. And they shipped it within a couple of hours of my order.

The boots arrived yesterday. I spent the day wearing them about the office to break them in.

They don't seem to require much breaking-in. They're ridiculously-comfortable. They seem very well-constructed as well. They claim to be waterproof. Given the dry winter California's seeing, I don't expect to test that too soon, but such is life.

And they fit perfectly on my apparently-mutant feet.

I have happy mutant feet now. And happy feet are good for the sole.

Yes, I went there.

You're welcome.