1) when rotating two-three pairs of shoes the shoes usually last me 1-2 years. I am not sure what it is, but I erode the soles like soft butter.
2) When walking longer distances ( more than 5 km) even the most comfortable shoes will rub my feet and cause blisters, etc... I have sensitive baby feet I guess
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I always wore a fitness bracelet when wearing the boots so I could track the mileage as well. I also wear the fitness band when running, but almost never inside the house.
The mileage after one year says 1420 km. Out of these I would say 120 km were spent running, thus with running shoes.
This leaves 1300 km. I did have 4-5 exceptions when I went out in sneakers, when I was very sick in winter and again when I had the ankle pain that I describe further down. So just to be sure, I will take out 100 km from this number too.
This means the Wested boots have been used for 1200 km in the last year. Now the heels and the soles are heavily worn. Two weeks before the full year a small fissure also appeared in the sole.
Here is a look at the boots after yesterday's use:
After a short cleaning with Pecard's, here is a comparison shot to a fully new pair:
What have these boots seen? I have not pampered them: I walked over all kinds of terrain from the softest grass to the most jagged rocks. I used them for yard work and garden work. They have been absolutely caked in mud, in dirt, in sawdust, in chicken poo.
I would say I am now going to list positives and negatives for the boots. But I have no real negatives, so I will just list my observations:
1) In regards to resistance/resilience:
- even though heavily worn after my year of use, the soles are very hard-wearing; you must remember I used them almost exclusively; compared to any other shoe/boot I have had they soles are very impressive
- the leather is of very high quality; even after the year of abuse it has some creased, but no cracks or fissures
2) In regards to protection:
- Here I can mostly refer to water ingress; the soles and leather are water tight; these have been soaked by pouring rain and it never reached my socks;
- two times water entered the boots and it was by user fault: once I stepped into a 5 inch puddle and some water seeped through the shoelace area; the second time was when I tried to wash the boots with a water hose while still wearing them. Again the water entered the shoe through the shoe lace area
3) In regards to comfort:
- When you get the boots the uppers are hard; it will take some weeks until they soften up, but after that they just get softer and softer with use
- I have had an issue six months in where the leather was bending in on my ankle and caused some pain; I had to have a few days break from the boots; It happened again yesterday; Since it only happens to my right foot I am chucking this up to my foot issues, rather than the boot itself
- the inner sole is quite comfortable, but it is tough and quite hard; it is NOT like walking on baby ducks. When walking more (10 km-15km) you will feel it.
- this being said I think yesterday was the most I have ever worn the boots; I wore them for 13 hours and walked 20 km with them; my feet were sore, but I think the long distance had something to do with it; any pair of shoes that you can stand on your feet for 20 km is a good pair
- I have also used the boots for hiking a few times and they are comfortable enough for hiking; only issue would be if there is mud they are slippery
As a summary: I would absolutely recommend getting a pair. They are made for use, they are made for walking. The quality is exceptional.
I hope this helps!
Cheers,
Bear
