I mentioned in one of my product reviews an old and beloved pair of Vasque goretex hikers. They were well broken in when given to me and they were loyal companions on a lot of miles after I got them. I wore them for everything I could, they were so comfortable and hard-wearing. I didn’t even know they were waterproof when they were given to me. After I found that out, they did a lot of nasty duty.
Then they were gone. Replacing them was going to be expensive and disheartening. I tried some Hi-Teks like I had had years earlier. I tried a couple of different kind of running shoes. I eventually bought a pair of Vasque trail-runners, thinking they’d be both running shoes and hikers, and that’d be pretty good. They were okay shoes. They lasted a bit. But they weren’t those hikers.
Then, the guy who gave me the hikers wandered by and dropped off a pair of New Balance mid semi-hiker quasi-walker somethingorothers. (He scours the thrift stores occasionally, looking for the last boxes that come in from estate sales. Smart guy) So, as with the beloved old Vasques, I fumigated them and aired out the New Balance Country Walker shoes, and did my best to like them very much.
They were okay, but they weren’t those hikers.
So. What else is there to do?
Suck it up and buy some more decent boots.
So a year ago, I bit the bullet and put the money in and bought a spanking new pair of Vasques as close to the old manky ones I’d cherished. Hang the cost. I went to the outdoor store, I found ’em. I bought ’em. Gore-Tex. Vasque. Hikers.
Now I can report that they’ve broken in a little. At first, getting them on was tough. Now, I can feel that they’re going to turn into those manky old friends I’ve been missing for so long. They feel right.
The Downside is the footbed. I think these will need some of those Dr. Scholl’s liners or gel thingies. I don’t remember my old broken-downers needing that, but these? Maybe it’s my feet getting old and weird. They wouldn’t be the only part of me getting old and weird. Maybe it’s the changes they make in these boots every year. I notice that the latest Vasque Breeze boots don’t look like the ones I bought a year ago. I hope the changes are only cosmetic. I can’t imagine the guts can get much better than those old monsters I wore til they fell apart.
My advice? Get a pair of Vasque Breeze boots. The over-the-top ones with the Gore-Tex and all. I predict they’ll get old and weird along with your feet and make you happy.
