So it’s been about eight months. Carey and I are starting to settle into our day to day routine and Radar loves doing her hourly perimeter checks. After this time we are truly starting to get a good feel for how all the items we spent our hard earned dollars on would fare once they got continued heavy use to include making it through most of the winter. Now it’s time to let the world know, did we make wise purchases on the gear that we would come to depend on or have we whiffed completely. Maybe a little of both. Let’s find out, are these items “Worth the Cash or To the Trash”!!
Our first contestant on “Worth the Cash or To the Trash” is my pair of Danner Boots. I chose to go with the Danner East Ridge 8 inch boot for a few different reasons.
First and foremost, Danner boots are made in the USA. We are absolutely one of “those” households that will not only pay a bit more but also go out of their way to buy USA made goods as much as possible. As a side note, Danner’s pricing is in line with other quality boot manufacturers.
My other main reason for choosing these boots is that they have Vibram Soles. I won’t say much about Vibram soles as I don’t want to make this too long but click this link http://www.muckboots.com/blog/so-whats-so-awesome-about-vibram-soles/ and you will get the answer to the question “What’s so special about Vibram Soles?’.
OK, so now onto my experience with these boots. Other than my Slippers, more on those a different time, the Danners are my only footwear. These are my hiking boots, my driving boots, my grocery getting boots, my snow shoveling boots etc….I do everything in these boots and have done so for 8 months now.
Summer and Winter are two entirely different experiences when it comes to ground conditions at Sahalee. During the Summer it goes from dry hard packed terrain with little cacti strewn about like confetti at a New England Patriots Ticker Tape Parade. On these days I would return back to the yurt, start taking my boots off and stick myself with cactus. Prickly Pear all over the boots, but none of it made it through the leather lower portion or the padded ankle portion. A boot that can walk right through Prickly Pear is a great thing to have. The other true benefit that I found during the Summer Season was the ability for my feet to stay cool inside the Danners. I think we can all agree that a day of sweaty feet in work boots is not very pleasant. So we know the Danners are great in Summer–good sturdy boots, keep your feet cool, great Vibram soles produce great traction and they are just comfortable to walk in but what about Winter?
While Winter doesn’t produce the prickly pear cactus like Summer does, it does present some unique challenges that need to be considered when buying a pair of boots. The first challenge, and my only complaint, is just the snow and cold. While they are insulated and waterproof, it’s just not the same as putting a good pair of moon boots or Sorrells on when it’s down in the single digits. Multiple layers of socks are always nice, but then the boot just doesn’t fit right. Another real life challenge for these boots was the acquisition of 5 cords of firewood prior to and during Winter. While I never got the opportunity to see how they would handle a chainsaw, they did handle the work very well. These boots do not have a steel toe, and that is all right by me. They have a very tough leather toe that has had many meetings with multiple saw rounds and many a split log, other than a sore toe once they withstood the beating.
In our game of “Worth the Cash or To the Trash” Carey and I can both safely say that the Danner East Ridge boot is “WORTH THE CASH”!!!!!!
Here’s a great resource to help determine which shoes/boots are going to work best for you.