Monday 5 October 2009

Alpinus hiking boots suck

Back at the beginning of the trip, I blogged about Alpinus boots I had bought for the trip, how I was hoping they would last the entire trip and keep my feet dry and safe and comfy.

Sadly, the reality was very different. To be fair, they were very comfortable, right up until this afternoon when I threw them out. But within two weeks of buying them, the rubber soles had started to come apart from the leather, on both boots. In spite of this, I made them last 3 months; I had them glued in Spain, again in Mexico, and again in Colombia.

By the time Ewelina and I were in the Galapagos Islands, the rifts were at least 5 cm long on each shoe, the leather was bulging into space and my feet were getting wet on the beach - and stinking of sea lion feces as a result.

Not nice.

Internet, take note: Alpinus hiking boots suck!

Today I finally replaced the broken Alpinus pieces of crap with a pair of Merrell boots, bought in the touristic part of Quito. This purchasing choice was based on rave reviews from my friend Al, whose main hobby is to wear hiking boots to industrial concerts and have his toes stepped on by very large Germans.

Hopefully the Merrells will last longer than their predecessors did. I'll keep you posted.

6 comments:

  1. The Mendl hiking boots that you bought in 1993, and used for just 2 weeks are here.

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  2. Good to know. :-P

    I wonder if they still fit? :-)

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  3. Tragically I have now replaced my Merrell's with a pair of black steel toed bovver boots for wearing to concerts, but I continue to wear my Merrell's most of the rest of the time. The current pair were bought during our trip to California in January '08, and are still going strong.

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  4. My Merrells only lasted 9 months of light use. Nevertheless, since REI has a generous return policy and they were so comfortable, I just exchanged them. I figure if I get 18 months total, they will be worth the money.

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  5. Perhaps it was the particular model you had. The ones I bought have held up quite well hiking off trail extensively in the mountains of southern Norway, where granite and water are abundant...

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  6. I have a pair of Alpinus hiking shoes which I purchased 10 years ago in Cracow.
    I wear them every year for on average 3 months hiking and backpacking all over Europe and North America and only had to replace the footbed insert every year.
    I would say you got a defective pair.

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The past!