Been looking for a new pair of boots to replace a five year old pair of Meindl Army Pros. The army pro were nails, not the best finished boot ever, but extremely tough and reliable. Only in the last six months of use, after four and a half years of almost daily work wear, in and out of peat bogs, forests and farmyards did the waterproof membrane fail. My boots take a hammering in my work environment, including immersion in farm wastes and acidic peaty water. I refuse to wear rubber wellingtons on Health and safety grounds (grip, ankle support, thermal insulation). Boots have to be lace up and high, and the army pros fit the bill perfectly. Not the easiest to find in Ireland however.
In looking for replacements, things are also a little tighter than they used to be cash wise, but I am still largely a Meindl man. I looked at Meindl Army pros and Dovre Extremes in the sales earlier in the year, even at sale price I was looking at an outlay of around 300. I looked at the Dovre extremes. A fine boot, finely made, but in comparison with the Army Pros, the leather seemed thinner and softer. A nice boot for occasional wear perhaps. I do like the basic design and the brown is a lot less military looking for the kind of work I do. Back to the army pro, they are also almost 300 and the finish is just a little bit rough for the money, even if the performance and durability of these boots are awesome. I know my size and looked at on-line sales, still hard to escape the 300 mark, and I would rather support domestic businesses here in Ireland.
Haix are a long established bulk supplier of work boots and issue boots to Fire Services, military customers, Emergency services etc. Some of the fire services in Ireland are using their boots for structural and more recently for wildland firefighting work. The standard issue Irish Defence Forces boots are made by Haix. I have to say my view of them was a little clouded by the 'work wear' image. Anybody who has ever been issued a pair of 'Work Boots' by an employer will know what i am getting at. They are always plasticky, synthetic, unloveable looking things. A visit to an Irish Haix suppliers stand at a recent trade show made me think again...they were offering a wide range of boots at a very competitive rate.
The salesman looked at my battered old Meindl's and said 'it's going to be hard to talk you out of these'. I tried on the Montanas, they walk a little differently, they feel different to what i am used to, I went off to think about it. Within a short time I had decided to purchase a pair of Haix Montanas. The 200 price tag, including courier delivery, VAT etc., made the thought decision making process very fast. Here is a boot in the style of the Dovre extreme, built like the Army Pro (a little taller), with a goretex liner, not any other kind of 'tex', and made of thick durable double stitched leather, made in Germany to German standards, and for 100 less. I have a few pairs of good Meindl boots, and the quality of the Haix at least looks comparable. The sales guys told me to come back in six years to have them resoled, but they have no idea what these boots are in for. It will be interesting to see if they can live up to my Meindls in terms of comfort and service...
To finish, I spent 50 of the savings over the Meindls on a new Gerber Prodigy and blew the rest on beer...happy days. I spent the last two days smearing the new boots with multiple coats of Juchtenfett, a type of geman Dubbin wax. I hope to completely impregnate the leather before i start using the new boots in anger. If anybody can tell me how to post a photo on here i will throw up images. I aim to give these new boots a thrashing and share the outcomes here.
In looking for replacements, things are also a little tighter than they used to be cash wise, but I am still largely a Meindl man. I looked at Meindl Army pros and Dovre Extremes in the sales earlier in the year, even at sale price I was looking at an outlay of around 300. I looked at the Dovre extremes. A fine boot, finely made, but in comparison with the Army Pros, the leather seemed thinner and softer. A nice boot for occasional wear perhaps. I do like the basic design and the brown is a lot less military looking for the kind of work I do. Back to the army pro, they are also almost 300 and the finish is just a little bit rough for the money, even if the performance and durability of these boots are awesome. I know my size and looked at on-line sales, still hard to escape the 300 mark, and I would rather support domestic businesses here in Ireland.
Haix are a long established bulk supplier of work boots and issue boots to Fire Services, military customers, Emergency services etc. Some of the fire services in Ireland are using their boots for structural and more recently for wildland firefighting work. The standard issue Irish Defence Forces boots are made by Haix. I have to say my view of them was a little clouded by the 'work wear' image. Anybody who has ever been issued a pair of 'Work Boots' by an employer will know what i am getting at. They are always plasticky, synthetic, unloveable looking things. A visit to an Irish Haix suppliers stand at a recent trade show made me think again...they were offering a wide range of boots at a very competitive rate.
The salesman looked at my battered old Meindl's and said 'it's going to be hard to talk you out of these'. I tried on the Montanas, they walk a little differently, they feel different to what i am used to, I went off to think about it. Within a short time I had decided to purchase a pair of Haix Montanas. The 200 price tag, including courier delivery, VAT etc., made the thought decision making process very fast. Here is a boot in the style of the Dovre extreme, built like the Army Pro (a little taller), with a goretex liner, not any other kind of 'tex', and made of thick durable double stitched leather, made in Germany to German standards, and for 100 less. I have a few pairs of good Meindl boots, and the quality of the Haix at least looks comparable. The sales guys told me to come back in six years to have them resoled, but they have no idea what these boots are in for. It will be interesting to see if they can live up to my Meindls in terms of comfort and service...
To finish, I spent 50 of the savings over the Meindls on a new Gerber Prodigy and blew the rest on beer...happy days. I spent the last two days smearing the new boots with multiple coats of Juchtenfett, a type of geman Dubbin wax. I hope to completely impregnate the leather before i start using the new boots in anger. If anybody can tell me how to post a photo on here i will throw up images. I aim to give these new boots a thrashing and share the outcomes here.
