Hi,
Some of you may know that my Wife and I are emmigrating to Canada shortly. To prepare for this I have been acquiring new items of kit which otherwise would not be available there. One of these is a pair of Lundhags boots. I am familiar with Lundhags having owned a pair during a trip to Norway many years ago. I remember them as being very comfortable and much more waterproof than conventional footwear. Lundhags use a leather liner to their boots which is then coated with rubber which the manufacturer calls Certech. The result is a boot almost impervious to any moisture.
Why did I need yet another pair of boots? (question from my Wife).
The Lundhags were intended to complete my boot collection which includes boots for use during my various outdoor activities. These include a pair of Italian hiking boots with a Norwegian welt for general use, a pair of Danner Frontier Extremes with 600g of Thinsulate and a Gore-Tex liner and a pair of Hanwag Bergell Top mountaineering boots.
So it was that I found myself at the Midland Game Fair earlier this year trying several models which were being displayed by Tamarack Outdoors (www.tamarackoutdoors.co.uk). Having tried the various models I decided that the Syncro was the most comfortable and, crucially offered the right level of stiffness in the sole. A few days later I ordered a pair of Syncro's in mustard with a stainless finish to the bellows tongue. It seems that this was an unusual colour to order and had to be obtained from the factory in Sweden but after a wait of several weeks the boots arrived together with a tin of their proprietory leather conditioner.
I must offer a word of praise for Tony Cameron at Tamarack because right throughout the ordering process he kept me well informed as to the progress of my order. I have bought from Tamarack in the past and would not hesitate to recommend them.
My first impressions of the boots were how light they are. They appear much lighter than my Hanwags and lighter even than my Danners even though they are of similar dimensions. After treating them with conditioner I let them dry and then filled my bath at home with (warm) water. Wearing the boots without socks I stood in the bath for twenty minutes without any water reaching my feet. The next test for the boots was on a fairly gentle 2 hour walk in woods near my home. The boots are leather lined and have more volume than I am used to so I dug out a pair of extra thick socks and wore these together with the felt footbeds supplied with the boots. The idea of this extra volume is so that the user can adjust the temperature level in the boot by adding or taking off layers of socks, much as one would do with underwear and mid-layer clothing. Lundhags boots come with no built-in insulation or waterproof linings but they remained warm and dry right throughout the walk. I deliberately trawled through every water filled rut and puddle I could find but at no time did they leak. The soles are the excellent Vibram traction which provide superb grip without clogging. On my return I thought carefully about my experiences with the boot and realised that in addition, the boots required almost no wearing-in. It was almost as if I had been wearing them for years, something I very much intend to do.
At £260 these boots are not cheap but if, like me you spend as much of your spare time as you can, or if you are one of the lucky people to make their living in the outdoors I don't think these boots can be beaten.
http://shop.lundhags.se/1038-16-64.html
Tack
Some of you may know that my Wife and I are emmigrating to Canada shortly. To prepare for this I have been acquiring new items of kit which otherwise would not be available there. One of these is a pair of Lundhags boots. I am familiar with Lundhags having owned a pair during a trip to Norway many years ago. I remember them as being very comfortable and much more waterproof than conventional footwear. Lundhags use a leather liner to their boots which is then coated with rubber which the manufacturer calls Certech. The result is a boot almost impervious to any moisture.
Why did I need yet another pair of boots? (question from my Wife).
The Lundhags were intended to complete my boot collection which includes boots for use during my various outdoor activities. These include a pair of Italian hiking boots with a Norwegian welt for general use, a pair of Danner Frontier Extremes with 600g of Thinsulate and a Gore-Tex liner and a pair of Hanwag Bergell Top mountaineering boots.
So it was that I found myself at the Midland Game Fair earlier this year trying several models which were being displayed by Tamarack Outdoors (www.tamarackoutdoors.co.uk). Having tried the various models I decided that the Syncro was the most comfortable and, crucially offered the right level of stiffness in the sole. A few days later I ordered a pair of Syncro's in mustard with a stainless finish to the bellows tongue. It seems that this was an unusual colour to order and had to be obtained from the factory in Sweden but after a wait of several weeks the boots arrived together with a tin of their proprietory leather conditioner.
I must offer a word of praise for Tony Cameron at Tamarack because right throughout the ordering process he kept me well informed as to the progress of my order. I have bought from Tamarack in the past and would not hesitate to recommend them.
My first impressions of the boots were how light they are. They appear much lighter than my Hanwags and lighter even than my Danners even though they are of similar dimensions. After treating them with conditioner I let them dry and then filled my bath at home with (warm) water. Wearing the boots without socks I stood in the bath for twenty minutes without any water reaching my feet. The next test for the boots was on a fairly gentle 2 hour walk in woods near my home. The boots are leather lined and have more volume than I am used to so I dug out a pair of extra thick socks and wore these together with the felt footbeds supplied with the boots. The idea of this extra volume is so that the user can adjust the temperature level in the boot by adding or taking off layers of socks, much as one would do with underwear and mid-layer clothing. Lundhags boots come with no built-in insulation or waterproof linings but they remained warm and dry right throughout the walk. I deliberately trawled through every water filled rut and puddle I could find but at no time did they leak. The soles are the excellent Vibram traction which provide superb grip without clogging. On my return I thought carefully about my experiences with the boot and realised that in addition, the boots required almost no wearing-in. It was almost as if I had been wearing them for years, something I very much intend to do.
At £260 these boots are not cheap but if, like me you spend as much of your spare time as you can, or if you are one of the lucky people to make their living in the outdoors I don't think these boots can be beaten.
http://shop.lundhags.se/1038-16-64.html
Tack
apologies for confusion.
