Well just as a starting point with these boots, they were some of the most comfortable I’ve ever put on out of the box. They are a combination of materials, including good ol’ Gore-Tex, and are available in several colours, although the majority of stockists sell them only in yellow or red. They feature things such as ‘TPU Thermo Tech Application’ and ‘Vibram Mulaz outsole with a technical edging platform’ which I have no idea what mean but, all add up to make a really comfortable and all-round practical boot.As with the above mentioned technical features, they do have something I could at least figure out which is the ‘3D Flex’ insert. This goes all the way around the bottom of the boot and effectively ‘cups’ your whole foot in a slightly stiffer material for support. When I first put my foot in I noticed a stiffer heel support and eventually realised it extended around the base of my whole foot. My first thought was I would always ‘feel’ it while walking, which if you were me would be the worst feeling ever. I am the type who feels a tiny thread come loose in the boot and obsesses over it until I either remove my foot or remove half of the stitching and ultimately compromising the overall integrity of my footwear. With these it was a reassuring feel on the few occasions that I did notice it, but generally I couldn’t tell it was there.
There is a small patch near the toes of tread that is designed around climbing. Its called the ‘climbing zone’ and it has no flex in it which gives you an excellent surface to get your toes into crevices, while climbing, that is as solid as the rock you will be stood on. I don’t do anything extreme these days, like free climbing, but for my general scaling of smaller cliffs I would be more than happy wearing these.
There is one thing that I find the most useful out of all of its features for my ventures. These are Gore-Tex and waterproof. I didn’t intentionally test this feature out however, while getting some photos for some waterproof backpacks on a river, I did slip and go in more than ankle deep. I have a pair of full leather Magnums (advertised as waterproof) that go much higher up my leg and they have soaked my feet in less so I was expecting there to be a very wet foot at the end of my leg, but it was completely dry. I know it sounds strange to say that I was shocked that a waterproof boot was waterproof, but with every pair I’ve ever owned what happened that day would never have resulted in a dry foot, and I am really pleased I have something I can rely on there.
So it can be anything from a small puddle or a fallen tree, to a raging river or land slide. These have encountered pretty much all of that (the landslide wasn’t happening at the time but I did make my way over a recent slide) and at no point was I aware that I was testing a pair of new boots. I’ve worn these over 80 miles of Welsh mountains with, at times, a very heavy pack and they just felt like some boots I’d had for years and knew inside out. This may be the first ‘real’ pair of hiking boots I’ve ever owned and I certainly wont be looking at any others for a long time. There are some things I would alter on this shoe if I was making it for myself, but really I would probably just make them worse. These were the TRK GTX version of the Trango although there are other versions (more expensive) that are available with slightly different styling or materials, but they are all basically the same boot. I couldn’t recommend these boots more highly, they are absolutely superb and worth every penny you spend on them.