To say I dislike Gore-Tex lined boots is an understatement; I loath those things. It is a product forced upon us as a solution to a problem that didn’t exist, resulting in boots with a significantly reduced service life, yet sold at a premium price. And I strongly suspect the manufacturing costs are actually lower compared to a good quality leather boot. All in all, what you might call an outdoor equipment brand’s wet dream.

I managed to avoid this affront to proper cobbler craft until 2018 or so when, after 20+ years of faithful service, the leather uppers on my Scarpa Fitzroy’s finally started to show their age. By then I was spending lot more time in boggy Sitka plantations and post-clear-felling detritus than I was on Scotland’s bare hills, and so wanted something that actually provided decent ankle support (which, contrary to popular opinion, hiking boots do not, they are too low for that).

The boot that fit my needs best seemed to be the 8” Hanwag Tatra Top. I needed a wide fit, which I could not find in the UK, so ended up ordering a pair from somewhere in Germany (for the younger reader, back then such a thing was not a big deal).

Now, let me say at the outset, the Tatra Top is not a bad boot at all: it is well designed and very well made in a European country (IIRC Croatia), from decent quality leather, and it has a bonded sole, which means it can be resoled. Indeed, if instead of the trendy (read ‘idiotic’) Gore-Tex liner it was made of thicker leather (like my old Fitzroy’s were) it would be just about the perfect boot in my book.

Anyway … I got these at the tail and of the summer, and throughout the next six months they were great: they fit like a glove and kept my feet dry and warm, in bogs and river crossings alike.

But then the summer came, and with it I run into two big problems.

First, I discovered these boots were stupidly sweaty even in the moderate temperatures we get here in Scotland. Not a great surprise there, TBH, it’s not like I had not experienced the breathability of the Gore-Tex membrane before. I could have just as well been wearing a pair of wellies.

The second problem was I could swear that every time I took a step in them on dry ground I could hear a pound coin rolling down the hill behind me. After every outing I’d examine them for damage, and reflect on how long they might last me; it wasn’t going to be 20 years, that I was sure of.

And so I decided to get another pair of cheap summer boots, and after a bit of duck-duck-going (for well brought up people do not google), I settled on a pair of 5.11 Tactical Speed 3.0 Rapid Dry Jungle boots; a bit of a mouthful, but at £75 including delivery, they were about a quarter of the price of the Tatra Top, and would allow them to last a wee bit longer.

You’d be forgiven thinking a jungle boot to be an odd choice for Scotland, but if you do, it’s because you fail to appreciate the all important difference between being wet and being cold. I must confess I too was once failing to grasp this distinction (we are not meant to, really), but hill running in Scotland, where wet feet are a given, taught me the folly of my ways. And once you get over this idea that you have to stay dry at all costs, the criteria for what to wear outdoors get much simpler (and with it the importance of breathable waterproofs decreases, which, I suspect, is why no self-respecting influencer ever dares to touch on this subject).

And so just now, some six years later, these boots are drying outside the house in the sunshine after another boggy Scottish walk earlier today, and I cannot help thinking the £75 were some of the better money I ever spent on outdoor footwear (the Scarpa Fitzroy’s, which I got in ’97 for £99 win that contest, even though back then £99 was lot of money).

I must confess, when the jungle boots first arrived, I didn’t expect them to last too long, not least since they have a moulded sole, so can’t be resoled. But I was wrong; they are beginning to show their age now, notably the stitching around the toe of the sole, so I just ordered another pair, but I expect the old pair has at least one more summer in them (they are no longer made, I have been searching for some old UK stock for a while without success, but today was my lucky day and I found one pair somewhere in my size; there is a newer model, but the version without a side zip, which I would prefer, is nowhere to be found in the UK).

The things I particularly value about these boots are:

  • The affordability; the price is still about 1/4 of that of the current price Tatra Top,
  • The grip; the sole is (by a long margin) the grippiest of that on any of my boots past and present (including some highly specialised Scarpa climbing approach boots), excellent both on rock and wet grass,
  • The toe part of the sole has a special fence climbing design, which really comes into its own when climbing over deer fences (which in Scotland abound),
  • Good ankle support,
  • They are pretty light and packable, so they fit, together with sandwiches and a jacket, into my bike saddle bag (a 9l Carradice Barley); at times I take them on bike walks where I anticipate long sections of carrying (the sole is OK for short pedalling sections even with cage-less SPDs),
  • They dry fairly quickly when worn (a bit like a buffalo), or when out in a breeze and sun (they are surprisingly slow to dry inside the house).

They are quite soft-soled, more like trail running shoes than boots, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea, and you have to bring your own insoles, as the provided ones are crap; but that seems to be the norm today, and I don’t begrudge that at the price (I do when it comes to the Tatra Top’s; when boots are costing just shy of £400, having to buy an aftermarket insole seems poor form).

As a side note, I had to replace the Tatra Top’s last year, after putting it off for a couple of years on account of the cost. They stayed waterproof for a year or two, after that you keep telling yourself that those damp patches on the socks are sweat, but eventually realise that if that was the case, you should seek medical treatment. Unfortunately, the thin leather means that once the Gore-Tex membrane goes, conventional waterproofing is not doing any good. The big irony is that the bonded sole that was one of the reasons I bought this boot has outlived the upper …