These have been great boots. I am on my fourth pair of the Altitude series- a version I, version II, and now 2 version IVs. All have been good buys for me. The version IV have been the best but all have been good.
First, I have a high arch and have always been hard on any footwear with a tendency to walk on the 'outside' of my foot. I wear these boots to travel in and work in while traveling. Many a mile in airports, many miles on concrete, gravel, dirt, and inside simulation facilities. When I travel I tend to only take these boots - my work rarely requires dress clothes, the boots look good in an open collar work environment, they are comfortable, and taking only 1 pair of shoes does cuts down on packing requirements quite a bit for longer trips (3 weeks or longer in duration).
I have taken these boots on three overseas trips - they did well in the Scottish highlands (twice), and London. They did equally well on the beaches of Hawaii, Myrtle Beach, and Cancun. They have done me well in wet and sand - hot and cold.
To add to this endorsement, not only am I hard on shoes I am also quite fat these days - topping 300 pounds. For my health I maintain a walking routine of 1-3 miles a day whenever possible. When I travel, these boots are also my walking shoes.
In general Hi Tec have always fit me well. I go back 40 or so years to wearing the Lite series of Hi Tecs while I was in my running the Appalachians days. Given my high arches, a tendency for very bad calluses, rebuilt right ankle, 2 knees that varied doctors have wanted to cut on since early Army days, and now my weight I am very picky on shoes. These are the best of the Hi Tec boot types that I have found.
I suspect I have seen the best of my current set of boots - maybe six more months or so of regular wear till they become yard work shoes till their final demise. I have never worn out the uppers in these boots. I have worn the sole down to a smooth surface and worn out the insides (after using new insole inserts a couple of times). They are tough boots.
And I have a back up pair ready to take the place of the current set.
On a down side, these style of boots (in general, not just Hi Tec) are not sturdy enough for doing squats in Power Lifting circles. One needs a higher and stiffer boot than what the modern ilk of hikers provides. This is the only limitation I have found for these boots. |
Great boots for travel and general wear