>>2262988I've also seen injuries with wildland firefighters, whom often wear those boots. A lot are shifting to newer designs from like Danner's, which happen to be a lot lighter. Not sure of their compounds.
I think the issue with polyurethane is a lot of the footwear industry measures with style (women and hipsters), hence quality is often thrown out the door even for a swift break-in.
A good example is Blundstone. Used to be made in Australia until 15 years ago. There's alternatives very similar to what they make such as Redbacks or Mongrels or Rossi's, but what makes the Blundstones get more complaints.
Well, Blundstones make a ton of styles of polyurethane boots, and pump a ton of product. If it isn't managed, the boots can end up on a warehouse shelf for years before it gets to you leading to premature deterioration, even if all else in the product is the same.
Honestly, i've switched to mostly polyurethane even though I didn't like it initially. I prefer Redback Everest and Norwegian M77. A lot of the European manufacturers used to be really great too, but doesn't seem to be the case anymore and only so many US manufacturers even use polyurethane. I think Weinbrenner/Thorogood is the main one. You can see smaller manufacturers use their polyurethane machines because same outsoles. The machines cost about a mil.
Good luck finding what works for you.
