>>1787720>walk 45 mi a weekdude i need fucking spikes on my boots
my iphone says I hiked 25 mi from monday-friday, and went up between 54 and 111 floors a day
i have to hike up hills over 100% slope, covered in slash, on disturbed soils
i have to hike through tanoak and manzanita that grows over your head
one of the guys on our crew had a pair of danner calks that are non-leather, and got blown out in less than 2 months. sidehilled, stepped on a stick, and it poked through the side of the upper
I am telling you, as somebody who does this for a living, those shoes will not last. the job actually forbids, FORBIDS you from wearing anything than full leather PNW boots, because it's actually fucking dangerous to not have them.
I've had more times than I can count where I would have rolled my heel hours away from cell service on some random backroad, but luckily I laced my boots up properly and was able to avoid being crippled
I regularly have to pull my entire bodyweight (175lb) up above my hip with only the traction of the tip of my boot, or have to bash through ground cover that would destroy my ankle/shin if it wasn't covered by my boot
forestry isn't like hiking through a paved trail, or picking through some maintained backcountry. if you have to flag a watercourse, you have to go through a fuckload of brush. it doesn't matter if it's poison oak or whitethorn or vine maple, you are going to go through it. and your trailrunners are going to get torn apart, your ankle is going to roll, your shins are going to get busted, and you will want to kill yourself
