This guy has some interesting experiences testing options. He now only buys jungle boots:
https://www.frankrevelo.com/hiking/gear_footwear.htmHere's his boot section where he catalogs the mileage on each pair he has bought since 2009:
https://www.frankrevelo.com/hiking/gear_footwear_belleville.htmIt comes down to weight and jungle boots are some of the lightest boots out there.
Most ultra lights weigh less than a pound, 454-. Most running shoes (eva) weigh between 1 to 2 pounds, 454g-908g.
Salomons Quest 4d weighs 2 pounds 13 oz, 1275 g.
Welted logging boots tend to weigh 4+ pounds(1814g+), often 5+ (2268+)
Limmers a traditional hiking boots weigh 4 pounds, 1814g.
Most of your older foam boots like Lowa Tibets and Meindl weigh 4 pounds. These are great for loggers or in heavy brush but don't translate well to speox.
The reason people like jungle boots that hike is they tend to use polyurethane rather than EVA and the uppers are less likely going to self destruct and let water in at every dew step. Some are very good at drying out as well.
Lowa zephyr and renegade both weigh around 2 and a half
The most popular boot in military right now is by Garmont.
T8 NFS (eva) 2.4 lbs, 1070 g
T8 Bifida (PU) 2.9 lbs, 1320 g
Belleville like Frank uses have some great ideas but they never make their lacing easy like Garmont.
Belleville mini mil 2 lbs, 907 g
Belleville One Xero 2 lbs 8 oz., 1134 g
A lot of the time I'd rather weight some type of minimalist shoe with gaiter protection (outdoor research crocodile gaiters) than a boot, jungle boots can serve a good function. Their nylon uppers usually don't provide much for ankle support either. In my experience jungle boots and minimalist shoes/boots help push footwear out to a couple thousand miles (3218 km) than getting sub 1000 (1609 km) miles, usually 300-600 (483 km to 966 km) miles on eva foam shoes.
