>>2521630They aren't. The leather sucks. I live not far from the factory in Portland and visited them multiple times because their outlet sells factory seconds for low low prices.
The rest of the world is using polyurethane or eva in their midsoles. Most of the best European boot makers do this, and Danner cannot do it for the life of them without the goretex being poorly sewn in or overdesigning the boots with too much stitching that they fall apart anyways. They leather is also comically thin.
>>2521625Also been to Spokane pre-2014 and post 2014. It's not the same. Quality control is way down. Nick's isn't much better to be honest. I worked in wildland fire and I frequently talk to people that use their boots. High level of injury field too, and most are switching to other materials from companies like Haix (surprise, european) or similar. The Danner's fire boots don't even last a season. Go with the other Spokane companies since White's seems to spawn offshoots like an Amish. Jakes, Franks, and there is another but they aren't in Spokane.
If you want to burn a hole through $500+ i'd imagine you'd want the best, but be my guest.
>>2521633The tl;dr of all this bullshit i'm writing is everything has tradeoffs.
*rubber/plastic rubber (tpr/nitrile) weight a lot and radiate cold. It's also high durability. I've seen plastic rubber crack after a few years and pure rubber can have issues with oil/urine.
*EVA is more puncture weak and shrinks in sun. It's also cheap, light, waterproof, and doesn't radiate cold.
*polyurethane is a more durable foam than eva. Weigh's more, and retains cushion for far longer than eva but is prone to hydrolysis where it will break down accelerated by disuse. Still seen polyurethane boots last up to 10 years. Weighs less than rubber. Still absorbs cold like rubber though in my experience. Most combat boots use polyurethane for midsole and sometimes sole, whereas more sports shoes use EVA.
you can offset a lot of these at the end of the day
