Lowa makes some great boots. The Vertex GTX is not among them. Sure, they've got the cool exo-skeleton that feeds my Robocop fantasy, and they do provide great support for moderate to heavy loads and a comfortable fit right out of the box.
However the boot has two fatal flaws. First, those plastic supports on the outside of the boot squeak like little crack-addicted mice. Not the calming, communing with nature vibe you were looking for, unless you really like mice. And crack.
The second flaw is even more severe: these boots are not waterproof. Not even close, really. I thought perhaps our tester had gotten over-zealous and gone wading off the deep end, but a quick review of other reviews - oh yeah, we cheat where we can - showed the same problem being reported.
So if you're deaf and will only hike in the desert, carrying heavy loads, these are what you want. Everyone else, look away.
I am an avid hiker. We hike at least 5-10 miles every day in our nearby forest, this boots for me were like heavenly sent. I wear them with thin sock and they are great for all seasons. The grip is fantastic, the ankle support is amazing and they never squeak or had water issues... They are really waterproof and goretex never let me down so far. I think the people who had problems with this boots probably overdid it like these are not diving boots anyway or I assume they had some manufacture defects... and also a good point is to read and use the manual that comes with the boots...
Even after knee surgery I had no problems hiking with this...
Posted by: Jack | February 11, 2012 at 01:08 PM