Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
Waterproof, well constructed |
| Disadvantages: |
Bit stiff at first |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
One of the good things about being an urban girl is that it feels a real treat to escape into the countryside. We are lucky enough to live within easy reach of lots of beautiful scenery, the Peaky Peak District, the Lakes, North Wales, Yorkshire Dales and N Yorkshire Moors and more besides. (Offers for house swap if you live somewhere gorgeous and rural still considered, mansions only).
When we go for our weekend and day trips, essential footwear for me comes in the form of a pair of walking boots. For many years I had a trusty pair of brown leather boots. However, one day last autumn whilst walking in the Lake District on a particularly cold day, my feet got wet; my boots had holes. Soggy wet socks and cold feet were enough to make me go shopping in search of a replacement pair.
All I knew was I wanted a good pair, suitable for the hills. My friend Koshkha had praised a pair of soft comfy leather Brashers and the only other make I knew of was
Meindl as hubby had recently bought a pair for himself. I suspected these must be top of the range as he has a tendency to buy expensive brands. Luckily for me, Blacks had a 20% off all boots over £100 on the day I went shopping so I decided to go for a relatively expensive pair. That basically narrowed my choice to either a pair of soft brown Brashers or a pair of harder but denim coloured Meindls. The Brashers to be honest felt like soft slippers compared to the Meindl pair but I was worried that they lacked ankle support and who wants a twisted ankle whilst in the middle of nowhere?
The shop assistant assured me that the Burma Lady Pro Meindl pair were a very versatile walking boot because:
☼ They are categorized as B boots suitable for demanding hikes in low level mountains, easy trekking in the major mountain ranges, most suited for walking on marked mountain paths.
☼ They have a Sil Nubeck leather upper with a goretex lining (helping to keep your feet non sweaty). Goretex is a membrane which works in the same way as human skin, with millions of tiny pores per cm2, making it impermeable to water vapour and water.
☼ They have an Air Active Footbed which is the Meindl term for a technological advanced insole consisting of hydrophobic leather, cushioning and air drainage.
☼They have a Multigriff sole. I could tell you that this has a Soft PU wedge with integrated pronation and supination zones and an integrated modular edge but it sounds rather arsey so I’ll confirm that it has a really good gripping sole.
☼ Weight Approx 650g, Available In Sizes 3.5 – 9, Colour: Azure blue.
☼ Guaranteed totally waterproof
They cost £119 but I got them with 20% discount.
Meindl High Boots
☼~☼~☼~☼~☼~☼
These boots are a bit of the hard side and take a fair amount of wear to mould to your feet. For this reason, I decided to wear them around the house for a couple of hours to try and wear them in. They felt a bit hard on my ankles even with proper soft walking socks. The first time I wore these boots was a trip to the Lakes on a lovely warm day in February. The walk was a mixture of rough rocky path, wet boggy grass and dry grassland. The boots performed well and kept my feet bone dry. On steep downhill slopes I felt the hardness of the ankle support but this has softened with wear.
Maybe you now picture me as a fit woman of the Fells and I should stop here and leave you with this impression. However, never being a woman who likes to mislead, I should perhaps add here that the reason I chose the blue boots over the brown is that they go well with denim. All walkers know you should never wear jeans for walking as they retain water and make you feel cold.
I have to own up here that I am a fair weather walker. We only go walking when the weather looks good. If en route, we see cloud in the area we are heading for, we will often change direction and head for the sunnier spot. Who wants to walk in the rain? Not me. I don’t really like doing steep climbs either since there are nicer ways of making your heart race. Generally we do reasonably challenging walks that the kids can manage but that are away from the crowds. I also like to walk in a short skirt, denim matches my boots. You can’t beat walking on a nice day with bare legs. I do like to grin to myself when I see the proper walkers, kit out in all their layers of goretex and heavy baggage for every possible change of weather. My bag is full of snacks and drinks, and I give the map to hubby, I am allergic to map reading.
I really like these boots. They have been a pain literally on one recent seven mile up and down walk; I got bruised ankles after tying them up too tight. The ankle support is a bit hard and does take quite a few months to ease up. I am however pretty confident that these boots will last me for the next twenty years, given that I don’t really intend to be hammering them up and down Helvellyn on a regular basis. They keep my feet dry (not that I get sweaty feet) but they keep the water out when you walk on marshy land or slip off a stepping stone. They are smart and seem of excellent construction. I also admit that at the end of a long walk it is lovely to take them off and slip on my pink pom pom slippers. Would you get the same satisfaction with softer walking boots?
OK hands off, they’re Meindl and I like them.
Thanks for reading.
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