Wednesday 30 March 2011

Field Trial: Muck Boots Review

Stalk 
verb:  pursue or approach stealthily : a cat stalking a bird.
• chiefly poetic/literary move silently or threateningly through (a place) : the tiger stalks the jungle | figurative fear stalked the camp.
noun: a stealthy pursuit of someone or something.
ORIGIN late Old English -stealcian (in bistealcian [walk cautiously or stealthily] ), of Germanic origin; related to steal .

Warm
adjective: of or at a fairly or comfortably high temperature : a warm September evening. 
• (of clothes or coverings) made of a material that helps the body to retain heat; suitable for cold weather : a warm pair of boots.
• Hunting (of a scent or trail) fresh; strong.

Dry
adjective: drier , driest
• Free from moisture or liquid; not wet or moist : the boots kept me warm and dry.

Lot's of people like to stalk in clomp-clomp walking boots, personally I'd prefer a pair of trainers [sneakers] if it wasn't for the annoying way twigs work themselves into your shoes and even the smallest encounter with a puddle leaves you with wet feet for the rest of the day.  The other option seemed to be wellies. I've long hated wellington boots, most of my experiences of having severely cold feet featured the ill-advised choice of wellies. 

Then I noticed a that Ghost Rifle was using a pair of these, and a little searching online suggested that a lot of people who are outdoors all day, every day are wearing them. The Muck Boot has the water repelling property of a wellie, the warmth of a hiking boot, and only the weight of a trainer/sneaker.  Hmmm? So when I got the chance to buy a lightly-worn pair for testing I clicked straight away. Glad I did.

Testing took place over two days stalking Fallow deer in East Sussex. Although we didn't walk far, just over four and a half miles (TBB was wearing a pedometer), we did wade through some very thick mud, and most tellingly, we sat still for long periods of time. My feet remained toasty. They were much easier to sneak around in than walking boots. There are several different sole patterns available - if I'd bought them from new I would instinctively have gone for a chunkier pattern, but no problems at all.

More Soon
SBW