Meindl Dovre Extreme GTX

How can anyone get excited over footwear?  Give or take an odd few that get truly excited, I would like to think of myself as representing the interested majority; well at least the interested majority that clamber through woods, across streams, and walk for miles across acres of heather in pursuit of their dogs.  I have searched for the ultimate boots for years but only now feel confident enough to speak out.  I truly love my boots.

Jesting aside, I used to wear wellies.  Not just your normal wellies but neoprene lined, thick, well made Le Chameau wellies.  They were warm, waterproof, and generally quite comfortable; comfortable that is until on one day, out on the hill counting grouse, I turned my ankle.  This wasn’t just your normal light sprain but one that made a distinctive crunching noise.  I staggered on, smiling through it, for another mile before doing the same again.  This time I thought I had done serious damage.  Like a fool I carried on for the day only to find, when home, that my ankle had swelled so much the wellies had stretched to accommodate it.  My ankle was badly sprained, such that even the sole of my foot had turned black.  Not nice.  That was three years ago.  My ankle is still weak and aches regularly as a result of what was a bad choice on my part.  I was wearing the wrong boots.

So, I set out to find the most suitable boots for the job in hand.  I have tried many over the years – Scarpa Alpine Lites, Daisy Root Goretex boots, Army Surplus (best grade), but none really cut the mustard for the abuse I gave them.  It was time to find some hunting boots.  I couldn’t bring myself to spend a huge amount so was delighted to find an advert for a pair of Sasta Kaira hunting boots advertised for, if I remember, around the £90 mark.  They were high boots, Goretex lined, with a vibram sole and rubber rand.  Exactly what I needed, or so I thought……they lasted two months, or closer to 6 weeks in reality.  The heather ripped the leather away from the rand and they leaked.  I rang the supplier, they sounded genuinely surprised, and ordered a replacement pair from the manufacturer in Finland.  I returned the ‘old’ pair for inspection at my own cost.  The new pair duly arrived.  Within, I guess, eight weeks they were leaking again despite lashings of G wax.  The rand had once again come away from the leather.  I gave up fighting a losing battle and the Sasta Kaira’s were set aside for beating.  Since then, and two beating seasons later, the leather has disintegrated in places and revealed its thickness…or rather lack of thickness.  I suspect that if I went back to my biology lab days I would find thicker leather on the scrotum of a dissected rat.  For beating this might be ok.  For yomping across heather for days at a time this isn’t.

So I set out to address the problem.  Could I justify spending over £200 on a pair of boots?  Well, on the basis of the value I place on my ankles I suspected that if this was the price I had to pay then I had no option but to justify it.  I splashed out on a pair of meindl dovre extreme gtx.  You would be forgiven for suspecting that the marketing gurus had worked long and hard on the name; quite what gtx stands for is beyond me, but the name is irrelevant.  How are the boots?

I have worn these now for two winters.  This has included two grouse counting seasons, extensive training periods on the hill, two shooting seasons, a few days beating (when my other boots were too wet to wear), and daily dog exercising.  I also took the plunge of investing in a pair of green Superfeet insoles.  I cannot fault either.  The insoles are extremely comfortable and the boots themselves have only just started to look worn in.  Don’t get me wrong, they have been extremely comfortable from the start giving great ankle support and good grip, but have just got more and more comfortable as the year has worn on.  They are, truly, the most comfortable, supportive boots I have ever worn.   I don’t intend writing about any other product in this diary but these boots deserve a special mention.  Money well spent?  Well, if they continue to improve the way they have then on a cost per year basis they are cheap.