I appreciate that you put significant time in these boots before doing your review. One of my biggest complaints about youtube reviewers are that some folks wear or use an item one time and then give their opinion about it without really getting to know a piece of gear. Us users and consumers might be spending 8-10hrs a day using that particular piece of gear and looking for truthful user reviews so we can make an informed decision. Great video and I thank you!
An actual review... thank you so much. I cant decide what I want and most of the reviews for this are from the south. I'm north east so need something durable for the white mountains.
Great review and I have my own recent experience to add. First, a little criticism, though. To stand for 10 seconds in water, even ankle deep, is not, IMO, a valid test. Water tends to seep in and permeate the nubuck over time, not in 10 seconds. A better test would be to stand in that water for 15 minutes. A more real-world test would be simply to wear these in rain for an hour or walking through wet grass for an hour. I did the latter on a recent hike with these boots and my feet were mostly but not completely dry. The toes on one foot were a bit moist from seep-though. I still feel the boots did a good job and am not complaining. Last weekend, however, I had a serious fall when I slipped on a slick board walk on the Stratton Pond Trail in VT while wearing these Vasque Breeze II GTX's. Your admonition about the lack of grippiness resonates with me. However, I must say I had been hiking prior to the fall on many planks without noticing any slipperiness and after I fell, I resumed hiking, including on more board walks along the trail, which did not feel particularly slippery. I felt the soles of the boots after taking them off at my car and they definitely don't feel as grippy as they did when I bought them a few weeks ago. I have worn them on four weekend jaunts on the AT over the past month, putting about 60 miles on them. Even though they don't feel grippy to my hands any longer, I can't really blame the boots because, as I said, I hiked both before and after my slip & fall on similar boards without slipping. So I guess it was just one board that happened to be very slick. As for my fall? I fell on my face and found out I have three "minimally displaced" fractures in the bridge of my nose area and will be evaluated by an ENT on Monday. Hoping they will not want to "fix" anything and will recommend just allowing it heal. My fear is that a "fix" could be worse than the injury! So that's my long story and comment on the Vasque Breeze III GTX's. I still like them but will be more wary around potentially slippery surfaces. One more thing... I have a "Keen foot," i.e. I prefer a wider toe box than the Breeze, so I got a full size larger to avoid any cramping of my toes. I inserted a Superfeet green insole on top of the native footbed and it's working well as I also need the extra arch support. That also helps with padding against the rocks that you mentioned you feel. The shoe is a tiny bit long for me but comfortable and I definitely agree that the laces need to be re-tightened once the shoes are warmed up, e.g. after 45-60 minutes of hiking. But that's not a big deal. Now that they are broken in, I think a heavier sock or adding a sock liner to my Darn Toughs could be good. They do seem very well made and I like the ankle height, which is about 1/4" higher than some other mid-height boots.
I appreciate that you put significant time in these boots before doing your review. One of my biggest complaints about youtube reviewers are that some folks wear or use an item one time and then give their opinion about it without really getting to know a piece of gear. Us users and consumers might be spending 8-10hrs a day using that particular piece of gear and looking for truthful user reviews so we can make an informed decision. Great video and I thank you!
