Disappointing - Poor Quality

By 3LNinja Ranked #221 - Men's Winter Boots and Shoes February 12, 2011

I walk all the time, hike on most weekends, and am pretty hard on shoes and boots. I've got no problem spending top dollar and paying retail prices for a quality product that is built well and is going to last. These boots are neither well built nor a good value.

This said, they are not terrible. I live in Boston, which has seen its share of snow this winter. While trudging through a lot of this snow, my feet stayed warm and comfortable. I've walked up to four miles in these boots and, as long as the weather wasn't wet, I found them to hold up. If snow did not melt, I would keep these boots.

Unfortunately, snow does melt and keeping dry in all conditions is the real reason I decided to pay $150 for these boots. Snow in Boston stays dry and cold for about two days but quickly thereafter turns to black slush and partially frozen mud puddles. I was also hoping to stay wet and dry as the city started to thaw. This was not the case.

I tried to jump over one of these partially frozen mud puddles while walking my dog on a Sunday morning. I didn't quite clear it and my heel slipped into the puddle. Because of the waterproof claims made by Sorel, I figured this wouldn't be a problem. A couple of steps later though, I noticed that my heel was a little soggy. When I got home from the walk I took out the boot liners to inspect the damage. I needed to use paper towels to dry out the insides of the shoes. Another time, while walking home from work, my toe slipped into a puddle - same thing.

Ideally I would not need to take the liners out of the boots as often as I do, but leaking requires me to remove the liners in order to preserve the wool I splurged for. Leaks aren't the only thing ruining the liners though. As if the leaks weren't bad enough, the stitching and material on the back of the liner is starting to wear. Inside of the boot, the plastic is very poorly stitched to the leather upper. This leaves the plastic kind of jutting out - which you can see (on the right of the inside of the boot) in the attached picture. So much for built to last a long time.

I hate to return products to backcountry.com. I appreciate their generous return policy and really try not to take advantage. Unfortunately, after about 1 month of use, I know these boots aren't going to cut it. I'd prefer to reinvest in a better product - but am not sure what to try. Sorel has an amazing reputation, perhaps my problems with these boots are anomalous. Based on other reviews though, I don't think this is the case. I know Columbia bought Sorel. Columbia makes nice jackets, maybe they should stick to outerwear...

View Details: Sorel Caribou Wool Boot - Men's

Helpful Votes: 2 Yes