Snow and Winter Boot Blogging

With yet a few more inches of global warming falling upon the Driveway of Doom™ and the snow falling continuously all day today up until now, it was time to break out the Bates boots and give them a go.

This was especially so as the plow company had failed to fully mark the driveway and left the upper 15 feet unploughed. Apparently, they had not marked the driveway fully and couldn't figure out where the top was even though I had already shoveled a strip along the garage the night before and they could have used that as a marker to line up with their existing flags, but no.

Note the cleared strip at the top by me, the lower area pushed by them, and the sad unploughed middle looking all snow-covered and forlorn.

Here's a nice view of the driveway from the upper side to help you appreciate the angle of ascent and descent.

So it was time to break out the new boots and clear the driveway.

I had mentioned the boots before when Amazon had them on a pre-Black Friday sale, and I've worn them around the house to break them in a bit and get used to them.

The boots have a nice appearance, with leather and nylon intermixed. While you wouldn't wear them to the office, they'll do nicely for walks, hikes and snow-shoveling duty.

The side-zip is rather generous and makes removing the boots easy even while still tied. The side-zip feature assists in getting them on, but I've found my feet won't fit in while the laces are still tied shut, so I have to unlace, sit down, get the foot in and then zip and tie up. The boots are not as fast to put on as I had hoped, but they are reasonably quick to take off, again as long as you're seated or standing leaning on something for support.

The Thinsulate insulation is excellent - so far it has kept my feet warm while walking, snow-shoveling and even prolonged sledding with no problems.

The boot offers excellent ankle support which helps when the dog decides to run over snow-covered hill and dale and you can't see the rocks you know are there. They're very comfortable and feel darn good and they're tall enough to keep the snow out.

The tread on the boots is almost magic, with a sure grip even climbing up the Driveway of Doom™. No problems with slipping and between the ankle support and the aggressive tread its been a definite upgrade from the worn-out slip-o-matic boots I wore last year

Out with the kids today sledding there was no problem walking up or down any of the hills or through the mounds of snow on the unploughed streets and sidewalks. Hours outside and the feet stayed warm, toasty, and dry,

Fit seems dead on and no rubbing points or blisters have occurred. The boots aren't heavy and are a joy to walk in, and best of all, they really are waterproof even when covered in snow. While they're not going to win any fashion awards, the Bates GX-8 GTX Boots are very utilitarian and just what I need for what promises to be a long and snowy winter. Recommended.