Airsoft Canada - View Single Post - Five Ten Valor Boots Update. (5.10/Great boots. Cheap!)

Cliffradical · April 29th, 2016, 09:35

I ended up using them for work (Landscaping/ Property Management) because I needed to, and my job will put footwear through probably the hardest possible gauntlet of use outside of actual military work (all kinds of weather conditions, 12000-15000 steps/ day, 40+ hrs/ week).

I got about eight months out of each pair, end-to-end, without rotation. That is a very good lifespan in my line of work.
I ground the treads off of the outsoles before the uppers failed. But when they failed, hooo boy. Those boots fucking quit.

Some observations:

-Treads were excellent in just about everything until they wore down completely, still gripped more-or-less safely on man made surfaces afterwards, outsole kept it's structural shape. If the uppers had lived longer, it would have taken a fair while longer to grind through the outsole to the insole.

-Synthetic upper kept it's shape and structure to the bitter end. Suede shrank and deformed when untreated like suede does. Maybe they should have gone 100% synthetic?

-Eyelets on the laces were great.

-Lacing wanted to be kept as it was from the factory. This is a fashion negative, but function positive. I learned after a while to lace and set for my foot up over my arch, then just loosen and tighten the neck as needed for removal. It'll pretty much figure itself out if you do that. Wish I'd known that was a 'feature' though.

-Hard on the arches at ankle joint due to lacing scheme. See above.

-Absolutely no room for socks larger than something high-tech and sporty, single layer.
You definitely need a size up if you want these to go multi-season with extra/ wool socks.

-They perform very well down to about -15 with extra/ wool socks (see above).
Outsole grips in cold weather!!

-An ember, if found landing on the smooshy foam-rubber part of the outsole, will melt right the fuck through if left to do so.

-Super light.

-The laces themselves are awesome. Wish I'd hung on to them.

-Built like a teched-up US Army desert boot, works like one but better.

I don't really have anything negative to say about them, because a lot of the things I'd bring up pretty much already neutralize and cancel in my mind vs. other boots I've tried.

They're far from perfect, and there's a few things which obviated their adoption for a US Mil contract, but from a strictly utilitarian working man perspective I'd give them a solid 8/10 where "1" is a pair of skate shoes and "10" may not actually exist, or costs ~$500CAD.

I would buy them again for $50 in a heartbeat, and would probably buy them for a higher price if they were still available.

April 29th, 2016, 09:35	#5
Cliffradical butthurt for not having a user title Trader rating Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Winnipeg	I ended up using them for work (Landscaping/ Property Management) because I needed to, and my job will put footwear through probably the hardest possible gauntlet of use outside of actual military work (all kinds of weather conditions, 12000-15000 steps/ day, 40+ hrs/ week). I got about eight months out of each pair, end-to-end, without rotation. That is a very good lifespan in my line of work. I ground the treads off of the outsoles before the uppers failed. But when they failed, hooo boy. Those boots fucking quit. Some observations: -Treads were excellent in just about everything until they wore down completely, still gripped more-or-less safely on man made surfaces afterwards, outsole kept it's structural shape. If the uppers had lived longer, it would have taken a fair while longer to grind through the outsole to the insole. -Synthetic upper kept it's shape and structure to the bitter end. Suede shrank and deformed when untreated like suede does. Maybe they should have gone 100% synthetic? -Eyelets on the laces were great. -Lacing wanted to be kept as it was from the factory. This is a fashion negative, but function positive. I learned after a while to lace and set for my foot up over my arch, then just loosen and tighten the neck as needed for removal. It'll pretty much figure itself out if you do that. Wish I'd known that was a 'feature' though. -Hard on the arches at ankle joint due to lacing scheme. See above. -Absolutely no room for socks larger than something high-tech and sporty, single layer. You definitely need a size up if you want these to go multi-season with extra/ wool socks. -They perform very well down to about -15 with extra/ wool socks (see above). Outsole grips in cold weather!! -An ember, if found landing on the smooshy foam-rubber part of the outsole, will melt right the fuck through if left to do so. -Super light. -The laces themselves are awesome. Wish I'd hung on to them. -Built like a teched-up US Army desert boot, works like one but better. I don't really have anything negative to say about them, because a lot of the things I'd bring up pretty much already neutralize and cancel in my mind vs. other boots I've tried. They're far from perfect, and there's a few things which obviated their adoption for a US Mil contract, but from a strictly utilitarian working man perspective I'd give them a solid 8/10 where "1" is a pair of skate shoes and "10" may not actually exist, or costs ~$500CAD. I would buy them again for $50 in a heartbeat, and would probably buy them for a higher price if they were still available.