In December 25 I've received my pair of boots with great excitement.
As far as for the service and product:
Service was excellent although it would be nice if you did carry some stock. Delivery received as promised and quality of product great.
As far as for usage:
The first day the shoes were pinching quite a lot. Day 2, only my feet were uncomfortable from day one's fear and day 3 it was like old shoes, VERY COMFORTABLE!
As for durability:
One thing you must know - my "office" is outside, in the mountains and most of the time traveling is by foot or motorbike in the veld. As you will see in the attached photos to compare durability to other brands under the same conditions, my "office" is hard on boots and then I like to go hunting!
The Freestyle Mountain Boot is BY FAR holding up the best. At least it was posable to fix them myself when needed. I expect them to last for at least another 5 months before the soles will be done, BUT Freestyle can re-sole them (good luck with the one I glued! hehehe). The boot is VERY "puncture" and cut resistant, the sole as well as the sides. A real thorn crusher, but it is NOT gasoline resistant, and it dissolves and get very slippery. The stitching is exceptionally strong; I expect it to outlast at least 2 soles. The leather: only time and usage will tell. I havent test it a lot in wet conditions, but it doesn't seem to be slippery when wet on rocks and if leather is looked after properly, water shouldn't be a problem.
As far as price:
Well, the China boot was obviously the cheapest - for a reason. Stay away from stones and thorns!
The Bova SWAT is about R1000. Stay away from thorns, can handle stone.
The 511 for 100 - 130 US$ + Import. Fairly stone and thorn resistant.
My advice:
I would prefer it if the leather was not colored (bare leather); Better laces (paracord); thicker soles mage of "harder" or more wearable material that is gasoline resistant and that match the leather and stitching's life expectancy. For wet conditions, since the entire shoe is made of leather, 2 small drainage holes at the inside of the shoe above the sole might help to "walk the shoe dry".
OVERALL:
I will recommend it to anyone who need a good quality and a comfortable boot that will last a long time under normal conditions.
Thank you Freestyle for producing such quality, handmade product, at a reasonable price.
