It’s not often we’re approached by companies who ask us to provide feedback on their products, but recently I was approached by The Original Muck Book Company who were so confident about the quality of their boots they sent me a pair just to see what I thought. Which has to be risky option – sending them directly to the trade press for them to scrutinise and to publish my thoughts “Good or Bad.”
The intention was to use these late October when taking a trip to our local pumpkin farm, however that never went ahead due to Covid and then more lockdown restrictions came into effect in December another site visit to a potato farm was also cancelled.
Now as I write this, it’s January and the weather has taken a turn for the worse as it’s been snowing on top of the recent deluge the UK has had. So not only is the ground waterlogged it is now covered in snow, a great combination of weather conditions and an ideal opportunity to test the pair of Wetland Boots sent to me, for their claimed waterproofness and thermal properties in a real world situation for these boots.
On first impressions the boots felt heavy especially given the material used in the outsole construction, but this makes more sense when you wear them, and you actually don’t notice the weight is any different than a pair of conventional work boots. However the area where these boots excelled for me was in terms of outright comfort. Upon wearing the Wetlands boots for the best part of 8 hours they provided more grip and comfort than my normal hiking shoes have on the wintery trail.
At no point in the day did my feet ever feel cold in the minus 2 weather and I when I got home and took them off, I could feel the difference in ambient temperature and almost wanted to put them back on.
There is no doubt that in comparison to a cheap pair of wellington boots they’re an expensive option and superiorly luxurious in comparison to a pair of £30 boots from any high street store but these boots to me, are an investment for your feet and for Farmers who have to wear wellington boots regularly the benefits in terms of practicality and grip plus keeping your feet warm and dry is well worth it.