I'll Wear These Boots Anywhere
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Welcome toThe Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.
I'm not built for New York City winter, but my boots absolutely are. Before moving to the city, I lived in Georgia for 20 years straight, and I can count on one hand the number of times we got snow. But, because my family is outdoorsy and my dad is old-fashioned, I've always had a pair of leather shitkicking boots that stood up to rain. Now I know they also hold up in snow, mud, and any other shit this city has to offer.
We require a lot from a pair of boots. In the warm months, they've got to perform. In the cold months, they've got to perform even harder. No boot is better equipped for all that the elements have to offer year-round than the American-made Danner Mountain Light II, and no pair looks better than this.
First things first—the price.
Don't let the $440 price tag scare you away. I get it. But, let me break it down for you first. I bought my Danner Mountain Light II boots from a guy on Craigslist—don't judge me. Between his two years and my four, these are going on their sixth year of hardcore use. I've taken my boots on hikes from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the California coast. I've taken them on hikes to college classes in a tropical storm, and most recently, hikes through nor'easter snow to get some eggs. Now that I'm in the city and only hiking on sidewalks, I expect to get another five good years out of these boots. Don't tell me the price tag isn't worth amount of wear.
But, the real value comes when the soles get too worn to wear. On light use, the kind I expect from most of you, the Vibram soles can last a decade, easy. On heavy use, like if you use these as work boots, they'll last five or less. The best tip I can give you, reader: Once the sole is gone, do not throw out your boots. The leather on these boots will last the entirety of your life if you care for it. Simply find a cobbler in your town, on the internet, or use Danner's in-house recrafting to give your boots a new set of Vibram soles. The replacement will cost $100 or less, and a cobbler will probably shine them, condition them, and give them a water-repellent treatment for free.
So, say you drop $440 on a pair of Danner boots today, and another $100 on new soles in 2034. Within that time, you will have easily burnt through a pair of synthetic hiking shoes or two, but your Danner's will just be hitting their stride. They'll be 10-years in, perfectly broken in with new soles to go another 10 years. And best of all, they'll form perfectly to your feet and blend right into your wardrobe.
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They actually look good.
That brings me to my second point: These boots look incredible, and not in a colorful gorpcore technical clothing kind of way. The leather and the overall heritage look is so much more dressed up than most sneakers. If you wear these in the city, you don't look like an Instagram try hard, nor do you look like you stumbled off trail on a backpacking trip.
I can throw on my Danner Mountain Light II's with some light-wash jeans, an oxford, and a jacket for a classic Ralph Lauren ranch formal look. I can stomp around in shit all day, but I'll still look nicer than most guys that showed up to the same restaurant in their old sneakers and stretch chinos. I can switch out the green nylon laces for black nylon laces, throw on baggy jeans, a hoodie, and get an off duty city look. I can switched those out for the gold-tan nylon or flat red cotton and get a classic 1980s backpacker look. On the worst days, I've even worn them with a full suit and pulled off a après ski (après hike?) fit that's gotten compliments. If I'm packing and need a single pair of shoes, it's going to be these boots.
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They're made to get beat up.
Okay, I'm done talking about looks. Beauty is important for every item of clothing you own, no matter the function, but too much talk takes away from my message. These are hard-working boots at the end of the day. You can wear them to hell and back, and they will be just alright. The Vibram sole—which, remember, you can easily get replaced—is big and gives you plenty of grip in the nastiest trail environments. The GORE-TEX liner is a nice selling point, as it helps water bead off the boot. But, even as that synthetic liner wears out, the thick leather will naturally keep the worst conditions away from your precious little feet. Plus, the tongue is oversized and perforated down the middle, so it folds and gives your foot full coverage.
Short of a pair of rubber muck boots, nothing is going to do a better job of keeping nasty rain and snow away from your feet. Nothing is going to last you as long. Nothing is going to look as good, and nothing is going to get you as excited for a weekend backpacking trip or a shitty walk to the coffee shop. And, because of all that, there's no pair of boots I would recommend above these. Save up and buy yourself a pair, because these are the best hiking boots... sorry, best do-everything boots, money can buy.
Shop $440, bespokepost.com
Photography by Joe Lingeman. Prop styling by Heather Greene.
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