(Photo above by Charles Masters for Details)
Maybe you just can’t fully embrace the moc-toe lumberjack boot trend. Maybe you’re into camping and you’re a bit tired of wearing boots to the woods that look completely out of place once you return home. Whatever the reason, it’s nice to know that relatively functional hiking boots can also look great. Details proves that here. What’s better is knowing that you can get a similar ready for the mountains look at a much more reasonable price.
As a hiking boot gets cheaper, they become less comfortable over longer stretches on the trail. Also, you don’t want to expose inexpensive hikers to too much moisture. So try and keep em’ out of a monsoon. Head on over to Details to see their spendy five then come back this way. What you see below are good looking alternatives that’ll do okay on the trail (in some cases quite well), but then even better at happy hour afterward.
Clockwise from Top
The Katahdin Iron Works Boots from L.L. Bean don’t have the same glossed up look as the over-$400 Magnannis, but they’re the kind of boot you’ll look forward to getting dirty. And wet too, being that they’re waterproof. Padded collar, oiled leather upper, Goodyear Welted construction. After 58 reviews by LL Bean shoppers, these things still have over 4.5 stars out of 5. Not bad.
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Make no mistake, these are all about looks. Like the Dunhill’s they’re a little shorter and if you get some yellow laces you’ll be in business. Just don’t count on them to hike the Appalachian trail in or anything. Steve Madden quality can be flimsy. But I’ve got an old beat up pair of Motorcycle boots that are going on three years old and still doing pretty good. (I wouldn’t go for more than a short hike in these though) The stamping on the back? Mildly annoying.
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Doesn’t get more alpine looking than a beat up exterior, padded collar, and red laces. It’s American Eagle though that gets that same look done for incredibly cheap. Out of all of these, these shoes could be the ones that cause some blisters on the trail. But… you never know. Could be comfy. Break them in slowly before you hit the dirt.
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The Cucinelli is mainly leather with a canvas or suede patch up near the ankle. Contrasting laces but they’re in the same tone range. The Timberland Yele Haiti’s have a mainly washed canvas upper with leather accents. It’s a nice mix of texture that’ll be a bit lighter and cooler on the trail.
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The multicolor bottoms of the Moncler scream ski-lodge circa 1978. Which is tough to find. Swap that color out for contrast tongue and red laces on the Timberland Newmarket, and you’ve got an updated less stripe dependent version for $120.
With the exception of the L.L. Bean’s and to some level the pairs from Timberland, these are more about style over actual hiking substance. If you’re going to do more than light hiking (more than an hour or two) consider investing in a pair from Asolo or Vasque
Smart choices, both in style and practicality, for rainy fall days.
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