My Limmer Boot Journey - Part 2 (First Impressions)

Recently I decided to invest in a pair of high-quality, full leather, old-school hiking boots from the Limmer Boot Company in New Hampshire.  You can read all about the ordering process in Part 1.  I then proceeded to do exactly what Mr. Limmer told me NOT to do, and immediately took them out for a 2-day, 20 mile backpacking trip to Dolly Sods.



Maybe that's not entirely true.  First I took them out for a walk at lunch - twice actually, on consecutive days.  The first day I covered about 1.5 flat, easy miles and my feet hurt just a little.  The next day I managed to walk 3 miles, and my feet hurt just a little.  Note the yin and the yang of my dress slacks against my Limmer boots during one of my lunchtime walks.



My Limmer Lightweights on their first walk

The next day I loaded all my stuff into the car, picked up some friends, and headed for the hills, Limmer Lightweights in tow, along with a pair of trail running shoes, just in case I wimped out.

Around the campfire (and over too many beers) the night before we set out, I resolved to leave the trail runners in the car and just use the next couple of days to start to break-in my Limmers.  I knew I was taking a risk, but I also knew that my feet would hurt in my trail runners, too.  Or in my old backpacking boots.  I've come home from trips with feet so badly mangled that I threw my past-their-useful-life boots at the time in the garbage, so that I wouldn't make the mistake of hiking in them again.  This couldn't be much worse than that, right?

Actually, it wasn't.  My feet did hurt a little, but I was really glad I opted for my Limmers over my trail runners.  At the end of the trip I had some blisters on my heels, as well as the sides of my big toes and the outside of one pinky toe.  My friends, all hiking in something much more broken in, also had blisters on their heels and otherwise sore of bruised feet. 

The trails we chose in Dolly Sods were really rugged and rocky, and lesser footwear would have been eaten alive.  The best comparison is probably to the Devil's Racecourse, along the Appalachian Trail in Maryland, but for about 18 of the 20 miles we hiked. 

My Limmer Lightweights offered superb stability when rock hopping along, excellent grip, and good support (though admittedly my pack weight was not crazy - somewhere around 25-30 lbs with food and water).

My body would not have been any better off with any other choice of footwear, and likely would have been worse.  A good foot soaking in the cold river at the end of the first day, and some prudent application of moleskin before setting out the second day helped things from getting truly gnarly. 

Are my boots broken in yet?  Not hardly.  But they're definitely starting to show some flex.  I've since continued the break-in process, using them exclusively for outside work around our property and the occasional day hike.  I'm extremely happy with how they feel , and it seems like every time I lace them up they feel a little better.  You can read about my care and cleaning routine in Part 3.

A Final Note

I did not receive compensation in any form from anyone to write this article.  I purchased my Limmer Lightweight Boots and boot care kit with my own hard-earned money.  The opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone and have not been tainted by any third party.

Keep in Touch

If you found this post useful, or have a topic you'd like to see covered in the future, leave a comment below.  You can also get notified of new posts by subscribing with your email via the link to the right.  Of course, you can also share it on your favorite social media site using the links below this post.