Customer Reviews Danner North Fork Rambler

These fit me well in a size 8, and I wear size 8 in most shoe styles/brands. They are immediately comfortable, unlike other boots with this old-fashioned hiking boot look. I have't hiked in them yet, but have walked about 6 miles in the first two days of ownership and found them to be top notch in fit, adjustment, and look. Plus, there is a real bonus here: the lining in the boot is a wicking material pulling moisture out through the leather, and there is NO waterproof lining such as Gore Tex. I find "permeable membranes" like Gore Tex tend to be less than permeable and work too slowly, if at all, and my socks are wet at the end of the day. That's not the case with these boots. Instead, they are as close to the old school you'll find -- they let the leather itself do the work of protecting you and exhaling moisture, just like leather boots did for hundreds of years before every maker started putting in their version of Gore Tex. So, they're not low-tech boots, they're old-tech boots, and because my feet stay dry, they stay warmer in average cold weather. I don't use Gore Tex boots unless I'm standing in deep snow and slush for a long period of time; these boots are not for that kind of action, though on packed snow they get great traction and work just fine.