This past year, a brand new pair of Dachstein Alpin Bock hunting boots added some class to my closet. Sadly, that was about the only action they saw because when I received them I no longer had any hunting tags left to fill and season was over. I had to sit and look at the pretty things for 8 months until I could get them out into the hunting terrain and put some hard miles on them. Thankfully, we are now in the thick of our season and I have been getting some great testing done on these bad boys. I thought I would update the review on them and add some of my experiences for those of you who have shown interest in the brand.

The boots I got are the tall version and are too warm for summer trekking. That meant that on opening day of archery season they were not even close to being “broke in”. I was a little concerned that I may get sore feet from putting them on and just hitting it hard but decided that was the best way to test them. I am one of those people who will always develop blisters. It doesn’t matter how many socks I wear or what trick I try to pull, I will always get blisters on long hikes unless my boots are so broke in that they are starting to wear out. I knew that these were the softest and most comfortable boots that had yet to grace my foot but I didn’t think that there was anyway I could get through the break in without a few blisters. I was wrong. Not a single blister occurred and no part of my foot developed any kind of discomfort whatsoever. That is miraculous to me. I am a sore foot kind of person so, needless to say, I am in love with walking around the woods and hiking the hills in foot bliss! It is a rare feeling for me and I am enjoying every minute of it. Basically, they fit awesome.

Because they are high cut, the stability they provide is incredible. Not only is the ankle perfectly supported, when you add the grip of the Vibram Fourá sole you also get extreme surefootedness. I am a klutz. It’s well known and more than a little embarrassing so this feature was a huge plus for me. The other thing I wanted to test was the effectiveness of their unique waterproof and breathable eVent system. Aside from actually stepping into running water I can safely say I put the boots through a thorough wet test. From my experience, if a boot is going to leak it will do so when you walk through wet snowy grass. It will also leak when you walk through rain soaked grasses. I did both of these for extended periods of time and not once did the boots get even a little bit wet inside. They were very wet on the outside but my foot was bone dry. This weekend I am heading out elk hunting in some mountain country and the Dachsteins are going to get another test, deep snow.