woodreaux
FNG
- Joined
- May 14, 2024
- Messages
- 2
My Troopers arrived yesterday.
I had bought the Vivo Tracker AT and really liked them except that I probably bought them a half size too small and the rubber toe cap put constant painful pressure on my big toe nail, and more importantly to this discussion-- I found the soles grippy as long as the ground wasn't wet rock. In my experience, the soles become super slippy with 0 friction in that case. Resulted in some spectacular falls on a recent trip to the rugged coastline of scotland.
So I went back on the search for a barefoot hunting boot (for Colorado elk in September) and bought some JG troopers (in my brannock size). This thread validates some of my first impressions (<24 hours):
1. The tread seems a little underwhelming on the stock sole. The vibram resole looks great-- thanks for sharing those pictures. (more on this in point 4)
2. The leather just above the heel folds when stepping in a way that puts pressure on the top of my heel. The unlined interior (no slick heel cup) and the midline stitch seem like they make the rubbing worse. We'll see how that goes.
3. Also in comparison to the Vivo tracker, the JG troopers have less 'ground feel' because they have a leather half-insole, a leather midsole, a rubber slip sole, and then the rubber outsole. The JG barefoot experience is more like you are walking barefoot on the sole, rather than through the sole. That may be an advantage for rocky mountain hunts, imo But, if you want to feel every pebble and sharp rock edge, this boot may not give you that experience.
4. The biggest differences between the JG boots and any of the other barefoot hikers, in my opinion, is the 'heritage' construction-- meaning these boots are resoleable, repairable, built to last as long as you want to wear them. This construction is also the reason you can decide to try out a different sole. No other barefoot style boot offers that as far as I know.
5. I also bought the JG leather balm, which -- strangely enough-- leads me to another selling point (won't matter to everyone): I put high value on a company that is making their products in their own country. If it's an American company with American Executives making money going into American bank accounts, then I think there should be American workers in American factories making an American product, preferably from American materials. Bonus points if the company is keeping profits in the communities that make the product, and extra bonus points if the company takes pride and interest in seeing those communities thrive. Substitute any country name in place of 'America' and I feel the same. Jim Green fits this perfectly as far as I can tell, and this little tin of wax is an example-- sourced, produced, packaged, and sold by and for southern Africa (I'm not 100% sure its only South Africa now that I think of it but close enough for me).
Summary: An extremely well built, mostly very comfortable boot at a reasonable cost, that I can put through rough terrain, repair indefinitely, modify as needed, and expect to use for many years, produced and sold according to a value system rather than only a profit system.
I'm in. Fingers crossed there will be no blisters.
I had bought the Vivo Tracker AT and really liked them except that I probably bought them a half size too small and the rubber toe cap put constant painful pressure on my big toe nail, and more importantly to this discussion-- I found the soles grippy as long as the ground wasn't wet rock. In my experience, the soles become super slippy with 0 friction in that case. Resulted in some spectacular falls on a recent trip to the rugged coastline of scotland.
So I went back on the search for a barefoot hunting boot (for Colorado elk in September) and bought some JG troopers (in my brannock size). This thread validates some of my first impressions (<24 hours):
1. The tread seems a little underwhelming on the stock sole. The vibram resole looks great-- thanks for sharing those pictures. (more on this in point 4)
2. The leather just above the heel folds when stepping in a way that puts pressure on the top of my heel. The unlined interior (no slick heel cup) and the midline stitch seem like they make the rubbing worse. We'll see how that goes.
3. Also in comparison to the Vivo tracker, the JG troopers have less 'ground feel' because they have a leather half-insole, a leather midsole, a rubber slip sole, and then the rubber outsole. The JG barefoot experience is more like you are walking barefoot on the sole, rather than through the sole. That may be an advantage for rocky mountain hunts, imo But, if you want to feel every pebble and sharp rock edge, this boot may not give you that experience.
4. The biggest differences between the JG boots and any of the other barefoot hikers, in my opinion, is the 'heritage' construction-- meaning these boots are resoleable, repairable, built to last as long as you want to wear them. This construction is also the reason you can decide to try out a different sole. No other barefoot style boot offers that as far as I know.
5. I also bought the JG leather balm, which -- strangely enough-- leads me to another selling point (won't matter to everyone): I put high value on a company that is making their products in their own country. If it's an American company with American Executives making money going into American bank accounts, then I think there should be American workers in American factories making an American product, preferably from American materials. Bonus points if the company is keeping profits in the communities that make the product, and extra bonus points if the company takes pride and interest in seeing those communities thrive. Substitute any country name in place of 'America' and I feel the same. Jim Green fits this perfectly as far as I can tell, and this little tin of wax is an example-- sourced, produced, packaged, and sold by and for southern Africa (I'm not 100% sure its only South Africa now that I think of it but close enough for me).
Summary: An extremely well built, mostly very comfortable boot at a reasonable cost, that I can put through rough terrain, repair indefinitely, modify as needed, and expect to use for many years, produced and sold according to a value system rather than only a profit system.
I'm in. Fingers crossed there will be no blisters.
