Brasher Supalite XCR hiking boots
£100.00
Rule #1 for any product tester: test against purpose.
As I wobbled along a 2000m high mountain ridge in Transylvania it crossed my mind that the tech details for Brasher's new(ish) XCR Supalite specifically DID NOT include "perfect for knee-high snow, knock you off the ridge blizzard conditions with rough scree underfoot."
If it had included such fit for purpose notes, my feet would not be soaking wet and freezing and I would not be slipping precariously close to the edge of a 300-metre drop.
This is absolutely no slight on the boots: more so on my walk preparation and a pig headed belief that, because the Brasher XCR Supalites are so damn comfy, they'd be up to a job well beyond their remit.
These boots are good. They're Supalite by name and by nature. At a feather-like 1160gms/pair (+ or - depending on size), they offer out-of-the-box comfort. Sole and ankle support hasn't been sacrificed, either, with the Stabylite torsion system maintaining acceptable rigidity.
On more suitable test walks (easy to medium British trails in fair weather) the XCR's offered up no downside. Perhaps that's why I pushed the boundaries. Having plenty first-hand tales of Nepali and Andean mountain men wearing nothing more than tyre rubber strapped to their feet, I wanted to see what the limit was for more 'advanced' footwear.
First up it was trek along a boggy Glen Nevis in Scotland. To the credit of the XCRs they peformed surprisingly well. My foot became damp - but definitely not waterlogged - after multiple dunkings in marshy ground. Yet the lightness on foot more than made up for the slight discomfort. 15 miles later and my feet felt like they'd only walked half that. Another plus is the breathability: it didn't take too long for the boots to wick away the moisture that had broken through the XCR's Gore-Tex defences.
The Fogaras Mountain trek in Romania was, however, a step too far. Below treeline was fine, but once above it the snow got deeper, my feet got wetter and colder as the Gore-Tex XCR waterproofing liner began to fail, and grip suffered on the steeper, rockier terrain. Which brings us to the point that if you stick to the golden rule of only using a boot as instructed on the box, the XCRs are one of the best bets on the market for easy to intermediate walking.
Others have criticised the XCR's fashion credentials (see Jon's review on www.outdoorsmagic.com), but then when it comes to outdoor gear, I reckon looks have nought to do with it: it's all about function. So while Jon worries about what he looks like at the pub, you can be sure that the XCR's will do you proud on the trail as long as that trail is fairly dry and not too extreme. If you're headed above snowline in Transylvania, best up-spec: maybe to Brasher's Aso GTX?
Reviewed on 28/09/2007 by Chris Ord