By: Blonde Two
I haven’t got many holes in my outdoor kit list these days but when KEEN offered to send us a pair each of their latest ladies’ walking boots to try out I was quite excited. Excited because for some time now I have been thinking about investing in a pair of lighter weight walking boots.
I have told you before about my love for my solid and unyielding Meindls, they are exactly what a girl needs when tromping over Dartmoor’s bogs and tussocks. However, there are lots of days when the tromping is over flatter grass, along beaches and down tracks and on those days, particularly in the summer, a girl would like to have something a bit lighter on her feet.
But does the Aphlex cut it when it comes to the Blonde Bimble? There are some things that all of our Bimbles require and we have to report that our shiny pink KEENs did rather well:
- A Blonde boot has to be waterproof. We told you about dipping them in the sea the other day but since then our boots have been in a couple of streams and several puddles and there is still no water getting in. KEEN use their own – KEEN.DRY ® waterproof breathable membrane and it does appear to do the job very well.
- A Blonde boot has to be comfortable. We all know that making walking boots comfortable takes a bit of effort and sometimes even a few blisters, well there appears to be no such nonsense with the Aplex. Mine have been on my feet more often than not this week and although the ankle area does appear to be a tad stiff, there has been no rubbing. The lightweight nature of this boot (404g) is a real bonus when it comes to comfort, they feel more settled on my feet than my walking trainers.
- A Blonde boot has to have some grip. This is something we haven’t fully tested yet; you can’t really find out about grip until you have scrambled up some Dartmoor rocks. From my trips down a few steep lanes I would say that the Aphlex is not quite as grippy as the Meindl, but I wouldn’t necessarily expect them to be.
- A Blonde boot has to allow a Blonde foot to perspire (or glow, or sweat). The Aphlex’s waterproof membrane appears so far to be breathable, I haven’t noticed any particularly unpleasant odours when I remove them. We shall test this aspect further in the summer (when I have a feeling I will be wearing these a lot!)
- A Blonde boot has to be PINK??? Hang on a minute, that isn’t right, I’m not sure either of us would have chosen pink but it is growing on me and KEEN have very cleverly provided another lady-colour that is much more muted.
So, should you buy the KEEN Women’s Aphlex waterproof boot (to give it it’s full title)? Well at £119.99 this isn’t the cheapest option but I haven’t seen a boot under that price yet that has been as waterproof as this one has been so far. The Aplex is a smart and comfortable boot that you could quite happily wear to the supermarket (well I am never happy at the supermarket but you get the idea) or up onto Dartmoor. You wouldn’t choose it for a full-on Dartmoor day trek to anywhere called ‘Pool’ or ‘Mire’ but then if you were sensible, you wouldn’t be doing that anyway!
What fun to have coloured boots! I look back on a lifetime of brown and occasionally grey boots – all very comfortable and varying from horrendously heavy to moderately light, but as an evening cheer-me-up after a long day, a complete non-starter.