We contacted Altberg a boot designer and manufacturer based in North Yorkshire to see if we could review a pair of their highly rated hiking boots. With our trip to Portugal on the horizon what better environmnet to test Altbergs fantastic reputation to the test!
We recently visited Portugal’s Algarve Coast and thought what better way to test the Altberg Base Trekking Boot than to use it on one of our walks.
The base trekker boot was originally designed in 2008 by the senior Altberg boot maker for his own use whilst walking in Botswana. He then used them again later in the year for summer, hiking in Europe and the UK.
Designed specifically with warmer climates in mind, the boot is very breathable (evident with the lack of a waterproofing lining). This basically means that in the hotter climates your feet won’t overheat and theoretically sweat and swell as much.
We opted to test the Altberg Base Trekker mk2 as we believe this boot would suit a lot of our walking routes across our holiday collection. With most of our walks taking place in dry, warmer climates with moderate to varying terrain, we thought we’d see how we got on when we recently visited Portugal’s Algarve.
The main reason we chose this boot to test was based on Altberg’s British heritage and the design of the boot to accommodate warmer climates. With over 30 years of experience in Bootmaking and a reputation preceding them, we figured that Altberg knew a thing or two about making great hiking boots!
We tested the boots in four key areas.
Breathability
The boots are made with a brown suede outer that has pockets of breathable fibres across the heel and around the arch of the foot all the way through to the top area, where your laces meet your toes. This allows the boots to breathe and ensure the circulation of air to your feet is optimised when walking in the warmer climates. The only downside to this breathability factor is that it means the boots can’t be waterproof. This is fine as the boots are specifically designed for warmer, drier climates and conditions. After our walk our thick socks were dry as a bone and our feet were still feeling very fresh.
Comfort
The overall comfort of the boots is fantastic. Especially the ankle support of the boots at the base of the heel providing solid support whatever the terrain you are treading on. This coupled with the soft plush leather higher ankle wrap around the top of your foot, provide much needed directional flexibility when moving over difficult terrain. Although they have thick grippy soles they don’t feel cumbersome, and the lightweight rigid foam absorbs any hard terrain making the boots feel great with every stride. The only small drawback is that the boots need to be worn in, but you will find this with any new pair of boots or shoes.
Terrain
We tested the boots across dry terrain, from flat sandy paths, rocky trails, tarmac roads to bushy trails. The boots stood up to the varying environments and didn’t cause any issues in terms of losing balance or grip regardless of the terrain. The lightweight advantage helped across both the flatter roads, and the rigid terrains, ensuring that your legs didn’t feel like jelly after a day of walking.
Fit
The wider front of the boots allowed our toes to spread out and provide us with much needed balance across the varying terrains. The solid and supple ankle support from the bottom to the top provided a great base to plant our foot, and the flexibility to manoeuvre in the directions that you need. The inner sole Altberg designed combat/trek airgrid inner sole has been designed to mould to your foot, providing optimum fitting and all-day comfort over time.
PROS
CONS
The Altberg Base Trekker Mk2 offers a great lightweight option for warmer weather walking, providing fantastic grip and balance when walking/hiking on varied terrain. Being specific to warmer weather walking, the boot is only let down by the fact that it is a specialist boot that isn’t 100% waterproof and would not be great as an all-year-round walking boot. Saying this, the breathability factor is a major advantage, especially when walking long distances in warmer, drier weather conditions. Before reviewing this boot, it would be worth considering having different boots for different environments and terrains. In this case one boot doesn’t fit all but fits really well, depending on what you are doing!
Altberg was established in 1989 in Richmond North Yorkshire by Mike Sheehan.
Originally learning his trade in the Richmond Shoe Factory that was part of the Rochdale Pioneers co-operative movement established in 1844, he would start his career as part of a production line making over 25,000 shoes a week in 1969.
Of the 500 shoe makers in the UK in 1969, By 1989 only 25 remained! With lower cost and cheaper imports entering the shoe manufacturing industry a large number of redundancies were made in the area.
Mike made the decision to hone his skills and set about making shoes and boots with quality over quantity, the key factor.
Utilising traditional techniques and the best materials, Altberg was born.
Altberg’s focus on designing and creating durable and comfortable boots came about after a chance meeting with military personnel looking for more of a better designed boot than their standard issue military boots.
Since then, Altberg has designed hundreds of boots all over the world. Founder and senior boot designer Mike Sheehan is still making boots today at the age of 70 stating ” I don’t think I’ve made my best boot yet”.
Maintained by Seventy9
