The boot was well made and I realy liked it except that I continued to get heel blisters even with extended break in and 2 pairs of sox. I tried a 1/2 size smaller to no avail. I loved the boots and hesitated to return them but finally after another misereable hike they had to go. LL Bean allowed the return without any problem.
Comfort, fit, protection, water resistance - very good. However, one of the lace posts at the top of the boot got bent, and after bending so many times it cracked and was about to break when I called LL Bean. Good news - LL Bean service was incredible and they sent replacement boots even though they were over a year old. Bad news - Unfortunately, LL Bean could not fix the post. The boots were in good shape (finally broken in nice) and had a lot of miles left on them but because of a piece of metal costing less than $0.01, the pair has to be scrapped. Big carbon footprint - shipping from Italy to Maine to CT back to Maine and on to the dumpster. I hope it was a defective lace post and not a consistent design flaw; the other posts held up though. I'll find out soon enough with the new boots. If they fail again I'll look for another design.
I can't belive how good these boots fit out of the box and just how waterproof they are. My niece has a set of them and told me I would not be disapointed, she was correct!
