Soopah K! Bostonian for SuperK. Cheers, man! I'm linking how these are holding up. I've worn them about every day since the first week of June.
~ I wear Smartwool snowboard/ski socks through the entire year. I don't have a single issue with funk in the foot, unless the music is right.
~ My Clip'N boots don't seem as resistant to water as my Evo boots, but the only time it was an issue was when my feet were totally submerged on a job with a high water table where we were clearing a few small trees and dragging them to the chipper. I haven't had a chance to wear them in Winter, so we'll see how that works out in the coming months.
~ The eyelets are holding up so far. I've seen them pop on Evo boots, and I'm not too sure what may be different between these and the Evos, but so far so good.
~ You'll find the Clip'N version is more supple than the Evos, yet still provide plenty of support for what we do.
~ The soles are showing normal wear, which is good. I've made it a point to wear these everywhere I go to see how long they last. Walking around cities or hardscape, hiking, etc... they are wearing, for sure, but the soles are soft and the wear they show is to be expected. The treads are closing in on being flat in certain areas, but still show the full pattern all around. I'd like to see a pattern more like that on the Evo, but I don't really have a solid reason why. These grip well, and they feel fine in spurs. I wear Axess Climbers, for what it's worth.
~ The Clip'N webbing has been bomb-proof so far. I'll admit that I did a couple things to facilitate easier connections. Each boot has 2 straps in an X pattern, and in order to keep them together, I ran four passes with needle and thread at the center of the X. This prevents you from only catching one web.
~ I also found slight interference where the laces come out and run by the webbing. To improve this, I carefully ran a hot wire (eyelet diameter) through the eyelets in the places where it would hit webbing. This is only four eyelets on each boot. Now, the laces come through the eyelets AND the webbing as they are threaded into the boot, so when you tighten them, everything stays aligned. The webs on my boots look more like one fat web and they sit super wide open for reliable connection. If you can make toast, you can do this with your boot. It's really easy and worth the effort.
~ I dig the lace-to-toe style, and they wrap right up nicely with my feet.
~ The wrap around rand is hanging in there and there doesn't seem to be any glue issue in that area.
~ I also like the profile around the heel. My Pantin fits right on there snug and doesn't move around or cause discomfort. It takes a slight bit of effort to snug it up over the back of my heel, but once it's in place and cinched up it's locked right in and aligned nicely for good rope travel.
~ The HAAS Clip is perfectly built in length, and Michael has a very close eye for detail and build quality. The eye is formed in perfect orientation so that when it's connected to the boot, the ascender is perfectly aligned for best operation. You just have to choose which way you want the carabiner to install. I like the gate facing my leg, not my toes. This may sound like a little detail, but it's important for maximum stride, and Michael got it right.
~ I find that it's most comfortable to point my toes slightly downward while ascending with these on. It focuses some of the pressure to my narrower instep rather than the wider ball of my foot.
I showed my boots to Alessandro of Arbpro and we went over them carefully. He liked the subtle mods I did with the webbing and will be incorporating something similar. He found a few other ways to improve the overall build and showed me some other changes that have already been made since the first production run. They are coming with a better lining on the interior for better breathability, but as I stated earlier, I haven't found any issues. When I held a pair of the current model, they somehow seemed a bit more robust, but maybe it's just because they were new.
So far, the only thing I would ask for is a sole that lasts longer, or is just thicker for a bit more wear life, as the soles are the only part of the boot that really show any wear. If you want them to last longer, you could just allocate them to climbing only and use something else for knocking around.
......
