Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire danner boots

a number of years ago, which really isn't too pertinent, i bought a pair of danner hunting boots, over 200 bucks as i remember at the time.
these haven't been used much, like maybe one week a year, but coming back for a deer trip, i took a look at them. I only wore them one day on that trip.
The rubber soles are cracking and separating from the top/leather along the heel sides.
Looking on the web, danner will resole them for over 100 bucks.
I bought danner, having had real good luck with them for many prior years to this. But this kind of disgruntles me, given the lack of abuse and usage.
Anybody else have issues with danners?

Rubber degrades (UV?) and dries/cracks over time, regardless of usage.

Mine have been rock solid, even the pair I still have from 1994.

mine just started delaminating but i wear them a lot and they are about 5 years old. when my good rockies did that i took them to a local cobbler and he did new soles for $45. might want to check local.

I keep these in the garage and next to them is a pair of merrill hiking boots with rubber soles, much older, and they have not cracked, not has my other pair of insulated boots. I may call danner tomorrow and see what they say. These boots have never been abused.

I think calling Danner is a wise decision. Never know what they might offer. Merrills on the other hand seem to be off the charts in terms of quality so I would suspect they would hold up better.

Keep us updated as to what Danner says. Hopefully they take care of you.

Were they Danner USA made or Danner import made?? Were the soles Vibram?? By chance did the Merrills have Vibram soles??

Danner is far from top line IMHO. Does not surprise me.

But Wife likes a pair she has. We keep all our boots in AC/heat year round in a closet away from UV.

Good luck, I'd give em a call for sure.

I have had three pair of Danner's American made boots. MSRP was well over $200. First pair bought years ago were just fine, the next two pair including a call to Danner customer service convinced me to never buy another pair of anything Danner.

No specific boot has been mentioned in this thread which would have been helpful.

My experience with Danner and their Sierra line of boots has been impeccable. The Sierra is made in the USA and I have purchased several pair since the mid-1980s. Some of them have been re-soled, others the uppers were shot from working in the timber and around the farm.

I have three pairs and all are great. One pair was $300 - all American made, the other two were Chinese and I paid less than $100 each. The Chinese aren't as good quality but are a lot better quality than other boots that I can buy for that price.

For about 20 years I've worn two pairs of lace to toe boots that Cabela's called "Predators". Two years ago we were packing out my elk and I noticed I was sounding like I was wearing "flip flops". The sole ("Danner Bobs") had come loose at the heel.

I figured I had gotten my money's worth but sent them in for a "refurb" and they came back looking like new in less than two weeks.

One eyelet has pulled loose on the other pair so I'll send them in too when I get a chance.

I've been wearing (US) Danners for over twenty years without the slightest problem.
Got three pair in the closet right now that I'm sure will out last me.
Give em a call and see what they say.
Luck

I got my first Danners (Ft. Lewis Go-Devils) while marching in the legions. I put two years on them then. They went to the academy with me and they were my duty boots until they disintegrated on my feet after about 7 years.

I've had my current pair (also Go-Devils) since 1997. I took a little better care of these and other than a few pinhole leaks in the Gore-Tex, they are still going strong.

I bought a pair for work from sportsman's. I think I paid 159 or something of the sort. They didn't last as long as some of the cheap Bates boots. Maybe 6 months, wearing them 4 days a week. Reading this thread reinforces my decision to avoid Danner as much as possible.
My next pair will be Under Armour boots.

Guess here... another dealio link soon?

It varies, I guess. My Merrell sport shoes with gray suede uppers were bought in Japan and despite light wear, had soles crumble. Same experience with New Balance sport shoes. I believe both had some kind of polymer or composite soles, but both utterly fell apart.

OTOH, Vibram soles and rubber soles like those on Russell boots and good quality shoes like Aldens, Allen Edmonds and Cheaneys seem to last forever. That is my experience, anyway.

I am interested in what people say about Danner boots. As you may know, they are part of LaCrosse Footwear, which was acquired in 2012 by ABC-Mart, a shoe distributor with about 800 stores,mostly in Japan, that was started here in Osaka. I doubt that the quality has gone down and I've heard that it is pretty good.

And we know UA is a top tier boot manufacturer.
Really.

Im a big fan of Danner boots, have 5 different pair for the last six years. Love the fit, and have had excellent luck so far with all. Some of my favorite boots.

I tried a pair of the Danner made "Elk Hunter" boots with the Air Bob sole. The are/were quite comfortable, but the sole started splitting across the sole just in front of the heel. I called both companies. Cabelas wants Danner to deal with it. Danner wants to charge for refurb. If the sole only last a couple or three years I'm not impressed.