JohnnyH wrote:I am familiar with White's, the pride of the wildland firefighter elitist... While I have not owned a pair of White's, I've owned similar pricepoint logging boots, and I cannot see them lasting anywhere near as long as welt boots... I've seen dozens of pairs of White's fail in stitching that doesn't exist on welt boots.
Logger boots are lighter, much more easily broken in and perhaps more comfortable than welt boots. But welt boots keep you drier (fewer stitching seams to seal), are less prone to rolling ankles (I've rolled in loggers, but not welt). Lastly, logging heals drive me crazy (prone to rolling, like a high-heal) and loggers left my feet feeling like burger after a days on the screes.
You can get White's with Vibram lugged and heeled soles, what you're calling "logger", or with other more traditional hiking/flat Vibram soles.
I now have several hundred miles on a pair of White's 8" with lugged sole/Arch-Ease "Outdoorsmen". I have come to the conclusion I like the heel. It feels weird to put them on at first, but I love how the heel catches when you start to slip on rough terrain, especially when wearing a load. I can see how people might not like this, each of our feet, gait etc are different. Boots that work for one might not for another.
I bought them for hiking and backpacking, and have hiked them in extremely wet and slippery conditions, all last winter in mud and snow, and in the desert, including lots of off-piste. In the past I've had the old Vasque Sundowners, mountaineering Asolos etc as my backpacking boots. So far the White's appear to be far more durable, are more comfortable the harder the day/trip and equally weather resistant. My biggest complaints in my use would be they are heavier than any boots I've owned, and they are more money. They also were slow to break in.
They are not the most comfortable boot on hard surfaces, and they are heavy, there are definitely better boots than anything with heavy lugged Vibram soles if you want a mixed use boot for concrete jungles.
For me they do exactly what I want them to better than anything I've tried, but I was looking for a specialist shoe.
Based on my observation of how the leather/stitching and general construction has held up, and how they fit my feet if I was trying to get a single do it all pair of boots, White's be high on my list, but I would not get the heeled/lugged ones for it. My favorite do-it-all shoes I own with city use would be a pair of Danners I got at one of their big sales.