My current infatuation—and DIY gift suggestion—is the Hi-Tec Trail OX Chukka hiker style boot.
Yes, it’s mainly a hiking boot and designed for such, but I used it in all kinds of home improvement and weekend-ing and my feet really like it.
It does three things extraordinarily well: Keeps my feet dry and comfortable, has no extra stuff on it that’ll fail and comes in at a great price.
Does it stay dry?
Hi-Tec calls the boot waterproof. I know I stood inches deep in that stream pictured above and nary a drop got into the shoe.
Also, I worked outside on rainy and wet jobsites for hours on end and, again, feet dry. Dry feet in long-term soaking conditions means the Hi-Tec OX Chukka will be a go-to for snow shoveling duty. Just look how happy that makes me.
What’s the style?
Unlike—thank you Hi-Tec—other boots I’ve owned, there are no frilly rubber strips and racing stripes and other stuff that invariably peels off under jobsite conditions. When the sole wears out—which is stout and grippy…I gave that a test sheeting a roof on an addition and just running around all day framing—is when I want a boot to fail and the Hi-Tec looks poised to do that.
After 12 hours, are the shoes still dry?
A few minor—very minor—things I noticed. The shoe is waterproof. It’s not magic. For 12-hours of active working and more, I don’t notice it at all. They feel like any other shoe, except that my feet are dry. At the very end of the day, however, I start to notice a little dampness inside the shoe. Not a big deal.
What about the treads?
The treads are rugged and made for the trail. For the jobsite, they’re mud-magnets. Again, not a big deal. My point is that it’s worth noting if you’re doing one of those outside-inside gigs where mud and dirt need to be managed with drop cloths and the like.
DIY gifts?
DIY gifts means not just making stuff, but giving gear that makes doing DIY—whether that’s carpentry, woodworking, or weekend walks with my son—better and easier.
Finally, it’s always gift-giving season, whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, or a holiday and with a street price of around $90, the OX Chukka lands well, well below other brands that, in many cases, deliver a lot less shoe.
