Loose Moose - if you buy the Abyss II boots, I recommend coating the exposed threads on the rubber toe and heel protectors with epoxy.  they seem to be the weak point in the design, though it may be cheaper materials since the original company sold out to NB ?

I've got 211 portages (36 miles worth) on my original pair of Abyss boots I bought from OTB in 2007.  The only wear is on those exposed threads - I took the time to epoxy them this summer after my Q trip, and cemented the rubber heel protector on at the tips, where they were coming away from the shoe - nothing functionally wrong but fixed and good for at least a few more years I figure.

I've tried many different portage boots - the worst was the Chota Q Trekker, which started to fall apart on the second day.  I know people who swear by tehm, but they have boots they bought years ago when the quality was apparently better.  Have treid wading (fishing) boots too.  None of the boots have lasted as long as or performed as well as those original Abyss boots, so I still recomend them.  I have a second pair I bought to use when the originals die, but they are tstill in the original box.

No matter what you buy nowadays, it seems that you have a 1 in 3 chance of getting a failure.  That's just the way it is with everything being made in China. But doing a bit of preventive maintenance on exposed threads, and maybe even running a light bead of epoxy to areas where two materials join should help prolong any boots.  I had to do that with a pair of Kamik boots I used hunting - the glued on soles were coming away from the boots, both of them - that will be a tes for the epoxy fix, for sure.