Rating as a portage boot -   Excellent    a "10"  well worth the $115 price.

I used the Abyss model boot (similar in looks to a light hiking boot) for my 11 day trip this year, and they were everything I wanted in a portage boot.   Comfortable to wear, relatively light weight, easy draining, great traction on both mud and rock, and well made and durable.

OTB stands for Over The Beach - these boots were designed by a company that makes boots for the Navy Seals, and they use the same materials and technology.

When I put my boot on a rock or log and expected it to stay put, it stayed.  No slipping when I wasn't expecting to slip.  The boots have a great traction sole.  There are "nubbins" on the sole that are 1/4" high - in the mud of the portage trails, you could see that track, and see how much deeper the pattern was biting than other footprints on the same trail.

I bought these boots to replace a pair of Chota Quetico Trekkers I'd bought two years ago, which I was sadly disappointed in for performance and durability issues (there is a review thread I wrote on the QTs on here).  I had zero issues with the OTB boots, and would highly recommend them.

The only bit of wear I see on the new boots is where the heel and toe caps (rubber, wrapped around a long way to protect the toe and heel areas) rubbed against rocks on the portages.  Some of the threads (the rubber caps are both glued and sewn) show sighns of wear - I will coat them with a bit of epoxy, just to keep that to a minimum.

When I lifted my boot out of the water, there was a fountain of water pumping out from the drain holes in the top of the shoe, as well as from the holes in the bottom of the sole.  That was one question I had before using the boots.  With the large drain holes on the bottom, would the boot keep out the mud and grit?  It did, and grit or mud in the boot was never an issue.  There are two removeable foot beds (which I never bothered to take out - I just wore the boots till they were mostly dry) which keep the mud and grit from entering the boot, and the design of the sole keeps the mud from caking up in the cleates.

Since everything I like seems to disappear from the market, I will probably go ahead and buy a second pair to stash in my closet for the future.


otbboots.com, if you want to check them out.