If you are reading this MX2 hiking boots review, there’s a good chance you are planning on buying this brand of boots from a Boyes store somewhere in the UK. Boyes appears to be the only retailer distributing the brand, and it does not seem to be possible to buy MX2 hiking boots online.
I am writing this review after using the boots for two months. Why two months? Because that’s how long they lasted. After two months of light use, the boots were in such poor condition I had to throw them away. This is a street I have been down before. My previous hiking footwear lasted three months. That’s not much longer, and it was considerably more expensive.
Why I Chose MX2 Hiking Boots Over Alternative Brands
It’s a sad fact, but they don’t make things like they used to. These days, instead of making things to last, manufacturers appear to make them to fail. I find this is true for most things. Hiking boots are no exception. I’ve learned from experience that it often doesn’t make much difference if you choose a more expensive and popular brand over a cheap or unbranded option, the durability is usually very poor. Because of this, I sometimes buy cheap footwear because the usage period often matches that of more expensive options. However, because of the lesser investment, they provide better value for money.
I bought the MX2 hiking boots to replace a pair of Regatta Vendeavour Walking Shoes, which turned out to be a major disappointment. If you want to learn more about my experience, you can do so by reading my review.
The Regatta shoes generally retail for £30 to £70. Mine lasted just three months. I find this totally unacceptable and decided to replace them with something cheaper. Boyes stores always have a good selection of cheap footwear, so I made the local Boyes my first port of call. In addition to cheap brands, such as MX, Boyes also stock a few more expensive options. I tapped the heels, flexed the soles, and tested all the options available. In every case, the soles felt pathetically thin. The soles of the MX2 boots felt thin too. But some of the other options cost double the price and I could tell none of them had superior durability. By tapping the heels, it was also clear that none of them were solid. So instead of paying £50 or more, I spent £20. The bottom line is, I knew right from the start that I was buying poor-quality footwear, and, as expected, the MX2 hiking boots proved to have lifespan similar to that of my previous (more expensive) footwear.
First Impressions and Initial Problems
The first time I wore the boots, I could feel how thin the soles were. Every time I stood on a stone or an uneven surface, the balls of my feet had to deal with the punishment. The heels were a little better but, when I stood on a large stone, I could feel it’s presence under my heels, and the insole was disappearing into the hollow heel.
In addition to becoming ever thinner, the soles had also started to let in water. I only needed to stand in a shallow puddle to be rewarded with wet toes. As the days became weeks, these problems just kept getting worse. I bought the boots on June 21st, and binned them on September 6. By that point, I hadn’t worn them for a couple of weeks.
Terrain and Usage Frequency
My MX2 hiking boots only ever had light usage. I wore them most days for short journeys to and from the local shops, travelling over tarmac and concrete. In addition to this, most weeks I wore them for short hikes in the countryside, generally with a duration 90 minutes to 3 hours.
MX2 Hiking Boots: Demonstrating How Poorly they are Made
It’s all very well talking about how thin sole are and saying they are poor quality, but words alone cannot get the message across, so, now, when I write a hiking boot review, I cut the boots open and provide photographs that show a cross-section of the heel.
As you can see, the heel is hollow. You will also notice, it has an insert. This provides a little support for the heel, but is not tough enough to protect the heels when standing on a reasonable-sized stone. However, despite the higher price tag, my previous footwear didn’t have an insert. It’s no longer true to say you get what you pay for, and, in this way, my MX2 hiking boots are superior to my previous footwear. Nevertheless, give me a solid sole every time.
Even though the pictures provide an idea of how thin the sole is, they cannot indicate how soft the material is. It’s very soft—too soft—all along the sole. I found walking on rocky surfaces, while wearing these boots was an unpleasant experience, and after, the soles became cracked, it was even worse.
As for the rest of the boot, the upper feels very thin in comparison to most of the other boots I have worn, wearing these boots during a winter hike would necessitate the use of thick socks, which in turn would make the boots uncomfortably tight. Tearing may also be an issue, and the padding around the top of the boots is minimal.
MX2 Hiking Boots: Review Conclusion
Bearing in mind the light usage, I would expect a brand new pair of boots to last a lot longer than two months. However, the low cost of the boots takes away a little of the sting; especially bearing in mind the fact that I could have paid a lot more for an alternative brand, as I have in the past, and still been in a similar situation.
Nevertheless, I will not buy this brand again. Instead, I will try a brand I have not purchased before and hope for the best. I am presently wearing a cheap pair of hiking boots I bought three years ago from Lidl, but never used because I was not comfortable with the color—yellow. I am now using them exclusively for hiking, and have been doing so since I threw away the MX2 boots. The soles feel nice and thick, and they are holding up well, so—fingers crossed—it may be a while before I need to write a review.
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