One of the first things I started researching about when we decide to go for this travelling adventure was shoes. I wanted something that waa durable acceptable for most circumstances and of course fairly cheap.

Now people who know me can testify that I’m not a shoe guy. For the past 15 years I’ve been walking around in work boots or atleast shoes picked up from the catalog of my favorite working shoe brand. Yes i have a favorite workboot company 😁

The problem is that the workboot companies tend to make boots that are super comfortable and extremely durable, but they look like shit! Also most of them are very heavy wich is a problem when you’re travelling and hiking

I started looking for gore tex shoes that you can wear day to day that are still supportive enough to do sone hikes. I quickly realized that I can still look at working boots, not just from my factory perspective. I found that guards, police, paramedics, hunters and of course soldiers have shoes fitting my first 2 needs. When durable and comfortable requirements were easily filled the problem became to find the reasonably priced ones.

I realized that Petra’s brother Glenn is a security guard, avid hunter, military enthusiast and best of all has a side business of selling equipment for security guards.

I asked Glenn some advice about my problem one july day while helping him out painting a house. He gave some advice from his product catalogue and referred me to another company that can deliver faster the shoes that he doesnt have in stock.

I quickly discovered that a german HAIX brand has some cool products that were reasonably priced. They seem to be popluar with military and law enforcement professionals wich is always a good sign when searching for quality. I ended up choosing a mid-range shoe for me that is not a pure hiking shoe but a all-rounder like I wanted.

Problem was the shape of the shoe. I read some reviews that said the shoe is made for a narrow foot, and us Finns have in general very wide feet compared to rest of the europeans. (I wonder why, maybe its because of the ice. Penquins have big feet too) I took a half a size bigger than normal and took a chance.

The shoes arrived in little over a week and i picked them up and left immediately after to another city to meet up with Petra who was working in norway at the time. I put the shoes on in the train going to turku for a friends wedding. By the time i had met Petra in the city and walked ro our hostel my feet were in agony!

Turns out my feet were not sturdy enough to tame the shoes to mold to my likings.

Luckily Petra has a few sizes smaller foot than I have, so she tested my shoes amd they werr only slightly too large.

We decided that Petra starts using the shoes. I ordered, because I couldnt return them i threw away the box.

I ordered 2 sizes bigger shoes than i usually use and have been super happy with them.

Now we have exaclty same shoes but in different colours. I know, we’re totally that couple that wears matching stuff! But just because we habe done our research to find the best compromizes for us.

Haix shies have 1 year waeranty on the gore tex and they are light, and small enough to wear daily. Too bad they dont have resellers in nz as mine started. Leaking little after 9 months. I guess wearing them daily for a working holiday does that!

Whats your shoes like?