Stein phantom boots

[Taupotreeman]

Bought a pair of phantoms to save the sole on my Meindles and they've been pretty good so far. They don't mould to your foot as well as the Meindles and they're a little cooler in winter but just as waterproof. I was a bit iffy about buying something other than the airstream, as the saying goes; if it ain't broke don't fix it, but I'm pretty happy with them at the moment. I'm about 3 months in so far.

 

 

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[Tractor62]

I bought a pair of the red phantoms at jonsies show to wear as summer boots as my haix Tibet forests were a bit too warm. So far the steins have been great and even now the weather has turned wet they're still the boots I grab first unless it's a really wet site I'm working on. They are really comfortable and for the price I can't fault them at all.

[timbernut]

Had meindls for years but tried haix and they only lasted 6 months: hooks snapped and they split, so am currently trying Andrew boots I'd never heard of em but they're comfy and tuff, only criticism so sat is they seem difficult to foot lock in, might be arch very shallow or I'm just crap

[ArbjobsNick]

Alongside running Arbjobs I also work for STEIN SAFETY here in the UK. I would like to thank you for all the positive feedback and funny enough the negative feedback too, it is useful to know where we can improve on products. It is nice to hear back from customers directly before things are posted on here.

 

Sadly you can never please everyone all the time. STEIN PHANTOMS are built for STEIN by Alico a specialist mountaineering and hiking boot company from Italy who have been making boots for quite some time and make some boots for the Royal Marines see this ebay post :

 

Royal Marines Ski March Boots ALICO New Nordic 75mm Fitting Army Surplus | eBay

 

There are sadly people in the industry with an axe to grind who use Arbtalk to voice malicious nonsense against a number of brands STEIN included its just a sad fact of life and one I'm sure most users can see through. Any brand can have problems developing or evolving products. STEIN works with a team of Arborists to test and improve our range. OK we don't always get it right first time but show me a company that does, STIHL? PETZL? HAIX? have all had issues with products.

 

I don't know what some people expect regarding products a genuine manufacturing fault is a genuine failure of a component part. Wear and tear, use and abuse is not covered under warrantee.

 

Arboriculture has to be one of the toughest industries on boot. Many of us buy the cheapest boots available we don't just walk in them we jam them in to crotches in trees, drag them through briar and brash expose them to all sorts of chemicals and wear them often without any care six days a week and when they show signs of wear we blame the manufacturer. Be fair lads !

Edited December 9, 2013 by ArbjobsNick
amend wording

[GordonRochdale]

I've had a pair of phantoms, some

Things I've noticed that may or may not be personal to me, took quite a while to break in to a point where they were comfortable, after 3 months the left boot started leaking enough to make my feet pretty wet after a day walking on wet ground (not submersed), think it may be to do with the bunching / folding of the material at the lowest lace eyelets? Keeping the phantoms for summer to alleviate wear on my airstreams. Did notice the quality and instant comfort of the airstreams compared to the phantoms, but that is to be expected considering that they are Meindls, and basing this opinion on military boots I've had in the past from Meindl.

[Adam Bourne]

Well said nick

[ArbjobsNick]

I've had a pair of phantoms, some

Things I've noticed that may or may not be personal to me, took quite a while to break in to a point where they were comfortable, after 3 months the left boot started leaking enough to make my feet pretty wet after a day walking on wet ground (not submersed), think it may be to do with the bunching / folding of the material at the lowest lace eyelets? Keeping the phantoms for summer to alleviate wear on my airstreams. Did notice the quality and instant comfort of the airstreams compared to the phantoms, but that is to be expected considering that they are Meindls, and basing this opinion on military boots I've had in the past from Meindl.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Perwanger leather Perwanger is treated to help make it water resistant it may need additional applications of Silicone spray to enhance this ability so you could try this to see if it helps. Of course there are areas in any boot that can allow water penetration eyelets are riveted in to the leather and can allow water ingress and stitched areas that latter is a small issue on the phantoms as the main body is produced from just one leather section. The leather on the Phantoms is also very thick compared to other brands so I'm sorry but they will need some breaking in and this can take time.

[GordonRochdale]

Thank you for your reply Nick, yeah treated them a few times with nikwax as per my mountain of various boots for various jobs! The leather is very thick, which is obviously a bit of a trade off for drying time versus extended life of the boot. IMO the boots do take a lot of breaking in, closest to them would be a pair of Altberg peacekeepers that I stupidly broke in during P coy. Ouch.

[Ian C]

Well I got a pair last week so far v impressed, comfy waterproof and fit well.

 

Time will tell but I hope they carry pn as they have started.

 

Thanks guys for your imput.

[Guss109]

I'm on my second pair now and sofar been impressed with them