Before heading out into the hills we all paired up for some boot fitting to make sure everyone was as comfortable as could be before heading out. We all picked up some useful lacing and fitting techniques along the way, not to mention how useful a pair of volume adjusters can be when your boots are half a size too big! I used a lacing technique I've never come across before, which made a pulley like system to correct the small amount of heel lift I was experiencing. You achieve it by lacing up your boots the same as you normally would, except when you get to the top eyelet, you cross the laces over again and thread them through and underneath the laces, just beneath where the top eyelet starts, creating a firm fit around the foot. It really made the difference on the walk! Not a jot of heel lift, sorted.
The walk started off on fairly flat terrain, weaving our way through crop fields and into wide green open spaces, so the Fellmasters didn't even have to bat an eyelid.
As we climbed a bit higher into the hills, that was when the Fellmaster's really came into action. We had a few fairly steep inclines to work our way up, some with partial stepping others with just a few rocks to grip on. These inclines wern't a problem for the boots though, they've been designed with a directional lug pattern, meaning whichever angle you place you foot down on the boots will grip to the surface, especially useful on steeper inclines to make sure you get plenty of purchase with each step, giving yourself the confidence to attack the terrain.
After about 45 minutes walking we stopped by the side of a rather prim looking cricket pitch and had a bite to eat to refuel for the rest of the walk. After a short rest we heading off again, this time into more challenging terrain and by challenging I mean mud and lots of it! There were a few minor slips and slides (which is to be expected when it's very wet and muddy underfoot) but no-one fell flat on their face, always a bonus! The Fellmasters grip did however give us complete confidence in every step. We started to really appreciate the memory foam in the ankles at this point as well, with your foot going into the mud at all angles, without the memory foam protection they could have got a bit of a bashing, but they remained padded throughout!
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| The road less traveled, or not |
As we walked further into the woods we were greeted by a plethora of bluebells, so out came the cameras! In fact we took so much time taking our snaps we neglected to note the fact that we'd fallen about a mile behind the others, so we upped the pace and when we eventually caught up we were greeted by the others taking a well earned rest, basking in the sunshine (although we wern't entirely sure how long they'd been waiting there for us), it was enough time for one of them to fire their Jetboil up for a nice cuppa!
Kat and Jolene managed to get some fantastic wildlife snaps along the way too, we encountered the perennial flock of sheep...
And a lovely shot of a Foal mimicking it's mother...
It could be quite easy for us to recommend the Fellmasters blindly, but having now used it out in the field in a variety of terrains we have the up most confidence in saying it really is a cracking boot! It's durable, supportive and most importantly ultra comfortable, the memory foam in the heel and collar really does take it up that extra level. Their also lightweight, weighing in at just over 1.3kg they really become part of your stride and although it's hard to forget your wearing a pair of walking boots, the Fellmaster allows you get close to it!
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| Team ODK |
The Brasher Fellmaster GTX Boots cost £116.99. We've got both the Men's and Women's in stock. The Men's model comes in the colour Earth/Espresso and the Women's comes in a lighter Brown.
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| Sitting proudly at the end |
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