Review: Vasque Breeze GTX 7466 Waterproof Boots

The Vasque Breeze GTX 7466 weighs two pounds nine ounces and are comfortable heavy duty waterproof boots that are ideal for hiking and backpacking. The GTX stands for Gore-Tex. Gor-Tex is a fabric technology that provides waterproofing while still allowing the product to remain fully breathable. This is important because without the ability to breathe the sweat from your feet would remain inside your boot and build up, making your feet wet from the inside.

After breaking in the boots over the course of a month with normal everyday use, I put them to real work on a week long hiking trip through rugged and wet terrain in the Adirondack Mountains. Of the seven friends who accompanied me, two of them didn't have waterproof hiking boots. Of the five who did have waterproof hiking boots only one of them had Gor-Tex (ironically she was using woman's version of the Vasque Breeze GTX).

There were several things that I immediately noticed about the Vasque Breeze GTX waterproof boots during my trek through the Adirondack Mountains.

While this might seem silly it is really important to make sure that you tie the laces really tight with a double knot. That's because hiking through mud with a backpack filled with sixty pounds of gear and supplies is a lot more strenuous than everyday walking.

On the first night of my trip I neglected to double tie my boots - this led to the laces coming undone while on the trail. Luckily the boots didn't fall off, however having to tie wet muddy laces wasn't very pleasant. The lesson? Make sure you tie the laces securely with a double knot so that you don't make the same mistake I did!

Second, the Vasque Breeze GTX waterproof hiking boots really are a high quality piece of equipment. We began our adventure with a five mile hike in the middle of the night. I was able to indiscriminately walk through mud, water, and small streams taking the path of least resistance while all my friends were tediously hopping from individual stone to stone.

The Vasque Breeze GTX waterproof boots allowed me to walk faster than my friends and exert less energy, without worrying about falling (which unfortunately happened to one of my companions!). When we finally arrived at a lean-to at Calamity Pond at 3 am in the morning, my feet were still dry while both of my friends who weren't wearing waterproof boots were wet.

The next day we journeyed some ten plus miles on a round trip to Mount Colden. The trail was very muddy and it began to snow very heavily. After several hours we arrived to a steep ascent. By this time and elevation, the trail was extremely icy and slippery. The snow had turned to sleet and hail. One thing that I noticed was that the Vasque Breeze GTX waterproof boots provided excellent traction even through the icy rock face of Mount Colden.

At one point the trail was so steep that we were only progressing a couple feet each minute. Thanks to the traction on the Vasque Breeze GTX I only fell down once while my companions were constantly falling. Because of the inclement weather conditions and amount of progress we were making at the time we were forced to turn around and head back to our camp. When we returned, I was the only person in our group with dry socks and feet - thanks to the Vasque Breeze Waterproof GTX boots.

That night the temperature dropped to below freezing. After we woke up everyone's boots were frozen rock solid - except for mine Because the inside of the Vasque Breeze Waterproof GTX boots were dry I only needed to hit my boots against the ground a couple of times to shake the ice off of the outside of the boots. I was then able to put them on without any difficulty. It took my friends well over a half an hour to get their boots on.

Throughout the rest of my trip I didn't experience any problems with the Vasque Breeze GTX waterproof boots. In fact, quite the opposite. Because my feet remained dry I was able to enjoy my surroundings rather than be uncomfortable and frustrated with inefficient equipment unlike my companions.

Although I mentioned earlier that one of the women in our party was also wearing Vasque Breeze GTX waterproof boots, it should be noted that she wasn't wearing any gaiters. Gaiters are a piece of equipment that connects between your waterproof pants and hiking boots so that water doesn't leak into your boots. I'm 100% confident that had she been wearing gaiters her feet wouldn't have gotten wet during our trip.

Thanks to the Vasque Breeze GTX waterproof boots my adventure through the Adirondack Mountains was pleasant and dry. I was able to walk faster with less effort than the people I traveled with because I wasn't worried about getting my feet wet. Because the inside of my boots stayed dry they didn't freeze and become a nightmare each morning to put on like the "waterproof" boots my friends were wearing.

From using them during a day hike at Blue Hills to a week long excursion through the Adirondack Mountains the Vasque Breeze GTX waterproof boots performed their duty exemplary. They were comfortable and provided great support even with a 60 pound backpack and I would personally recommend them to anyone who enjoys experiencing the great outdoors be it for yourself or a gift for a loved one.

For more information about Vasque footwear, visit Vasque.com.

To find a location to purchase the Vasque Breeze GTX 7466, use the Vasque retail locator.