I’ve pretty much been a Timberland guy all my life. It hasn’t been that Timberland boots are so comfortable (though they usually are) but more that I don’t really go for all the bells and whistles on hiking boots that many manufacturers tack on. They have a good line of sensible hiking shoes.

So I was sort of pleased to see these Rockport Antero Boots the other day. I like my hiking boots pretty much smooth and monotonically colored (some might read that as: “sufficiently boring”), without puffy fabric material, not too high up the leg and waterproof if possible. Oh, and they must be brown… I know, picky huh?

These Rockport boots looked pretty close to the particular model that I always look for with Timberland. Waterproof, solidly constructed, with a padded collar around the ankle that’s not too crazy looking.

One quibble though: I noticed that the 2 top metal lace holes of the Rockport Antero are completely closed rather than open “speed hooks”. This is sort of impractical because if you’ve ever worn higher hiking boots like these, you’ll know that in order to put the shoe on or take it off you have to basically unlace the top two holes to loosen the ankle. The Timberlands I usually get have the top two lace holes as open metal hooks which makes it fast to put on. With closed holes, you need to thread them through.

Other than that, this looks like a great replacement shoe for an upcoming day when I won’t be able to find the correct Timberlands to fit the bill. Oh, and did I mention it’s currently 25% off on sale?

Rockport - Antero (Dark Brown) - Men’s
Buy it at Zappos.com

Rockport - Antero (Dark Tan) - Men's

Rockport - Upper Falls (Dark Brown Oiled Nubuck) - Men's