After breaking these in, these are great boots.  These like any good boots must be broken in properly.  The good news is that all the usual tricky points are all leather, so they will break in.  I personally had quite a problem with the tops of the zippers (the part above the Velcro zipper protector, curling inwards and rubbing my calf.  I solved it by attaching clips with small weights to "curl" the zippers outwards for 72 hours.  It seems to have taken becauise they are rather comfy now.

There is something about the GX-8 that is just supremely "walk-able."  Its like the boots wanna help me move forwards.  I've never had a pair of boots do this.  They also have decent support out of the box and a nice gel insole.  So far I haven't needed to add a superfeet insole yet.  For reference there are superfeet in every other piece of footwear I own.  Which is great because I bought these to hike and do yard-work.  Given I knew they were gonna be subject to the worst I have to offer a pair of boots, so I oiled these up with Obenauf's LP.  Yes that darkens boots, don't care these are black.  It also slightly softened the boot and made it break in faster. Its nicely waterproof and yet breathes.  So far working in mud, all that was needed was to hit these with the hose to clean them up.  Best I can gell Obenauf's is the way to go these days for extreme duty, as many "mink oils" are all too often mostly petroleum oils that eats up the leather, and most others are full of silicone that seals the boot up as effectively as dipping it in rubber.  I applied extra LP around the stitching so hopefully the boot will last a bit longer.

For me the zipper works well, and I haven't had to wax it.  It makes me *sorely* wish that zippers were far, far more common with men's boots.

We'll see if these manage to last.  The fear is the lack of a proper welt will mean these shall shred as fast as any other hiking boot I've owned.

Which is kind of a shame, because if Bates would make these with a proper welt, top grain leather, and a vibram outsole I would happily pay top dollar for this last and sole design.  But I suspect all that would easily double the weight of the boots, reducing some of that "walkability" I so enjoy.