Out of the three styles I tried on at Academy these were the most comfortable and the only pair claiming to be waterprof. I have owned three pair of the eurohikers and they are not made the same anymore,these seem to be more of what they were and each pair lasted over two years and I drove a concrete truck with them thats abuse unlike none other to leather and waterprofing. One thing i would do right off is cut the crap laces off and replace them with some rothco 550lb paracord which in a survival situation may save help save your life,oh and it looks way better for about 6 bucks if you want ends firm on the cord match burn them.