I guess it’s no secret that footwear can be exciting. Kim (my lovely wife) has been aware of this fact for years.  And I’m not going to say I’ve never had a new pair of shoes or boots that got my blood pumping a little bit before, but I will say I’ve never had a pair I felt the urge to tell the world about.

That all changed a couple days ago; the first day I wore my new Timberland PRO Hyperion boots.

I just had to Instagram the moment!

 I wasn’t planning to write this post about boots.  Boots are made for walking about, not writing about.  The plan was to write about phase two of my three phase deck restoration project.  Phase one was to make sure the front porch wood, which is fairly new, stays that way by putting some good sealer on it.  Phase three will be the major undertaking of rebuilding large portions of the backyard deck, which has been delayed due to weather conditions. I’m really broken up about the delay.

Phase two is the re-decking of the side yard deck, which was featured in my one and only (so far) Remodeling Guy Roundup back in the early days of the blog.  The repair and deck replacement project went fine and, in the overall scheme of things was pretty straightforward and simple.  But is it really “blog” worthy?

Interesting?  Sure.  Useful? You bet.  Exciting?  Ehh.

But what is exciting, and I’m talking heart-stopping, where-have-you-been-all-my-life exciting, is this new pair of PRO Hyperion Boots from Timberland. OMG!  He Gone.

These are like the Swiss Army Knife of work boots.  Or maybe the Hum-Vee of footwear.  Great looking, but absolutely able to stand behind the hype. (I’m talking the real H1 Hummer here, not the GI Joe Suburban H2 or the toy H3)

These workboots are a new essential “tool” in my toolbox and I think every contractor, welder, plumber, roofer, and anyone else who likes to get big things done, should run out and get some right now!

Maybe I sound sensationalist, and I’m reminding myself of how Kim acts when she gets a new pair of shoes, but I’m preaching the truth here brothers and sisters.  Here are a few of the key points… let’s just call them love points… or maybe “key to my heart” points:

• Waterproof – I had to load and unload the lumber for this project in torrential summer storms.  My feet stayed dry even walking right through standing water. Nice.
• Toe strong like bull (or hammer) – The TiTAN® alloy safety toe feels strong enough to kick down a concrete block wall.  If I didn’t worry about scuffing my new boots, I would have tried it. (They say that the Ever-Guard Leather used in these boots resists scuffing, a claim I tend to trust, but why risk it right off the bat?  That would be like the guy who insists the first thing you should do to a new truck is put a dent in it!  Not me.)
• Lightweight – Despite the strength of the boot and toe, they are surprisingly light.  It’s to the point that it messes with your mind because your eyes tell you to expect heavy.
• Comfortable – When I first put on the Timberland PRO boots, I wasn’t sure if I should kick down a wall or go for a walk around the block.  When you’re working on a project you often spend most of the day on your feet so comfort is a HUGE deal. These boots felt incredible from the very first step. Technically speaking, I think this the end result of the AFT “anti-fatigue technology” which apparently really works!
• Super-sticky-grippy – The non-slip bad-a** looking Vibram® outsole will grab anything.  I haven’t had the chance to try these on a roof yet, but I know what’s going to happen the first time I do.  I’m going to feel SAFE and SECURE, which is a big deal up on a roof or anywhere else where grip is important.
• Great looking – you know it.
• Did I mention they feel like armor?

Ok, look… I know this is a construction blog not a fashion blog and I know that I’m kind of gushing here, but this is for real people.

If you have a working man or woman in your life these boots are for sure a good gift idea. They call them work boots, but I call them THE boots, equally at home working long and hard in the trenches, visiting a prospective client, or covering every inch of a trade show floor.

Anyway, did I mention I did phase two of my deck project?  NOT looking forward to phase three, but it will have to be done when these summer rains stop for long enough for the wood and ground to dry up.  Maybe sometime in 2015.

~ Tim

Full Disclosure: I did get my boots for free thanks to the relationship between Timberland and the ad network who provides the ads you see in my blog sidebar, where Timberland is a paid advertiser.  That said, here is an honest quote of what I said to Kim yesterday: “If all I ever got out of my time blogging was this pair of boots, I’d still be happy.”  Five years of blogging, one pair of boots… these are good boots.