Five Ten Valor Boots Update. (5.10/Great boots. Cheap!)

[Kungpow]

So its been a year since bunch of people had purchased the Five Ten Valor Boots. What is your general opinion of the boots? Have they been reliable? What issues have you found?

The Bad?
The issue with my boots is partially my fault, but I got the boots too close to a camp fire, and over time the out soles have started to slowly delaminate. However, I have noticed the lack of glue on the outer sole of the boots.
For jungle style boots they seem to dry slowly. (My Belleville 630 ST dry faster)


The Good:
The insole forms well to my foot but lacks any sort of cushioning.
I have added some Vibram insoles to the boots and they feel like I am walking on a tempurpedic mattress. Overall they have been super comfy and super gripy. One of my friends raised his eyebrow when I said they were 5.10s.
(He mountain bikes)

Other Notes:
No speed lacing system (No big deal, not really a standard in boots.)
Lack of ankle protection (They are more of a running shoe style/feel)
Moderately light boots (Pretty light boots in comparision)
Drain Grommets (Jungle Boot)

(!!!But for only $39? You cannot go wrong with these boots!!!)

[AnthonyG]

I'm really interested to hear what people have to say. I noticed 5.10 no longer lists the product in their site. Guess we got the last of them.

I've got quite a bit to say about them, but I'll post a full report in the morning.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[dmitril]

Originally Posted by Kungpow

...However, I have noticed the lack of glue on the outer sole of the boots....

That's what I've noticed, the tip of the sole came partially unglued on mine. Cut it off and seems like it's holding up.

[BioRage]

Best $40 bucks of spent on a pair of boots. Outclass my tims I got for $100 bucks when I first started airsoft.

Put two coats of suede protector/weather resistant from C-Tire/Walmart when I first got then, been holding up since I got them.

Used them DAILY in the winter, snow, rain, ice, you name it - used and abused, and of course for airsoft.

Didn't get "soaked" until recently, assuming the protectors wore off, and because I drowned my shoes while washing my whip.

No ankle support - noticed that, bitch to put on, because I'm lazy and don't want to untie, and re-tie, haha.

Comfortable, no complaints, I choose them over my converse, since well converse's aren't good for your feet anyways. Grippy as stated, and no complaints in airsoft, nor slips.

If they were on sale again, I'd gladly buy 2 pairs again.

bit of threading coming loose, but as expected with the daily use I've been puttin on it.

[Cliffradical]

I ended up using them for work (Landscaping/ Property Management) because I needed to, and my job will put footwear through probably the hardest possible gauntlet of use outside of actual military work (all kinds of weather conditions, 12000-15000 steps/ day, 40+ hrs/ week).

I got about eight months out of each pair, end-to-end, without rotation. That is a very good lifespan in my line of work.
I ground the treads off of the outsoles before the uppers failed. But when they failed, hooo boy. Those boots fucking quit.

Some observations:

-Treads were excellent in just about everything until they wore down completely, still gripped more-or-less safely on man made surfaces afterwards, outsole kept it's structural shape. If the uppers had lived longer, it would have taken a fair while longer to grind through the outsole to the insole.

-Synthetic upper kept it's shape and structure to the bitter end. Suede shrank and deformed when untreated like suede does. Maybe they should have gone 100% synthetic?

-Eyelets on the laces were great.

-Lacing wanted to be kept as it was from the factory. This is a fashion negative, but function positive. I learned after a while to lace and set for my foot up over my arch, then just loosen and tighten the neck as needed for removal. It'll pretty much figure itself out if you do that. Wish I'd known that was a 'feature' though.

-Hard on the arches at ankle joint due to lacing scheme. See above.

-Absolutely no room for socks larger than something high-tech and sporty, single layer.
You definitely need a size up if you want these to go multi-season with extra/ wool socks.

-They perform very well down to about -15 with extra/ wool socks (see above).
Outsole grips in cold weather!!

-An ember, if found landing on the smooshy foam-rubber part of the outsole, will melt right the fuck through if left to do so.

-Super light.

-The laces themselves are awesome. Wish I'd hung on to them.

-Built like a teched-up US Army desert boot, works like one but better.

I don't really have anything negative to say about them, because a lot of the things I'd bring up pretty much already neutralize and cancel in my mind vs. other boots I've tried.

They're far from perfect, and there's a few things which obviated their adoption for a US Mil contract, but from a strictly utilitarian working man perspective I'd give them a solid 8/10 where "1" is a pair of skate shoes and "10" may not actually exist, or costs ~$500CAD.

I would buy them again for $50 in a heartbeat, and would probably buy them for a higher price if they were still available.

[BioRage]

^X2, they are def worth $100 bucks, this would be my next pair when these run out.

http://www.adidas.com/us/black-gsg-boots

[AnthonyG]

I actually purchased a pair of the Valours (jungle boots) and the Enforcers (shorter, tactical boots) both in black. Both are very different products so I'll approach my review from more of a comparative angle.

These were the first pairs of dedicated airsoft boots I ever purchased. I play mostly outdoors, so my first few games I played in steel toes which was horrible.


///Valour:

I've worn these boots exclusively outdoors in forested environments. I've worn them in winter in -5 degrees and in summer at 30+ degrees and 100% humidity. These are definitely warm weather boots. I found in cold weather and snow, your feet heat up the boots, melting the snow which keep your feet wet. I haven't used them long enough to test how fast they dry out, but combining them with wool socks has helped keep my feet feeling dryer, longer.

Lacing takes a long time, which is one reason I've stopped using these boots as much. The rubber is extremely sticky as expected, even when wet. I'm not a fan of the tread design, I wish they had used something more conventional that you would see in a hiking boot. In snow, the treads get gummed up quick, and I found this leads to slipping despite the sticky rubber, on hard surfaces like compacted snow.

No ankle support in these, which I was a bit dissapointed at. I took the suggestion of others and ordered a half-size up from what I normally wear which ended up being problematic. I normally wear a size 9.5 and went with a size 10. What I didn't realize, after measuring my foot, is that I'm actually a size 9; I usually go with a 9.5 in adidas for comfort. Going with a 10 has left me with too much room in my boots for my liking. The Valours in size 10 seem to be able to accommodate wider feet, since I am able to cinch the first few rows of lacing all the way closed, and it still leaves me with a lot of wiggle room. Long story short, I learned the importance of measuring and knowing your ACTUAL size. If ordering again I would have gone with size 9.0, my actual size.

Last note, I'm still using the stock insoles which are pretty hard, definitely take the recommendation of others and add some better insoles.


///Enforcer:

Mid-height, Tactical-style combat boots. They actually have ankle support, and are built more like a hiking boot. They have padding on the interior which helps keep your feet stable and comfortable, as long as you are moving. I find, as soon as you stop moving, the padding is quite constricting on your feet. I like these boots way more than the Valours. They effectively have the same sole design; however, I use these boots primarily indoors, on hard concrete which works really well.

I've only got two gripes with these boots. One, the laces are freaking LONG! And these aren't the type of boots where you can wrap them around your leg. Most times I have to tie them up, double-knot and then weave the extra length back through the lacing. I'm planning on cutting the laces, but need a way to tie off the cut ends to prevent them from fraying. Second gripe is the boot material is a bit stiff, and as a result i've got some pretty heavy creasing in the toe. It's more of an aesthetic concern at the moment, and hopefully this area of the boot will hold up.

In summary. The jungle boots are okay. I definitely wouldn't have paid the $170 US, or whatever the original price was. I feel like I got my money’s worth. The Enforcers are definitly a higher quality boot which I would have happily paid twice as much for. As good as they are, I recently purchased a pair of Salomon GTX Ultra-x mids, and am not looking back. I'll still use the Enforcers as my indoor boot, as to not wear out the treads on my Salomon's, but I think it's pretty safe to say I'll be retiring my Valours for the time being, and keep the Enforcers as my back-up boot.

[RainyEyes]

10/10 ign

Only gripe as mentioned before is that they're a bitch to put on/take off.

[Chromey]

Bought Black and Tan. Both Still MINT.

Love these boots, And the price was insane.

[Datawraith]

Got the Valors, they're still going, although not *quite* as strongly as I'd like (which would be forever ideally :P ). I used them pretty much everyday for the past year just doing normal pedestrian student things and airsofting in them. The outsole has started separating slightly (I'm looking for some shoe glue to repair it), and the tread seems to have been worn down quite heavily. Other than that, they're excellent boots especially considering they were 40 bucks (many thanks again to Cliffradical for the tip ).

Contrary to what a lot of people are saying, I find that they actually have very decent ankle support. They may not be the conventional style of hard leather holding the ankles in place, but combined with the insole and proper lacing (yes that takes time, but I do it the proper way), it's a significant amount that is better than the various hiking boots I own.

I am a little annoyed that I got them in a perfect fit and can't jam my feet in wearing thick socks during the winter, but that's on me, and not the boot's fault. I wore them throughout the winter in thin socks anyways .

If they go on sale again (meaning 5.10 suddenly discovers they have another stash hidden somewhere that they need to get rid of), I'd definitely pick up more than a few more pairs.

[Chillyrabbit]

All this talk of five ten valor boots made me look it up again.

http://www.fiveten.com/us/valor-2012-enforcer-black

It looks like its up for sale again, but I didn't go through to the end of checkout to check if it works and is instock or not.

[Kungpow]

Originally Posted by Chillyrabbit

All this talk of five ten valor boots made me look it up again.

http://www.fiveten.com/us/valor-2012-enforcer-black

It looks like its up for sale again, but I didn't go through to the end of checkout to check if it works and is instock or not.

Awesome find, I might pick up 2 more pairs. I gotta fix the boots now though, the outsole is coming off. It seems to happen irregularly with different pairs.

[ViR]

I also found that it doesnt have enough ankle support.. feels a lot less "safe" than any boots I've wore before..
Stopped wearing them for that reason..

[Chromey]

Only black..... Need more tan

[Kungpow]

Seems like some people have problems with 5.10 shoes delaminating. I still like the brand though, they are pretty inovative with their outsole rubber.