OK so after my trip to the Tyrol, my 8/9 month old North Face S4K boots have come back significantly worse for wear. The faux-leather on top of the toes has worn through in a couple of places, but I’m pretty sure that’s down to my shoddy crampon technique and is ‘typical wear and tear’ for a first pair of winter boots while you learn (the hard way) how to walk/climb in crampons properly.
The wear which I’m not convinced is down to me, is on the front of the toes... On both boots the front of the toes have worn significantly, and one has worn completely through the rubber to the material behind. Given the amount of they’ve been used: <250km of walking and 5000m of winter-climbing / kletterseig / Scrambling, this amount of wear seems very excessive to me. I’ll try and add a photo tonight, but the wear is along the join between the sole and the rand at the front of the toe. It’s worn / split across about 3cm.
What do people think.
Is this wear par for the course, poor design, or me bashing the toes too often?
Any chance of a manufacturer repair/replacement, or should I just invest in some stealth paint, tread more carefully and buy some more robust boots next time?
