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Yeah, but you said the Karrimors on sale at Blacks are perfectly good. I have rarely seen (other than Brashers) such poorly made boots. The sole is glued directly to the upper. If the leather gets saturated the glue stops sticking to it. I've seen several colleagues buy the £99 Skiddaw boots smugly only to have them fall apart after a wet day in the field. Also synthetic linings.
The Meindl Borneo are probably the best properly made boots without a synthetic liner for the price. And the sole is no more aggressive than the Karrimor boots. (I suspect it is a bit stiffer though)
adroit-
Ymmv. My dad has used the cheap Black's Karimor goretex as winter and mild offeroad use for a few years now. Definitely purchased well below £99. For their occasional excursions they've been perfectly good. Admittedly nothing stressful, but the brief given was basically countryside walks to the pub...
But yeah I do think having a mainly leather lining is better. Mine have been worn in absolutely sweltering heat (humid and dry) as well as - °C and they've never missed a beat.Re the soles I should have said stiff rather than aggressive. The Meindls we have are purposely designed for trekking on rough terrain whilst carrying weight. If that's not in the brief I'd go with something slightly more versatile / stylish and a bit easier on tarmac. I guess the advantage is once bought you can use them for proper trekking if needed. That said my other half managed all across the Andes in Converse leather "walking boots"...admittedly they weren't ideal and I was carrying the bulk of the weight.
Tl;Dr Meindls are good.
hugo7
Pretty sure I either have the old version of those too, or the old Burma Pro. Got to say though the Sonnblick looks a bit more casual, and as much as I love them, my earlier point stands - if you're not carrying weight and doing serious distance I really don't think you need such an extreme sole.
This was them around their 7yr anniversary after a good clean by a shoe shiner in Peru:
