I purchased a pair of Vass Evo Thermal Winter Boots at the start of the 2012/13 winter fishing season, and now after a few months of using them thought it was time to pass on my findings.

The first thing you notice about these boots is how solidly made they are. They certainly look the part, with rugged armouring reinforcing the historical weak/stress points of the toe, ankle and heel areas




The reinforcing of the lower shin area cleverly helps the flexibility of the upper boot too



I opted for the studded version for extra traction over wet slippery rocks, and to hopefully reduce wear of the sole.



Vass have incorporated a ladder grip on the bridge of the sole to gain extra traction and to protect the bridge of the foot



The tread of the soles themselves are solid and deep. This is quite a heavy boot as you will tell when picking them up and comparing them to their rivals. No doubt this is due to some degree to the thickness of the sole. I initially thought the weight might be a problem when using them, but once on you don't notice at all, and to be honest the weight adds to the feeling of quality.



Reinforcement of the toe area, a usual culprit for excessive wear and tear





A nice little touch was incorporating a chunky heel kick which makes the boots easier to get off....




Being a thermal boot for use in winter the boot has a thermal lining. This is my one small gripe about the boots. The lining seemed to be a bit of an afterthought and a bit cheap. It only appears to be Felt or a similar material and is oddly out of place with the quality of the rest of the materials used.




For comfort you need to make sure the seam of the lining fits snugly into the internal edges of the boot. Having said that, it didn't pose any problems rubbing wise for me, even after a long trudge over the shingle at Nethertown



Also, the thermal qualities of the Felt material wasn't brilliant either ( I will add though that I do suffer badly from cold feet). Though it was adequate in most of the cold conditions I encountered with just a pair of normal socks on, I found it necessary to put an additional pair of thermal socks on if the forecast was for a really heavy deep frost. Not a big deal, but as they are marketed as thermal winter boots, I would hope this is something Vass would look to improve on in the future.




The boot uppers are cut for a wider calf and foot to allow trousers to be tucked into the boot.






I've used my pair quite extensively over a variety of terrains, including long walks out to low water marks and yomps across shingle. However, the ultimate test I gave them was a night time mission onto St.Bees head in January. As anyone who has ever fished there will tell you, it's not a place for the faint-hearted, with a long walk over fields followed by a steep scramble down slippery rocks and even stream beds, followed by the same again on the return journey. The boots passed with flying colours, being comfortable and hardwearing. What turned out to be a godsend though was the studded sole which saved me from crashing to the floor on more than one occasion. One of my companions was not so lucky and broke his arm.

summary

Overall, a solid well made and well thought out comfortable boot which should last you a few good seasons. The lining was a slight disappointment and Vass need to improve the quality & thermal properties slightly of this, but this doesn't detract from the general feeling of quality and value for money. You will probably find boots cheaper, but they won't be of this quality or as durable........ buy cheap, buy twice as my mum used to say, and she was right!

You can purchase the Vass boots at Gerrys of Morecambe or any other good stockist

Good post Rushy i think gerrys will now give you your money back........well done them



i think that come october time this year i will be purchasing myself a pair of these now

cheers
steve

Dad bought some of these.
We are both finding that wellies from many suppliers are not always made for the larger calved gent but this solve the problem nicely.
P

Nice review Dave.

They are billed as Thermal Winter Boots so how do they fare on those freezing nights stood about? The design looks robust and hard wearing but for me it's all about keeping warm feet. I'm a bit of a wuss and if my feet are cold I am one miserable son of a B.

I opted for the Skee Tex Essex boot for this reason.

http://www.gerrysfishing.com/skeetex-bo ... ks-wellies

They are the only ones that are guaranteed to keep your feet warm down to -50 degrees. Having used them I can say they are superb at keeping your feet warm in the most miserable of conditions. However, I doubt for one minute they will last as long as the Vass Evo. Nor do you have the option of studs. I think this is because the soles act as big fat insulators creating a large air gap between the surface you are on and your feet inside. I bought them purely for cold winter fishing and I have another pair of less glamorous wellies for the summer. The Vass Evo looks like a good buy for the majority of the year but I would doubt you could wear ordinary socks and still be warm on those sub-zero temperatures. Perhaps the answer is a pair of each

BB

Bill Bodger wrote:Nice review Dave.

They are billed as Thermal Winter Boots so how do they fare on those freezing nights stood about? The design looks robust and hard wearing but for me it's all about keeping warm feet. I'm a bit of a wuss and if my feet are cold I am one miserable son of a B.

I have had better to be brutally honest, I've added this to the review

"Also, the thermal qualities of the Felt material wasn't brilliant either ( I will add though that I do suffer badly from cold feet). Though it was adequate in most of the cold conditions I encountered with just a pair of normal socks on, I found it necessary to put an additional pair of thermal socks on if the forecast was for a really heavy deep frost. Not a big deal, but as they are marketed as thermal winter boots, I would hope this is something Vass would look to improve on in the future."

I'm the same as you Frank, I suffer from cold feet and I'm pretty miserable with them too
I bought a pair of Derry boots which were great thermally but crap build wise (they split on the sole after 12 month).

Nice reveiw rushy I've got my eye on the vass tec waterproof smock. Cheers for reveiw bud

Nice review Dave, many years back I got a pair of those thermal( allegedly) Moon boots with a thermal insert..?? To this day I still ain't sure which us the left or the right...!!

sharpey wrote:Nice review Dave, many years back I got a pair of those thermal( allegedly) Moon boots with a thermal insert..?? To this day I still ain't sure which us the left or the right...!!

Had a pair to, don't think they were L/R..... uni footed. they were toasty tho. all that polystyrene made my feet sweat so much was forced to leave them outside. wouldn't even get them in man heaven ( the garage) lol.
As for Derri boots had some for biking... lasted years though not the same as todays boots.
Current winter boots for me are a pair of The North Face ChillKat II boots ... Very warm (-32) water proof
and great on snow and ice . Good time of year to buy now as the shops will be clearing shelves at discounted prices for summer stock .

sharpey wrote:Nice review Dave, many years back I got a pair of those thermal( allegedly) Moon boots with a thermal insert..?? To this day I still ain't sure which us the left or the right...!!

If they're the same as the Skee-tex boots they are uni fitting as Ron says. A bit odd at first but you get used to them.

Eospete wrote:Dad bought some of these.
We are both finding that wellies from many suppliers are not always made for the larger calved gent but this solve the problem nicely.
P

Good bit of info there . I call mine cows not calves