Designed as much for comfort as they are for tricky technical hikes
Danner is a brand that’s become a benchmark for the hiking community in recent years. Since its humble beginnings in a small logging town in the 1930s, the brand has built a name for straddling function and aesthetics, making footwear that covers everything from hiking and hunting to work and fashion.
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The Mountain 600s, like the majority of Danner’s products, are a design that hark back to traditional style boots. But although they may be inspired by the hiking boots of old, the technology used is far from outdated, with a heap of clever design aspects making them a formidable piece of kit for anyone heading out into the wilderness.
The specs
Price: £167.52 | Weight (pair): 1.1kg | Height: 4.4” | Outsole: Vibram Fuga | Waterproof: Yes
Coming in at 1.1kg, the 600s veer towards the lighter side of the hiking boot spectrum. The sole combines a Vibram SPE midsole for grip on wet and dry surfaces with a Fuga outsole to for a high level of cushioning. The saddle tan variant has a full grain leather upper combined with the proprietary Danner Dry waterproof protection. There’s also a removable ortholite footbed and an additional set of brown laces if you’re not a fan of the red versions.
The hiking test
We’ve never been let down by Danner boots in the past, so we had high hopes for the Mountain 600s. Luckily, we weren’t disappointed as they’re an absolute joy to wear. For such a lightweight boot with the outward appearance of a lifestyle product, the 600s pack in the functionality of something that sits firmly at the technical end of the hiking scale.
In terms of design and comfort, the 600s tick a lot of boxes; they slip on nicely from the get-go and feel like something you could happily wear walking around the city streets all day. But to use them just for that would be wasting a pair of impressively technical boots. We tested them heavily on winter hikes in the Dolomites and warmer walks in Scotland and they delivered across the board, handling snow covered trails as well as dusty scree slopes. Support was great, especially for a mid-height boot, although if you’re looking to do any sort of scrambling, you’ll likely be pushing the 600s over their intended limit.
The waterproofing held out in both rain and snow, with our feet kept warm in the latter with no issues and the Vibram outsole, with generous lugs, offering more than enough grip across both wet and dry terrain.
Danner state that their boots size slightly larger, something we’ve always found to be accurate by around a size. So we’d suggestion heading in-store to test them out before buying.
Who should buy?
If you’re looking to buy one pair of hiking boots that will cover you for anything from walking the dog to multi-day hikes in the mountains, the Mountain 600s are one of the best options out there. Technically, they’ll do you proud for anything up to wet trails and the lightest of scrambles, but they may get a bit hot if you’re using them for hikes in the summer months.
