Despite its work boot roots, Viberg at this point is most widely revered for its 2030-last service boot: a beautifully sleek, borderline dressy triumph of footwear design that still functions as an ode to the Canadian company’s rugged history as a maker of logging and other similarly hardcore boots.
Division Road just released a boot that throws back hard to that past—the decidedly un-sleek Hiking Hunter in tobacco chamois leather, an oil- and fat-stuffed nubuck from Chicago’s inimitable Horween Leather Co. Viberg and DR essentially married a 1980s work boot pattern Viberg still makes today (the “Hunter” part) and the soul of 1960s hiking boots (the, um, “Hiking” part…), complete with a monster commando outsole, fully gusseted tongue, and endlessly cool old-school Viberg banner logo stamp.
They’re Goodyear welted (with channeled insoles) on Viberg’s 2040 last, which is significantly more accommodating than the 2030, especially up front. All that technical build stuff aside, they’re reputed to function incredibly well as an actual hiking boot. And I have to say, these are, to my eye, about as handsome as gigantic monster boots can get.
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At $745 they’re certainly not cheap (Brett Viberg can help you understand why right here), but they’re some of the best-constructed, most thoughtful, and consistently unique boots available anywhere.
Also today, Division Road released another impressive Viberg makeup: a stitchdown chukka boot in the same leather as the Hunter Hiker, only reversed to the roughout side. It sits on a durable but forgiving Vibram 2060 sole.
It’s the first 2040-last chukka Viberg’s produced, which is a very appealing proposition for someone like myself who can’t figure out why in the hell everyone insists on making such a fundamentally casual boot have such long, pointy toes. Maybe that’s just me! But I doubt it—even if Viberg and DR making this one wasn’t specifically to validate my deep, rumbling feelings on chukka toes.
