I have to start by admitting that my Supalite Brashers are actually male ones as unfortunately the highest size available in female was 8 and I needed 9. I was, however, assured by the guys in Black's that there wasn't much difference and if they felt right they would be right.
Now, they felt more than right – they felt absolutely fabulous. "Supalite" is a fitting name, as each boot weighs barely 500g and on first trying fitted beautifully. This isn't a common occurrence for me. I hate buying shoes, and although it doesn't apply as much to buying boots and trainers as to more dressy shoes it's still an ordeal. I have long and very wide feet with high arches, and as I got older and fatter they seem to have grown longer and wider. And thus, although I had huge psychological problem even contemplating spending 100 GBP on a pair of boots, after trying countless other pairs in three other shops I decided to go for the Brashers.
After all, I needed boots for our six-months long trip to Canada, Australia and New Zealand. We were weight and space limited (2 adults, 2 children, 4 sleeping bags, 2 camping mats, mostly cold weather months and the worst exchange rate for ten years or so) and thus I needed footwear that would do for everything from pounding city pavements to (mild) trail-walking, in temperatures ranging between below zero to mid-twenties.
The Brashers did admirably. I had no other shoes with me apart from a pair of crocs for indoors when necessary and thus I wore them pretty much every day between early March and October 2010. My feel were – a little bit – sore after the first couple of days (but I did a lot of walking) but they didn't take more than four days and maybe a total of 10 miles walked to break in completely. This is unheard of for me, as most footwear takes me weeks to get used to.
The Goretex kept me dry, with a little bit of NikWax care every few weeks, throughout. I used the boots in the rain, in the pouring rain, in the sleet and in the snow, I walked into puddles and even (sort-of) forded streams and they stayed dry and comfortable.
I don't like too stiff boots and the Supalite Brashers were just right on that score: when laced up all the way they worked fine on all rougher terrain I subjected them to (although admittedly there was nothing out of the ordinary, as we had the kids with us at al times) and with looser and lower laces they were find for pottering about. I even learned to drive in them!
I used heel cups in the boots and this probably helped a lot on pavements: I think without those, they might have been a bit hard on the sole in the city. However, I am old, very heavy and arthritic so probably more likely to suffer anyway.
All in all, the boots were worth every penny of the 109 pounds I spent on them and already have paid for themselves. I don't wear them as much now as we have been back to the UK for a few months and I wear trainers most of the time, but whenever I put them back on for a countryside walk, I still appreciate the great quality of the boots.