LOWA Uplander’s, formally known as the Seeker Desert

Before we get started let me give you a small preface, I am on my sixth pair of the Uplander’s, formally known as the Seeker Desert.

I am a huge fan of LOWA for two reasons -  number one, product quality and number two, customer service.

By reading the preface you may think differently about product quality, especially when you hear I’m on my sixth pair. Well, that is due to the awesome customer service and their warrantee. According LOWA “Your LOWA boots are warranted to be free from defects in workmanship and materials for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase." I personally just beat them up so badly that it exploits any weakness they may have. Historically over the past 6 years it has taken me about 9-11 months to break them down.

I wore a single pair of these boots through Army Airborne, eating up the soles by running everyday at that obnoxiously slow pace on pavement. Then I wore a pair to Pre-Ranger and Ranger School in the winter. For those who haven’t been in GA in the winter, it’s wet, slushy and muddy all day everyday. With that being said, one negative about this boot is it takes a little while for them to dry out. So if you’re running waterborne operations, you may want to consider another boot. Point being, they stood up to the test, resulting only in the soft leather on the Achilles heal ripping from daily water saturation.  As soon as I got back, I took them back to the store and they sent them back to LOWA. A couple weeks later I had a brand new pair on my feet.  I also had a similar experience in a summer class of Army Sniper School, but with the same end state.  I took them back and had a new pair on my feet a couple weeks later free of charge.

The only other problem I had was a little stitching coming apart causing me to take them back -  I had a new pair in a couple weeks. To tell you the truth, the loose stitching has happened with every pair of boots I have had from ASOLO’s to Merrell’s, which I believe is from bearing weight while on jagged desert rock. This can also be avoided with a little application of Shoe Goo on the seams when new or to fix them if you are out of the year warrantee and don’t have a cobbler around!