Footwear falls in one of those elusive ‘love it’ or ‘hate it’ categories. They can be stunning but give you blisters or ugly as a sin and yet be comfortable. We’ll be traveling to Europe soon and having done some research on the weather, it could be rainy and frigid, brrr…. The highs there are our current lows! I know I’m not going to Alaska or Antarctica. It gets cold up where we live, with current (mid-Nov) lows in the low 40s (we rode in 40F just this past Tuesday), but Europe seems to be whole another ball game much like the East Coast. So you see I didn’t have any footwear that would stand up to that kinda weather. Cold feet and fingers ruin a trip and this gal wasn’t going to let the weather get the best of her. Hence started my witch-hunt for the oh-so-perfect boots less than 3 weeks before our trip. I was pretty excited when I found the Taylor Waterproof Women’s Hiking Boots made by the Caterpillar (aka the company that makes heavy construction equipment among other things).

CategoryWomen’s Footwear
Rating 7/10    5/10 (updated after 10 days of wear)
Retail Price$43.59
Likes+ Very fashionable with herringbone details
+ Ankle-length
+ Rugged soles
+ Very warm
+ Waterproof
Dislikes– Raised heels
– Feet hurt after a couple days of walking
Where to Buy (US) I bought mine on Sierra Trading Post
Week 1: So to recap, I wanted boots which were travel friendly (so ankle-length was the cut-off), waterproof, warm, and lastly stylish. After searching high and lo at the local shoe shops in search of those elusive boots, I was just about ready to give up when I chanced upon the Sperry Saltwater Duck ankle boots. I personally hate the look of the Duck boots, but I love my ‘boat’ Sperrys so I bought these home and let it on the table. Every time I walked by, I couldn’t bring myself to take off the tags and wear them. So after day 2, I gave up and went online to continue my witch-hunt.
Week 2: Okay I found the most gorgeous pair of CAT boots on the Sierra Trading Post website (unfortunately we don’t have any local stores around) which claimed to be waterproof and warm. The shoes looked narrow in the stock photo and I couldn’t find any detailed reviews on the sizing (yeah I have painful bunions on both my pinkies so narrow shoes kill my feet!). I mostly wear a size 8 in boots and running shoes but 7/7.5 in open-toe shoes. I was really weary of buying these. I kept looking but always came back to these. I finally pulled the trigger and bought them.

Caterpillar Hiking Boots
Front view
Week 3: Today is the start of Week 3 and the boots finally arrived last night! I was so pumped to try them on this morning. Lo and behold! they fit!!! They are really well built. There is plenty of room on the top of my feet (should I choose to wear bulky socks) and enough wiggle room for my toes. They’re so warm and cozy inside. I love the soles, so rugged!  It did feel a little bulky driving, but I guess driving with boots has always been weird for me. I did light walking in them – grocery shopping and driving but it did feel a little stiff in the soles after a while. So I snuck in some insoles after I came home. Hopefully I get to try them with insoles before my trip otherwise I’ll report back on how they hold up after 10 days of constant walking.
Inside of the Caterpillar Taylor Waterproof Womens Hiking Boots
Caterpillar Taylor Boots – Inside

FIT & FUNCTION

Update as promised after wearing these for 10 days on our Europe trip.

The boots are really warm in the frigid temperatures in Europe. I wore it in the rain and wet roads and they held up well (although I didn’t wear them in pouring rain).

These boots have ~3″ heels that I didn’t seem to notice when I first wore them when I took them out of the box. I never wear heels so it was really strange to be walking in these ‘lifts’ the entire time. Another thing is the soles really hurt. Like I mentioned before, I had a thin pair of insoles before I left on our trip but they didn’t help. 3rd day of wear, I was in a lot of pain – the bunions on my pinkies were inflamed, the top of my right foot hurt, and the bottom of my feet were killing me. We were in Brussels at that time trying to find dinner and I could barely walk. We actually went in search of a new pair of boots for me and settled for thick insoles instead which we found at Decathlon which was close by. The new insoles were a life saver! I could walk again. So the insoles alleviated 1 of the 3 problems I mentioned above.

Skinny feet
Skinny feet
Thick Insoles that saved my feet
Thick Insoles that saved my feet

Now, I’m back home, and as I’m writing this, the inflammation on my bunions are reduced but the top of my right foot still hurts.

THE VERDICT

Gorgeous looking boots that work in cold temperatures and rainy weather. However, if you have skinny feet like mine, I’d think twice before buying them. Bumping down my rating from 7 to 5 because of the lack of walk-ability.

Disclaimer: The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.

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