- The GORUCK MACV-1 is a lightweight combat boot
and GORUCK's first shot at creating footwear.
I'm Tom, the founder of Pack Hacker,
where we use our expertise and real-world experiences
to provide practical resources and honest opinions,
guiding you towards smarter travel.
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Nathan and I have been testing the GORUCK MACV-1s,
both the black version and the coyote version
for a cumulative of five months.
We're excited to dive in and share our thoughts with you.
Let's check it out.
(upbeat music)
The big draw of these boots for travel
is that they're extremely lightweight.
Despite the boots looking rugged and heavy,
the smaller sizes come in at just under 14 ounces.
Our black, 10.5's come in at 16.4 ounces.
So you could hold one in your hand
and it's about the same weight as a soda can.
At the time of this review,
the MACV-1 comes in two different color ways.
So the black and the coyote version.
Nathan has been testing the coyote version
for about two months.
And I have been testing the black version
for about three months.
From a branding perspective,
we have the GORUCK tip of the spear
showing up on three different places on each shoe.
So the first is on the back left heel.
That shows up here.
And one little detail
that I like going on is that on each side,
they are reversed.
So they are always pointing forward,
and that is a nice little touch in this boot.
You're also gonna have GORUCK on the tongue
with that same mark that we've seen on the heel.
So that's going on there.
And then, you just have an imprint on the rubber sole,
again pointing straight forward
on each one of the shoes as well.
We think these boots look pretty great
in a polished and urban environment,
but beauty is always in the eyes of the beholder.
That's why we polled our Instagram audience
over @packhacker to give their thoughts.
Feel free to follow us there
if you wanna be involved in future polls.
Wrapping up some of the materials,
we have this full-grain leather going on on the outside.
We have molded TPU at both the toe and on the heel counter.
So on the heel counter,
it's basically a stiffer part of the shoe
that helps prevent friction as you're walking around.
There's 1000 grade Cordura at the top here,
and then some reinforced nylon webbing at the top.
It gives that upper a little more flexibility
while the bottom is pretty stiff and reinforced.
We have a thick EVA midsole going on here
and then a thicker rubber outsole going on there,
so those two come together.
The EVA foam kinda pads as you're walking around,
and then, that rubber outsole is there for added durability.
Overall these boots are comfortable,
well-designed and just feel comfortable to wear.
Now, we could just stop there
but we wanna drill into a couple of components and features
that help with that comfort and versatility.
Kicking it off with these speed laces.
Basically, these are thinner,
three millimeter laces that are used here
that end up lacing and de-lacing, if that's even a word,
a little bit quicker than five millimeters so,
the eyelets are a little bit larger.
The string, the shoestring itself is a little bit thinner.
And you can just see that really quickly becomes de-laced
just by pulling the shoe apart.
They're also triple-stitched
in certain places for added durability.
So especially down here,
where the upper attaches to the lower part of the shoe.
You could see we have three rows of stitching going on here.
And GORUCK is always trying to make
the most durable products possible.
They make really high-quality stuff.
And with this triple stitching,
it shows their attention to detail
to weaker points on the shoe
and the areas they're reinforcing.
There's also a wide toe box near the top,
and what that does here, is it allows your toes to breathe
and spread out a little bit more.
If you're familiar with minimalistic shoes,
these are in no way minimalist whatsoever
with that huge, massive thick padding
that we have going on here at the outsole and the midsole.
However, if you're familiar with minimalistic shoes,
they typically have a wider toe box towards the top.
It gives your feet a little bit of room
to spread out inside of the shoe.
Just feels a lot more comfortable overall,
especially as your feet get used to that.
These shoes are not waterproof
and GORUCK is really going for breathability here
instead of trapping all that heat and sweat
inside of the shoe, feeling like a microwave,
as they do say on their site.
They have these shielding drain holes here at the bottom
which not only help with breathability,
but they also expel any water that's been collected inside,
and they are guarded drain holes
so that they have a little bit of this
kind of mesh material going on here,
and that is going to keep dirt and sand
from getting inside the shoe,
but it's still gonna allow water to drain out.
And the water just drains right out,
it's actually pretty handy.
Overall the height of these is great,
but if you want something a little bit taller,
you could check out GORUCK's eight inch MACV-1s
that are in preorder at the time of this review.
From a break-in perspective,
Nathan was able to hit the ground running.
He has narrower and flatter feet.
And from a break-in perspective, there was virtually none.
He was just able to put these on right away
and they were comfortable for him.
For me, on the other hand,
it took a little bit of time to break in.
My feet are a little bit wider with a high instep.
And it probably just took a couple of days
before it felt comfortable.
The wideness itself was not an issue for me personally.
But I did feel a little bit tighter towards the top here
as I have a higher instep.
So that took a couple days
to feel a little more comfortable.
Neither of us had blisters on break-in
or anything like that.
Our testing has pretty much been urban.
We haven't gone trekking in a jungle, in Vietnam,
like the GORUCK marketing video shows.
Just been wearing them around Detroit, New York City,
as well as Minnesota.
We have seen a couple of permanent marks and scratches
that have developed on the black version
but nothing really affecting the durability quite yet,
just the aesthetic.
Generally, they've been quite weather-resistant
and also dry quickly,
especially if that insole is not on the inside.
Plus, the materials in this boot are designed
not to hold water so they don't use any Spacer Mesh,
which can retain a bunch of water.
Generally, these dry pretty quickly.
If anything does go wrong,
GORUCK will cover manufacturing defects
under their Scars warranty.
And the Scars warranty
is one of the best warranties out there.
They don't cover ordinary wear and tear on the soles.
Just like tires on a car,
you know, these are gonna wear down
as you walk on them more.
I mean, that's just how shoes work.
And they're definitely not going to replace anything
if there's fire damage,
but they might give you a discount
if you email them a cool story.
And they're usually really great with their customers.
They have pride in their product
and they stand behind it really well.
So to wrap this thing up with some pros and cons,
starting with the pros.
These are very lightweight
and are a great option for travel.
The speed laces keep things running smoothly and quick.
GORUCK uses some high-quality materials and craftsmanship
to develop the MACV-1s.
On to some of the cons.
It can take some getting used to and breaking in
if you have a higher instep.
And on the black version
we have seen aesthetic scratch marks show quickly.
The lighter weight of these shoes
is what makes them really great for travel.
They look solid when you're in an urban environment
and perform well in the wilderness.
We liked the high-quality materials and craftsmanship
including the fact that they're breathable
and not waterproof.
If you're looking for a lightweight boot on the road,
the GORUCK MACV-1 can be a great option for you.
So there you have it,
our review of the GORUCK MACV-1 boots.
We would love to hear in the comments below
what you think of these things.
Thanks for keeping it here at Pack Hacker,
your guide to smarter travel.
We'll see you in the next video.