User Review: Vasque Sundowner

Vasque Sundowner
Above: The current Sundowner, which may differ slightly from the version reviewed.

Reviewed August 20, 2004 by Simon

Rating:
Materials: Burgundy Leather - OLD SCHOOL CLASSIC
Use: Short day hikes and to sleep in, it doesn't matter
Break-in Period: Not applicable. No break in required.
Price Paid: $135 on E-bay

This is a very strange dilemma. I was looking for a pair of light to medium weight hiking boots. They had to be well made, waterproof and comfortable. Those were my only real requirements. A friend of mine has a pair of 10-year-old Sundowners that looked just right for me. They met all of my requirements and were quality made in Italy.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find those boots anywhere. The only ones that were like them were made in China. The new generation (MX-2's) were not quite the same. They were made in Italy (although I hear they will be made in Romania next year) but they were bulkier and not quite as comfortable to me. I even had to wonder if they were in fact made in Italy as I saw an earlier pair that were nicely made and a later pair (still marked as "made in Italy") that didn't look as well made to me. Hmm...

As luck would have it, I found a pair of the classics on e-bay that were brand new in the box. They were the old ones, made in Italy, exactly like my friend's pair. Got them last week and I can't believe how comfortable they are. Everything about them just works.

It begs the question...why would Vasque take a perfect product that is critically acclaimed as "the most popular boot in the world" and do ANYTHING to alter the state of this product? All I can think is that it is driven by the need to save money. Either Vasque is in financial trouble, or they are jumping on the bandwagon that many of the other manufacturers are -- how to make a cheaper product and increase profits. I don't know about anyone else, but as a consumer, this is unacceptable to me. In addition, it's not like they lowered the price to accomodate the cheaper process. In fact, the quality decreased and the price remained the same and in some cases increased.

I will say no more in criticism of the current day Vasque business model. For, if they choose a cheaper manufacturing process and continue to increase profits in the process, then all the power to them I suppose. However, I highly suspect that over time, sales will drop off and profits will decline. Perhaps then, they will return to the old school methods that their original reputation was based on. I would hate to be known as a company that "used to" create quality products.

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