As your post makes clear, what really counts in boots is proper fitting. Everything else is details.<br><br>Perhaps the reason you haven't seen those brands mentioned before is that there appear to be two somewhat different "boot universes"- the military/hunting and the hiking/climbing. I have gotten my boots from the latter, ever since I shucked the crummy, poorly conceived, uncomfortable misfits the Army provided me. Then I found true comfort and utility. But everyone's feet are different, and we must seek our goals by different paths, walking in different boots, of course.