text: A long time wearer of Magnums. In my rough day-to-day wear, I found them to last about a year, give or take a few months. That always seemed fair for me since I'd buy them two at a time at some place that offered buy one get one half off. They took well to a buff and always looked professional.<br /><br />Eventually, I bought 6 pairs of the Viper II line, not waterproof. Rub in some mink oil, spray with KIWI, and re-oil/spray every month or two, and I'm good. They took SEVERE abuse, including lots of rain, puddles, mud, soft earth, shallow swamps and accidental dunks when misjudging said water sources, and I never had a single problem.<br /><br />I decided to finally upgrade and try these out after I ran through all my old Vipers. These are supposed to be WATERPROOF, and I know what that entails with these: light rain and a puddle or two are a-okay, but anything heavy or deeper than your ankle and you're severely pushing it and should've donned rubbers.<br /><br />First impressions were good. They looked like a good leather and a Gore-Tex type weave. The tab to help pull the boot on is leather instead of fabric, but it's too low and short to be of real help. Maybe making it a loop would've been better. Finally, the leather looked more matte than my previous boots, but I like it. It's easier to maintain a professional look than shiny leather.<br /><br />I broke them in the usual way: a day of wearing them around the house chasing my son. I immediately noticed they were more narrow than my previous Vipers in wide (EE), but I figured I'd let them stretch naturally instead of a boot stretcher. I haven't dealt with waterproof inner linings, so I didn't want to take a chance.<br /><br />I had one assignment in light rain. They did their job – my feet stayed dry and I finished out the day; HOWEVER, the next day the &#34;leather&#34; was rubbing off of the toe!<br /><br />The leather doesn't feel right anymore. It feels like it soaked up a lot of water. The lining kept medry, but the leather seems easily damaged. After being dry enough on the surface and needing to wear them again, I went to take my buff sponge to it quickly and the leather flaked and crumbled off the toe. I also obviously see some of the glue used to finish the sole.<br /><br />These disappoint me. One star for not being a catastrophic failure and one star for keeping my feet dry... one day.<br /><br />I'm returning these and do not recommend them.