text: I really really believe Bates boots were great boots at one point. But the quality now has just sunk. Within two days of buying these boots, the padding on the outside of the back of the boot (by the achilles tendon) just tore. I'm not the kind of person that takes off boots with the other foot by kicking the heel, so I have no idea why that padding tore in just two days of buying the boots. After about a little more than a month after buying the boots, the pleather on the toe of the boot started to take on a bubble effect. As if the pleather was lifting off the boot itself, ultimately the pleather peeled off the bubbles sections as if you were to pop a burn blister. Not a pretty sight. Honestly I didn't want to deal with the boots in the end so I ended up buying a different brand of boots.