The Olang Stubai Snow Boot - A Detailed User Review

13th January 2011

Having bought my pair of Stubais 4 years ago now, I feel pretty relieved to have had them when the weather turned snowy these last two years. I guess the biggest compliment I can pay to these boots is that I have always felt a little smug with my choice of footwear when faced with the icy pavements and snow covered hills; every day you walk out of your front door you see people perched on their bottoms in the freezing snow and there was me walking tall and - it's true - even able to run in the snow! Not jogging mind - I just had to get back to my semi-abandoned car which was causing a tailback on a hill.

You see, I bought my Stubais by accident as 4 years ago on the eve of a skiing trip back when I didn't know anything about snow boots. I just picked up the first pair of boots that looked warm and would go with jeans of an evening. Thinking mainly of après ski at the time I didn't realise what a good choice I had made. Admittedly, when I bought the boots I thought the OC System a bit of a novelty, but time and again it's saved my neck and I wouldn't buy another pair of snow boots without it.

In appearance the Stubais have a subtle elegance which makes them a perfect semi-casual boot. Manufactured without the welly sole commonly found on snow boots, the Stubais use a protective and waterproof Olantex membrane instead which covers the boot from top to sole and keeps the boots 100% waterproof. The only change in design I can see from mine to present day is an updated logo. I have used these boots in snow, ice, rain, mud, puddles, wet grass and most other weather imaginable and they have never let me down. The material used is durable and seems to be coated with something like Teflon which means that dirt never sticks to the surface of the boot. 4 years on mine still look pretty much the same as when I bought them and they have seen a good amount of use in between. The standard sole is thick and grippy which helps insulate the foot, and the top of the boot has a draw-cord gaiter to keep out falling snow and rain.

For warmth the boots are lined with virgin wool which has a heavenly soft feel on the foot. Not only is this a luxury material it also has good natural properties: the wool itself is top quality and one of nature’s best insulators so you stay warm and the boot retains the majority of the heat generated by your foot. The wool is also a naturally breathable material which offers excellent wicking - the movement of moisture (sweat) away from the foot - and keeps you comfortable even under exertion. The technical Olantex membrane is designed to allow this moisture from the inside to escape whilst remaining impermeable to snow and water from the outside. This, in turn, helps with odour control so no sweaty feet problems!

The OC System: possibly the biggest selling point of the Stubai is Olang's patented OC System which provides maximum grip both on snow and ice. The premise of the system is that it allows you to choose when you need extra grip, and the system gives retractable ice studs that fold back into the sole of the boot when not needed. The ice studs themselves are held in a durable plastic clip shaped like and O and a C – hence the name. Designed to be small enough to not affect your walk, but big enough and well placed to give essential stability and grip on ice, the stud are retained in the sole unit and simply swing and clip into place when needed. Other systems are available on the market that allow you to retro-fit ice studs on your boots but quite simply nothing comes close to the OC System for practicality on the move. Personally, I found that you can walk (yes, and run) on ice and then get into your car and drive all without taking the boots off which is probably the extent to which most people will use their boots. Olang provide a little key fob attachment which means setting and retracting the ice studs on your soles is quick and easy and means you don't even have to take your gloves off to fiddle with the mechanism - low tech genius, I am forever glad my boots have this and I wouldn't be without it now. It even gave me grip when trying to push my car in the snow and it's not often you have more grip than a car!

All in all I can't rate these boots highly enough - the price is relatively high, but well worth it when you consider the use I have gotten out of the boots and the quality of construction. That said, I am thinking about replacing mine soon as after 4 years the woollen lining has flattened a lot, but other than that they still have a lot of years left in them. If I do these won't be going in the bin, but passed on to a charity shop for someone else to get some more use before they go to boot heaven. 5 stars from me on these boots - quality, durable and exactly the right thing for a snowy climate!

Michael, West Sussex

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