Follow Up: The Patagonia Nomad Gore-Tex Boot

I always enjoy hearing from the Patagonia community and recently got a comment from "J" regarding my recent post on the Patagonia Nomad Gore-Tex Hiking Boot.

Very interesting comment about the partnership between Patagonia and Merrell! I recently chatted with a representative from Patagonia, and from the question I asked, he replied that Patagonia sizes the same as Merrell. I suspect that the rumor is true. Is there any suspicion as to what Merrell boot the Patagonia is modeled after, or is it a dedicated design only to the Patagonia name? What I am trying to get at is if there is another boot of exactly the same specs, but with the Merrell name and lower price. BTW, how are these boots holding up?

My reply:

Hi J,
Yes, Merrell and Patagonia have joined forces on the Patagonia footwear line. This article talks about that: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/patagonia_and_m.php

The boots have held up well. In fact I wore them yesterday for the first time in a while. We had some wet and cold weather out here in the west and they did great. I've not been up to the snow yet or really had to experience any severe weather so I can't say how they'd do in those conditions. But they are comfortable and they have that heavy-duty look to them.

After looking at the Merrell website, it looks like comparable shoes from Merrell are pretty similarly priced as those from Patagonia. It doesn't appear as though Merrell's prices are significantly lower than Patagonia's (again, for a comparable product). Also, from the Patagonia website, it sounds like more care has been taken to stay consistent with Patagonia's environmental ideals and commitment to making a "cleaner" or "greener" product. Perhaps that's worth choosing a Patagonia-branded product over a Merrell-branded product.

Thanks for the comment J.

Feel free to get in touch if you have a question or comment about anything Patagonia. I enjoy hearing from folks out there and I try to respond promptly each time.