I purchased a pair of 14 x 48 Hurons from you last year in preparation for a trip down the lower Missinaibi River. We had limited time on that trip and had to move fast, covering the 250km in 17 days. I feel the weight savings of your monoline weave really helped on that trip, but it was on a 39-day trip this year that I really began to appreciate all the benefits of your new weave. Your shoes were really put to the test, and passed with flying colours. We were forced to deal with a lot of nasty terrain (lots of beaver dams, 3km long bushwhack, etc) and unseasonably warm weather.

The monoline handled the abuse and the warm, wet weather with no signs of wear. My partner on the other hand was using a pair of shoes woven with rawhide, and these were a constant source of anxiety. The abrasive spring snow quickly wore off her varnish and then started eating through the weave. She tried everything on those shoes, including beeswax, bacon grease and vegetable oil, to reseal the rawhide, and eventually had to weave nylon webbing amongst the rawhide to reduce sagging. In addition to the webbing, you can see signs of lots of either minor repairs which were required on the rawhide shoe.

I believe you have achieved an excellent marriage of traditional and modern and have produced a very functional workhorse.