One Good Winter Boot Disguised as a Sneaker
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I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find the sweet spot between a proper outdoorsy sneaker and something I’d actually want to sport around the city. Usually, you end up with one or the other. Either it can handle whatever elements are thrown at it but looks like you’re on your way to the trailhead, or it looks impressive but starts melting the second it sees a puddle.
With another ferocious winter inevitably on the horizon, I knew better than to wing it for another year. I hate to admit it but this is when my slim sneakers let me down. There's only so much you can ask of a barely-there sole, or, worse still, a mesh Mary Jane, when the sidewalk is soaked. I needed something with a bit more going for it. Not necessarily a hiking shoe, and certainly not anything that would make me look like I’ve suddenly developed an interest in mountaineering. The SOREL Callsign Horizon Low GTX seemed to hit that rather specific brief. It’s chunky, properly gorpy, and somehow still feels like something confidently rock to the office.
We can all likely agree that a Salomon would've been a solid choice, but dare I say a little predictable at this point. I wanted something that felt a little less obvious, and SOREL wasn’t exactly the first name that came to mind when I started looking for a sneaker. That’s partly what drew me to the Callsign. SOREL is a brand I’ve always associated with big winter boots, so seeing that same DNA squeezed into a sneaker feels like a bit of a curveball. It’s familiar enough to make sense, but different enough that I’m not looking at the same shoe on every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Then there’s the color. Tawny Buff and Deep Woods sounds less like a sneaker and more like the names of two very expensive Farrow & Ball paints, but I’m into it. The sandy brown upper and dark green sole shouldn’t be this good together, yet here we are. It gives the shoe a slightly old-school feel that I wasn’t expecting, and honestly makes the whole thing feel a lot more considered than your average chunky sneaker.
One thing I wasn’t expecting was how comfortable they are straight out of the box. There’s no awkward breaking in period or that slightly stiff feeling you sometimes get with shoes that are built to be a bit more serious.
I predict I’ll be able to clock some miles through the city, jump on the train, kick them off by the front door and not spend the rest of the evening inspecting them for whatever fresh damage I’ve managed to inflict. I’m not expecting them to stay pristine, nor do I particularly want them to. If I’m going to commit to a shoe like this, I’d rather actually wear the hell out of it.
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