Construction, Features, & Fit

Performance and build-wise, Nortiv8 Armadillo 2 is in every way your standard issue hiking boots – only they costs about half to a quarter as much as what you’ll find from premium name brands like Merrell, Keen, Salomon, and La Sportiva. From their waterproof construction, to their faux-leather finish, they blends in with the best of the best.

Armadillo’s height is somewhere between mid-top and heigh-top. A waterproof/breathable barrier lines the boot, covered entirely by mesh fabric, and reinforced with large swathes of faux leather at high wear-and-tear spots. This increases durability and create a finished look.

Nortiv8 does not provide info or stats about their waterproof technology or how these shoes achieve this. A label on the boots themselves says waterproof, while the Nortiv8 website refers to them as water-resistant. This is likely an attempt at under-promising and over-delivering, which benefits customers. More on this in the testing section, but we have found them to be sufficiently waterproof.

The downside to all waterproof footwear, even the best of the best, is that it’s hotter, clammier, and sweatier than non-waterproof shoes and boots which breath and vent heat better. That’s why we generally prefer hiking in non-waterproof trail running shoes. As such we don’t recommend these for hiking in hot/dry conditions, as the build would just be overkill.

The rubber outsole has all the right patterns to grip soil, but the shallow lugs prevent it from truly digging in. We would describe the traction as good-not-great.

As noted in the intro, we found these boots run a bit large, though likely not in a way that requires buyers to change their sizing. But in terms of length, width, and volume throughout the boot, there is plenty of room to spare. The men’s size 12 I tested felt more like a 12.25. If you are exactly in between sizes, you might want to size down.