In Finland, the comic character "The Phantom" (you know, the butch guy who runs around the Bengal jungle in purple tights) is immensely popular. In fact, he's so famous that Jalas went and named a boot after him. And a top-quality boot it is too! We are especially thrilled, as these fit our wide, hairy Finnish hobbit feet well.

Quality leather boots with a membrane

When The Phantom leaves the jungle and goes downtown, we're quite sure he wears these, as it's always pretty sloshy and cold there. Like the Finnish army M05 boots, these are full leather, but here's the catch; these have a waterproof membrane. If you're not a Finn, you probably pass this by with a shrug, but we're pretty excited - in a country that lags behind everyone else about 10-20 years, that's something! It's almost like, you know, introducing electricity to Zimbabwe (again).

Now, as us Finns do know something about winter, these have some pretty good qualities for cold weather footwear (along with the membrane): a rubber sole with good traction, strong construction, and a proper full leather tongue. Last but not least, these are sized pretty generously to accommodate thick (double) socks inside. Oh, and the insole is super, one of the best we have ever seen.

Attributes

• Upper made of 100% leather
• Porelle Drylock membrane
• Shock absorbent rubber outsole provides traction even in winter
• Thicker tongue and better fit around the shaft than the standard M05 boot
• Reinforced toe box
• Improved quick-lacing system
• Comes with Jalas FX2 insoles!

Speed-lacing. Jalas made a nifty little thing to make this better: they put small ball bearings inside the tunnel loops. Think about it, which causes less wear and friction, a metal tunnel or a shiny steel ball?

Upper and insole

Full leather construction. This means you can actually polish the leather to keep it in good shape. We recommend using special membrane-compatible polish, regular ones might block the membrane. The membrane isn't Gore-Tex. Instead, it's something the boot manufacturer, Jalas, calls "Drylock". The manufacturer of the membrane fabric itself is Porelle. Porelle promises some pretty awesome specs for their membrane and it works just as it should: keeps water out and lets sweat vapor out.

Shock absorption in the sole and superior traction - these are meant for Finnish weather conditions and work better than most in freezing temperatures too. The rubber doesn't get stiff easily and can take heat up to 300 degrees Celsius.

We recommend pairing these boots with our Merino wool socks!