This is the Danner Bull Run Boot, it’s built using the same mold as the company’s highly-regarded Mountain Pass hiking boot, and each pair is made in the USA at Danner’s Oregon factory.
The Bull Run is designed to be comfortable underfoot and well-suited to wearing all day on a variety of surfaces. It has a Danner wedge outsole and a soft OrthoLite footbed. The boots are water resistant and they have an electrical hazard rating to ASTM F2892-24.
This is the Danner Bull Run Boot, it’s built using the same mold as the company’s highly-regarded Mountain Pass hiking boot, and each pair is made in the USA at Danner’s Oregon factory.
History Speedrun: The Danner Shoe Mfg. Co.
The Danner Shoe Mfg. Co. was founded in 1932 in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, by Charles Danner, with a little help from his father-in-law William Weyenberg. The region’s proximity to the Great Lakes supported a thriving leather tanning industry, making it a natural home for a bootmaker with national ambitions.
With just five employees at the start, Danner set out to build affordable, long-lasting work boots during the depths of the Great Depression – initially selling them for $4 a pair, not a small sum of money back in the day.
In 1936, Charles heard about the booming timber trade in the Pacific Northwest and he relocated the company to Portland, Oregon. The move proved transformative for the company, Danner quickly became one of the major producers of calked (spiked-soled) logging boots in the region, selling them for $20 a pair.
Charles’s sons, John and Bill, joined the business in 1939. Both served in World War II, during which time Danner won a government contract to supply work boots, this prompted the construction of a much larger factory in North Portland.
After the war, Bill returned to bootmaking while John attended law school before rejoining the company in the 1950s. Together, they expanded the product line and opened Danner’s first retail store, and they formally took over the business from their father in 1957.
The outdoor recreation boom of the 1950s and 1960s opened a huge new chapter for the company, Danner became one of the few domestic manufacturers of hiking boots, and in the early 1970s released the 6490 Mountain Trail – this was a lace-to-toe design with a one-piece leather upper that weighed over a pound less than competing boots of the era.
This is the Danner Bull Run 6″ Boot comes in both black and brown colorways, it has a full-grain upper that takes on oil during the tanning process, which Danner says improves resistance to water and other liquids while reducing the maintenance the leather needs over time.
It was a hit with hikers and outdoor magazines alike, pushing production to 480 handmade pairs a day. In 1979, Danner partnered with W.L. Gore & Associates to create the first fully waterproof hiking boot using Gore-Tex fabric, this was a breakthrough that reshaped the industry and still reverberates today.
The result was the Danner Light, and the Mountain Light followed as an evolution of Danner’s earlier 6490-style hiking boot, combining the same one-piece leather-upper formula with waterproof Gore-Tex construction.
Despite some changes in ownership, Danner continues to manufacture many of its most popular boot lines at its 59,000 sq ft Portland factory, and still supplies footwear to the U.S. military, law enforcement, and outdoor enthusiasts around the world.
The Danner Bull Run Boot
This is the Danner Bull Run 6″ Boot, it has a full-grain upper that takes on oil during the tanning process, which Danner says improves resistance to water and other liquids while reducing the maintenance the leather needs over time.
The boot has been left unlined, a more traditional choice that helped to keep the weight down, helps it breathe in heat, and lets the leather mold to the foot. It’s built with stitchdown construction, with the upper turned out and sewn to the sole to give a wider platform and more stability underfoot.
The Bull Run’s outsole is Danner’s own wedge design, it’s a soft polyurethane compound, non-marking, oil and slip-resistant, and intended for long days on concrete, bricks, and wood. Inside there’s a fiberglass shank and a removable OrthoLite footbed made from open-cell polyurethane in layers of varying density.
The pair weighs in at 56 oz and fits true to size on Danner’s 503 last, is made in Portland, Oregon. A last is the foot-shaped form a boot is built around, and it sets the fit – instep height, toe box volume, heel width. The 503 gives a casual fit and keeps Danner’s lace-to-toe construction, with the eyelets running forward toward the toe so the boot opens wide across the instep. The boot is a plain toe with no safety cap, and it carries an electrical hazard rating to ASTM F2892-24.
The Bull Run’s outsole is Danner’s own wedge design, it’s a soft polyurethane compound, non-marking, oil and slip-resistant, and intended for long days on concrete, bricks, and wood. Inside there’s a fiberglass shank and a removable OrthoLite footbed made from open-cell polyurethane in layers of varying density.
Due to the stitchdown construction, the boot is recraftable, so a new sole can be added in a few years time when this one is worn down. These boots are eligible for Danner’s paid part replacement, as well as the leather care and restitching work the company offers, and they carry a 365 day warranty.
The Danner Bull Run is now available to buy on the official Danner website here with a current MSRP of $260 USD.
Images courtesy of Danner
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