Two years ago, we sat down and looked at one another, recognizing that our footwear did not live up to our otherwise industry-leading standards.

Facing the facts of the situation, we looked at the entire footwear process – from the design to the materials to the production to the testing to the packaging. We read every single claim and did extensive data analysis to find out how we could do better.

We had three core moves in the plan to reach our Härkila standards: to move production to Europe, to do a complete redesign of every single shoe, and to insist on more rigorous and frequent testing.

For two years, we listened, we learned, and tried and learned some more. Finally, we’re ready to share the collection with you, but rebuilding trust is important to us, so this story is to create complete transparency about what we learned, how we changed, and where we are now.

The why

Härkila customers demand and deserve the best. Our CEO, Valdemar Bardram, know we’ve set the standard for ourselves: “Härkila is the no 1 brand within hunting apparel, and our products are carefully designed to cater for the specific type of hunt, establishing the foundation for a successful hunt. We are specialists in hunting, and we spend a lot of time out there ourselves.”

Footwear is essential to hunting – for different reasons on different hunts. Optimizing different boots to different purposes was key in our mission to upgrade our footwear collection. As Bardram put it simply: “Imagine the number of kilometers in the rain, snow, water streams, mountains swamps, and sunshine hunters are walking – your feet require the right footwear.”

We pride ourselves on being humble enough to learn from our mistakes so we can keep improving and remain as a leader in the industry. We listen to our customers because hunters know hunting best. We take “by hunters for hunters” seriously, drawing on the experience and feedback from all our in-house hunters. Our goal is to move the needle of the industry standard so that hunter gets the best possible equipment for their passion.

The how

The first step to improving is determining the areas of improvement, next we made a plan, and then we went to work.

Moving our production to Europe created a more careful and intentional production process. It gave us more control over the workflow, it made communication more efficient, and it enabled us to do better and more frequent quality control over details like whether the taping was optimally fastened or should be adjusted for a better fit.

Investigating the claims on previous models, we analyzed the data to find the key culprits affecting the quality – things like soft soles, too stiff heels, stitching, and glue. Reading every single claim helped us understand what could be improved by design and what could be improved in production.

When designing new models and redesigning existing models, we brought in experts: Terje Moland who has extensive experience working with membranes in footwear (specifically GORE-TEX), and Penny Leese who has a strong background in technical outdoor footwear and its construction. We know hunting and they know design and production – we wanted the best of both to create the new foundation.

With every new boot (both new styles and redesigns), we have upped the testing so that every single membrane in every boot is tested for waterproofness. Additionally, we have increased our flex testing to 5% of daily production. This testing is done in the GORE-TEX labs, independently of both our manufacturer and us to ensure impartiality of the results.

As we took every boot apart, we choose new and better cutlines, found the best materials specifically for hunting (GORE-TEX, Vibram, Nubuck leather, Cordura, etc), and developed brand-new lasts – including as Penny Leese explains, “our own lasts specifically to fit women’s feet, and also new lasts for men that are roomier in the toe area for additional comfort on all-day shoots and hunting.” We looked at the purpose of each shoe and chose the sole accordingly. We added stitching for extra reinforcement and updated the design details.

Little by little, step by step, every piece fell into place to create the new collection we’re so proud of.

The result

We are a brand by hunters for hunters. We pride ourselves on the gear we make, so when something doesn’t live up to our intentions, we learn and correct it. We are specialists and as our founder, Kjell Lennartsson, says: “We know that many of those who choose Härkila's hunting equipment are hunters who hunt more than the average hunter, and these hunters also place very high demands on their equipment.” Our new collection lives up to those demands because of the lessons we’ve learned and the changes we’ve made. Footwear designer, Penny Leese, adds “this work wasn’t just an upgrade. It took lots of time and effort as we built each style from the bottom up.”

In short, we upgraded. Will you?