Bryan,
I have a pair of Russels. Thought I should have one pair of custom boots in my life. And only one it will be. for $300 (ten years ago), I got a pair that are, at best, okay. The toes have the same problem those LLBean boots have. I wore them to Africa and they were good enough there, but Africa is probably the easiest hunting I've ever seen, bar none. They had to go back to Russel almost immediately to have the soles reglued, but that part held afterwards.

My gripes about them are that they fit no better than off the shelf 10.5 D's that everyone and their brother makes. And, they are not even slightly water resistant to even light dew on the grass. Support is minimal.

_________
BrentD, (Professor - just for Stan)

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]