Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Like many active people, I have grown weary of buying top quality footwear only to have the laces fail over and over again. It is with this weariness that I eagerly paid more than I was planning on to buy a set of 70" Rhino Laces. I measured my existing laces and compared this size to that of the Rhino Laces, and all appeared copacetic. The laces arrived in a couple days, and as they are described elsewhere, they feel substantial and are a bit stiff. So, I start by removing my existing laces, then try to insert the aglet (the gun metal end) through the first closed eyelet on my boots. This aglet is paradoxically slightly larger in diameter than the laces. Uh oh - it doesn't fit. So I finagle it, force it, wiggle it - no dice. I posted on Rhino Laces Facebook page about the problem, and within minutes I heard back from one of the founders, Justin. Great customer service. He asks me what model and make boots I wear, and when I tell him, he says it should be no problem, but that some people have used a Leatherman or pliers to smash the end of the lace to get it to fit through the eyelet. Uh-oh number two: I'm supposed to physically alter BRAND NEW laces to get them to work? 45 minutes later I finally get one lace end through the first eyelet by beating the heck out of it, but then - it gets stuck. I can't get it through the next eyelet, and because I smashed it to smithereens, I can no longer back it out. Since these laces are indestructible, I can't even cut it. So now I have one boot with one lace passing through one eyelet. Uh-oh number three: That's a problem...my boots have been effectively rendered useless. 30 minutes later I succeeded in backing it out, and I contact Justin again. Now, mind you, I haven't even GOTTEN to what a challenge these laces are supposed to be to tie (requiring a special locking plate, or learning a new knot...) yet. Justin apologizes and tells me they have a new material for their laces that's "from the Mars rover", whatever than means, and that he will personally hand make me another couple pair, with smaller aglets, and send them to me free. He also says this new design can be tied like regular laces. Well that sounded great, and I thanked him. Two new sets of laces show up today via FedEx. I open them up, and they are a lot less rigid, and don't even come with a tie plate...and uh-oh number four- the ends/aglets look identical to the laces I already have. I measure these supposedly smaller aglets and sure enough, they are the same outside diameter as the laces I already have. Darn. I contact Justin, and as he has done before, he responds quickly. I tell him about my problem and he assures me my case is really unusual. Aren't I lucky? So, I next figure that I'll just wrench the aglets off the laces and pull them through the eyelets. Uh-oh number 5: as soon as I do this, the lace starts to delaminate when I try to put it through the eyelet, in other words, the outer sheathing gets caught on the eyelet but the inner core goes right through. This really isn't good. I think, maybe I can burn the end of the lace to keep it together...oh yeah, I forgot, you can't burn these laces. In the end, I've spent something like 5 hours trying to get these laces to work. I really like Justin, and really want to support a company that is doing everything it can to make an American product in America, and who is trying to make the absolute best product in its category, but based on my experiences (again, I never even GOT to the problem many are having, i.e., tying the things), Rhino Laces are not worth the money or the effort, even if they did eventually work out, which they didn't. For reference, I have Lowa Renegade GTX boots, each boot with 8 closed eyelets on the lower portion.