AKU SL Hike Gore-Tex® Hiking Boots - Waterproof (For Men)

These boots remind me of the venerable Kletterschuhe, a boot designed for easy rock climbing, scrambling, and boulder hopping. The boot is very light, 10 ounces lighter in the pair than my Asolo FSN85/95 boots in the same size (my closest comparison), but the sole is much stiffer than the Asolo boots. Several makers have come up with similar boots recently, intended as sort of "approach-scramblers," a useful description. Boots this stiff work well with strap-on crampons, but are miserable to wear downhill on good trails. They might be suitable for ultra light backpacking on rugged terrain (something I plan to try).
The upper is mostly fabric with a Goretex lining. AKU claims that most Goretex membranes are glued to the liner which destroys to their capacity to breathe, making the boots hot and wet to wear. They have developed a technology (Air 8000) that attaches the membrane with small spots of glue thus allowing it to breathe while remaining waterproof. This seems to work with my other AKU boots with the same technology. The boot has a knobby-lugged sole that seems more aggressive than most Vibram soles, the sort of sole you might want for broken rock and talus, not so much for groomed trails.
AKU sizes their boot differently than most European makers. My street shoe size 11.5 translates to a Euro size 46, my boot size, which other makers translate as a US size 12 (order your street shoe size). These boots are a snug fit out of the box wearing midweight hiking socks. I have lower volume feet with an AB width (as measured on a shoe store Brannock Device). There feels to be a little additional width, and lighter socks will offer a little more room but these boots are sized for narrow low volume feet.
These are specialized boots that fit a niche I've been looking to fill. They would be better named SL (Super Light?) Approach Scramblers.