I had never heard of these boots before, but the idea of the story came from a real woman that I know, who inspired the character of Morgan. We were on a hike and she was raving about her boots. She wouldn't stop going on about them so I sarcastically asked her to tell me again how great they were. She said let me put it this way, if I saw another girl wearing some, I might just throw her down and tear them off of her.
Now that you say this, I remember that the friend I used to go hiking with had some pretty flash boots too. She was training for the Annapurna Trail. And, yes, she could fight (and was very good-looking with it). She told me she went once to a self-defence / jiujitsu class for women and there was just one other woman there, same age, same size, and the sensei said to them (in as many words):
'OK, before we start, let's see what you're made of."
And he said to my friend; "Make her submit!"
Then he turned to the other woman and said the same thing.
So they fought, and the fight (and the whole experience) was so intense, my friend said, that her nose began to bleed, even though it hadn't been hit.
"And who won?" I asked her.
"I did," she said.
Apparently the other woman left the gym in tears and didn't come back the following week. And that was that.
So now I'm thinking …