Boots is Boots

View attachment 1206540 Thorogoods are basically it for me. Can’t beat the comfort. Lace up, pull on, wedge sole, defined heel, tobacco leather, trail crazy horse leather, black walnut leather. Any of them will be a winner. I’ve got almost ten pair and keep them in rotation. Couldn’t quite fit them all in one picture :D but these three are my favorite models
 
I got these Corcoran 1510 historic brown jump boots in a few weeks ago( basically unchanged since ww2 ) , and they're actually a nice traditionally made boot for the money but they come with this horrid brown finish that makes 'em look like vinyl.
Worse than the look is the squeaky creaky noise they make, and the fact that they just will not take any neatsfoot oil to remedy this.
It's definitely a durable water resistant finish for sure, but that's the only benefit.



I decided to strip and refinish them today, and while it wasn't my initial intention they were taking on a bit of an aged look so I decided to just add some dye on them and lace them up while on my feet and laced up to help highlight the creases and such.



They may look a bit " distressed " now but they'll start to look a bit more natural in time and I've still got a bit of blending and polishing to do.
 
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Those do look better IMO.

I would like a pair of Nick's or White's but I am not sure which style I would want. At $400+ I would hate to find out I want or hate a heel on some work boots. I figure I'll get a couple pairs of cheapies to narrow down what I want before pulling the trigger on some decent ones.

White's are owned by a Japanese company now, still made in the U.S. and I believe repaired here also (made extremely well I've heard). So there is a lean towards the Nick's.

I have weird size and shape of foot I guess so I am leaning towards custom made.
 
Just picked these up. Haven’t even had a chance to break them in or ride in them yet (work). Loving them so far. Anderson Bean with oxbow sole. I’m a leather sole guy so we will see how I like riding/working in them this weekend. They are very comfortable :thumbsup::thumbsup:5BC438F8-0A90-4536-9DE5-102CADEF02CE.jpeg
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Just picked these up. Haven’t even had a chance to break them in or ride in them yet (work). Loving them so far. Anderson Bean with oxbow sole. I’m a leather sole guy so we will see how I like riding/working in them this weekend. They are very comfortable :thumbsup::thumbsup:View attachment 1349265
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With ya on that! Bout can't ride in anything but a leather sole. Get claustrophobic. Sorting drys the other day:

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Wife got a new pair of Ariats. She likes walking in em but not keen on riding. Misses that riding heel on her tall tops.

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With ya on that! Bout can't ride in anything but a leather sole. Get claustrophobic. Sorting drys the other day:

ifHNtqs.jpg


Wife got a new pair of Ariats. She likes walking in em but not keen on riding. Misses that riding heel on her tall tops.

DFmo1wj.jpg

It makes me nervous. Just the concept of rubber. I have always ridden in leather. If I don’t like it they will be going in to get swapped for leathers. Boots are very comfy though. No complains there :thumbsup:
 
I am a big fan of Blundstones as well. I finally wore out a pair I wore almost daily for a decade last year and have been wearing these ones a lot since..
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I've tried many boots but redbacks are by far the best in my opinion. Easy to slip on and off, Super comfy, and durable.

Some info on the Australian boots mentioned here for if anyone's interested.

Blundstones: I grew up on a farm in the Riverina on these and as a result only learned how to tie my shoes almost when I was in high school haha. But sad to say that the quality really took a big dip in 2007 when production moved out of Australia. I gave them a try but the soles would crack and the leather was just so much worse. Could barely get a year out of them. Funnily enough they're pretty popular in the cities now though and are a bit more of a practical fashion thing.

RM Williams: Recently were bought out by Louis Vutton and saw a huge price spike as a result. Thoroughly in the luxury boot camp now, but still beautiful quality and handmade in australia. Have started getting a bit of a rep as boots for dentists, real estate agents and other cashed up concrete cowboys. Haven't been up into cattle country for a while but I'd be keen to see how people in their traditional heartland feel about them these days.

Redbacks: Still owned and made in Sydney and are really pretty fantastic. I've owned two pairs of bobcats (slip ons) as well a zip sided workboot and I'm yet to find a more comfortable and durable boot even close to the price range. My only gripe would be that they don't make any slightly more premium boots that can be resoled so they're limited to the lifetime of the Polyurethane Midsole. About 7 years in my book. The Terra they made for the Australian Defence Force doesn't have a great rep either but that seems to be down to ADF sizing specs rather than build quality.

Oliver: Not mentioned here but I got a pair of secondhand AT boots from these guys with a composite toe and they were the most effortlessly comfortable and well performing work boots I've ever had. Really nice looking too. The PU midsole on mine went after about 6 years of use (who knows how many years beforehand) and again unreplaceable, but the rest of the boot had eons left in it. Used to be made in Ballarat but production and ownership went to asia partly in 2010 and fully in 2017. My boots weren't domestically made though so it says good things about the potential quality. They're currently owned by Honeywell which is on the nastier side of Multinationals, with more EPA violations than any other US company and involved in a lot of sketchy stuff. I'm thinking I might pull the trigger on a pair of firefighting boots from them soon, I need the heat resistant sole plus they look so hectic
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A question for those of you from colder climates!
My partner has a circulatory disease that cuts off circulation to her digits when they get even mildly cold and we've been looking into insulated boots to help out. Currently an uninsulated boot can give this kind of reaction under 15c/49f. These kind of boots aren't available here at all so we've been looking at US makers. It seems that a lot of these boots are only insulated around the ankle, but the toebox is left bare. This is the main area that needs insulating though, does anybody know of some boots that have this feature? Or a term to search for to help distinguish it from other boots?

Also, any experiences with wolverines? If we're buying american I might as well dip a toe in as well and they look the business :p
 
First set of wolverines lasted me a good 5 years working construction. The set I bought to replace them I walked holes in the soles (yes multiple holes in both boots appeared in the same day) in 6 months. Their quality fell out and I'll never own another pair.

Just got a new pair of justin driller to replace a 5 year old pair of justin superintendent last week. They still look like new mink oiled boots and I threw the old ones out so nothing pic worthy.
 
A question for those of you from colder climates!
My partner has a circulatory disease that cuts off circulation to her digits when they get even mildly cold and we've been looking into insulated boots to help out. Currently an uninsulated boot can give this kind of reaction under 15c/49f. These kind of boots aren't available here at all so we've been looking at US makers. It seems that a lot of these boots are only insulated around the ankle, but the toebox is left bare. This is the main area that needs insulating though, does anybody know of some boots that have this feature? Or a term to search for to help distinguish it from other boots?

Also, any experiences with wolverines? If we're buying american I might as well dip a toe in as well and they look the business :p

Think on something like these:

https://drewsboots.com/product/hathorn-insulated-riding-packer-style-210pi-c
 
Just ordered the justin conductor pull ons last night.

My current lace up justin conductor's i wear at work are smelling a bit and need some time to air out.
 
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Maybe 20 coats of Angelus on the toes later and I'm not quite at a parade gloss yet , and I'll probably need another 30 or so to get there.
A lot of work ahead to make it happen,but I'd like to get 'em there at least once.
 
The surface isn't very smooth, so I suspect this is about as much shine as they're going to take.

I can see myself in 'em which wasn't that easy to achieve, so I should probably be happy.
 
Those pull on Justin's didn't fit but cod not be returned so
I gave them to my dad, I'm just gonna buy another pair of lace up conductors.
 
How did the riding go?

They’re heading on in to get some leather soles put on them. I just can’t get the feel for this rubber-ish sole. Not for riding or working, really. They’re just not for me. Might be for some, but I ain’t the one ;)
 
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