Andrew Shoes, New Antelao Traditional Norwegian Welt boots.

[tudo]

This is just a short review on a pair of traditionally hand-made walking boots, produced by a small company in the historical district of Montebelluna, Italy, called Andrew Shoes. The boots in question are a pair of New Antelao walking boots. These boots are made from Pampas Oil 2.8 / 3.0 mm full grain leather. Its tough , highly waterproof and yet pliable.I have a pair that is just over 12 months old now and they have molded beautifully to the shape of my feet. This has made them the most comfortable boots that I have ever owned.
The Norwegian Welt is superb, giving a distinctly vintage looking ambience about them. Andrew Shoes have combined traditional craftmanship with modern technology. The Sympatex high2out lining provides the dry feet in the wettest of weathers ( I live in England!) and vibram Teton sole for grip.
The cost of these hand made boots including delivery to the UK was only 240 EURO'S.

Andrew Shoes website is definitely worth a look as they do lots of differents styles . www.andrewshoes.com

Photo's:






I can try and post some photo's of the the boots that I have had for 12 months if anyone would be interested. They look even better after some hard miles and have a more traditional montagne block vibram sole.

Tudor

 

[Meerkat]

This is just a short review on a pair of traditionally hand-made walking boots, produced by a small company in the historical district of Montebelluna, Italy, called Andrew Shoes. The boots in question are a pair of New Antelao walking boots. These boots are made from Pampas Oil 2.8 / 3.0 mm full grain leather. Its tough , highly waterproof and yet pliable.I have a pair that is just over 12 months old now and they have molded beautifully to the shape of my feet. This has made them the most comfortable boots that I have ever owned.
The Norwegian Welt is superb, giving a distinctly vintage looking ambience about them. Andrew Shoes have combined traditional craftmanship with modern technology. The Sympatex high2out lining provides the dry feet in the wettest of weathers ( I live in England!) and vibram Teton sole for grip.
The cost of these hand made boots including delivery to the UK was only 240 EURO'S.

Andrew Shoes website is definitely worth a look as they do lots of differents styles . www.andrewshoes.com

Photo's:






I can try and post some photo's of the the boots that I have had for 12 months if anyone would be interested. They look even better after some hard miles and have a more traditional montagne block vibram sole.

Tudor

nice boots but i cannot find much information ( pleny of purple prose though on the site). My own personal preference would be Meindl or the items I am wearing Altberg simply on the price point.

 

[tudo]

I agree there is not much information to be found on the internet about Andrew shoes , but some of the best companies / contractors that I have ever worked with ( in 25 + years) are small local ones that provide a quality and personal service that you just don't get with these large corporate / commercial ones. Andrew shoes are probably very well known in Montebelluna and surrounding area's but not globally. A small company like Andrew Shoes is probably not large enough or interested in going more global.
As for the price and alternatives. I have owned Lowa mountain (one of my favourites), Scarpa sl, Haix K2 , Zamberlan and currently own a pair of Meindl Meran gtx's on recommendation by Alterberg for high volume feet. I would of loved to of stayed with a British company (Alterberg) .
All these boots are great but have never lasted me longer than 12-15 months hard use. So far the pair of New Antelao's that I originally bought from GBoutfitters are holding up fantastically.
One of the main reason's for choosing these New Antalao's was the traditional looking styling, quality of leather used and the Norwegian Welt. If you compare their prices to the Zamberlan range of Norwegian welted boot's or some of the American makes, even Altberg's Veldthog, there is no difference in price. In fact Andrew shoes worked out cheaper.

I do agree that their website is a bit poor though and any info is limited ( that said, many things are lost in translation) but "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".

 

[Meerkat]

I agree there is not much information to be found on the internet about Andrew shoes , but some of the best companies / contractors that I have ever worked with ( in 25 + years) are small local ones that provide a quality and personal service that you just don't get with these large corporate / commercial ones. Andrew shoes are probably very well known in Montebelluna and surrounding area's but not globally. A small company like Andrew Shoes is probably not large enough or interested in going more global.
As for the price and alternatives. I have owned Lowa mountain (one of my favourites), Scarpa sl, Haix K2 , Zamberlan and currently own a pair of Meindl Meran gtx's on recommendation by Alterberg for high volume feet. I would of loved to of stayed with a British company (Alterberg) .
All these boots are great but have never lasted me longer than 12-15 months hard use. So far the pair of New Antelao's that I originally bought from GBoutfitters are holding up fantastically.
One of the main reason's for choosing these New Antalao's was the traditional looking styling, quality of leather used and the Norwegian Welt. If you compare their prices to the Zamberlan range of Norwegian welted boot's or some of the American makes, even Altberg's Veldthog, there is no difference in price. In fact Andrew shoes worked out cheaper.

I do agree that their website is a bit poor though and any info is limited but "the proof of the pudding is in the eating".

I am not sure what you mean by high volume feet but if you are particularly heavy on boots then those soles will certainly last but what weight are those boots? This in my opinion is the big trade off with boots...longer lasting usually means heavier and this can be a bit of a nuisance say when driving....What I dislike about the Andrews site is the flowery language. Most boots are hand made and either lined or unlined. I disdain knowing the area of argentina where the donor bull roamed free to be honest ...but apart from that they look grand not unlike the Haix range

 

[tudo]

Sorry , what I mean by high volume feet is that I have wide feet, although not overly so (G-fitting Clark's). It is my "chubby" forefoot/feet that require a roomy toebox. A Norwegian welt boot together with a one piece leather construction usually gives a roomy toebox.
The weight of the boot in a size 8 is 1050g which is lighter than the Haix K2 and only 75g heavier than the Lowa Mountain boot. So not too heavy.
The "cut-out" on the achilles and on the front of the boot allow's for plenty of articulation . When driving a truck or a tractor I have had no problems at all. It is a very well thought-out design. I know what you mean by not knowing much about the company, but like I said before, I had previously bought a pair from GBoutfitters and was so impressed with them that I decided to but another pair direct from the company.
They also made me a pair of wide fitting chainsaw boots, the Rozes Wood Welt, which are superbly comfortable (*and stylish ). This is the only company that I know of that could do this. The cost was 255 Euro's which is the same as any decent off the shelf pair of chainsaw boots.
From ordering , making and receiving the boots, it only took 9 days.

 

[Meerkat]

Sorry , what I mean by high volume feet is that I have wide feet, although not overly so (G-fitting Clark's). It is my "chubby" forefoot/feet that require a roomy toebox. A Norwegian welt boot together with a one piece leather construction usually gives a roomy toebox.
The weight of the boot in a size 8 is 1050g which is lighter than the Haix K2 and only 75g heavier than the Lowa Mountain boot. So not too heavy.
The "cut-out" on the achilles and on the front of the boot allow's for plenty of articulation . When driving a truck or a tractor I have had no problems at all. It is a very well thought-out design. I know what you mean by not knowing much about the company, but like I said before, I had previously bought a pair from GBoutfitters and was so impressed with them that I decided to but another pair direct from the company.
They also made me a pair of wide fitting chainsaw boots, the Rozes Wood Welt, which are superbly comfortable (*and stylish ). This is the only company that I know of that could do this. The cost was 255 Euro's which is the same as any decent off the shelf pair of chainsaw boots.
From ordering , making and receiving the boots, it only took 9 days.

Ah I see well i know tha Meindl can be narrow fitting but quite superbly long lasting. Altberg have a resoling service and excellent customer service back up. But you obviously love your boots as being comfortable and relatively inexpensive and that is a major plus. I can get the Meindl fitted locally and Altberg are only over the pond whilst any model of Haix can be delivered free post to my door from Brixwork.com so it is more a case of being spoilt for choice really....

 

[Tomasso]

All these boots are great but have never lasted me longer than 12-15 months hard use.

How do you define 'hard use', just curious?

 

[tudo]

I am forester , I farm and I love walking holidays. I am outside all day every day whatever the weather (unfortunately) and consequently my footwear is put through alot every day.
So hard use means lots of walking in lots of different enviroments. Mainly mud and water at the moment ( and animal poo ).

 

[Tomasso]

I see. One more question: Are you wearing the same pair of boots every day?

 

[tudo]

I always have 2 pairs of boots and alternate, 2-3 days on then swap, depending on the weather. That way it gives one pair enough time to dry out properly.

 

[Tomasso]

Ok, you need to change boots/shoes every day. The leather needs to dry completely in order to recover and that takes well over 24 hours. Daily rotation will increase the useful life of leather footwear exponentially. That said, not the easiest thing to do when your out and about for days on end.

 

[tudo]

Here are my pair of 12 months old New Antelao and still going strong. The leather is superb.

 

[Meerkat]

Here are my pair of 12 months old New Antelao and still going strong. The leather is superb.

lol I am beginning to think that you are getting a commission on sales..in any case you might broaden my education as to the advantage/attraction of the Norwegian sole stitch as opposed to say Goodyear weld? Oh just on a point of information I would prefer to walk in Altbergs 800grm boots than any heavier pair. I do not drive a tractor or a truck but I do find the army boots that I occasionally wear a little challenging on the accelerator....

 

[Mr.MF]

@tudo
You said you ordered the shoes directly from Andrew.

Could you please elaborate a little further? Did you send them measurements of your feet or did you just order a pair in size you thought that would fit? Do they have a price list?

 

[tudo]

Hi Mr.MF
I had my feet measured at an outdoor shoe shop who told me my foot size
I then contacted Andrew via e-mail telling, them my foot size and that I would like a wide fitting and they said OK and sent their bank details to do a bank transfer. Price list is on their website.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

Thank you for sharing. I'm always interested in non-goretex hiking boot options, and there aren't a lot of them anymore.

 

[Tomasso]

I have a pair of boots by Vasque from the 70s that are similar to those.

 

[Mr.MF]

@tudo
Thank you.

By the way, Andrew provides 2 retailers in Germany with shoes for hunters/rangers. The model is probably the "GUIDA", with a Davos sole and leather lining. The price is 130€ and 150€.