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Footwear to go with our jackets

Daniel Veit

One of the Regulars
Messages
170
Up until now I have only worn Red Wing boots (except for some italien made dress boots I purchased while being in italy).
But reading through this thread I am getting intruiged by the Viberg Service Boot in the 2030 last (or the ones looking similar).
Now I am wondering which size I would need.
In the RW 8 last I am a perfect 9. 5 D (US).
Any suggestions?

By the way do you think 475 € would be a fair prize for a pair of barly used kudu leather ones?
 

Blackadder

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,828
Location
China
Up until now I have only worn Red Wing boots (except for some italien made dress boots I purchased while being in italy).
But reading through this thread I am getting intruiged by the Viberg Service Boot in the 2030 last (or the ones looking similar).
Now I am wondering which size I would need.
In the RW 8 last I am a perfect 9. 5 D (US).
Any suggestions?

By the way do you think 475 € would be a fair prize for a pair of barly used kudu leather ones?
I think Viberg is in bewteen US and UK size.
 

Tom71

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,680
Location
Europe
Up until now I have only worn Red Wing boots (except for some italien made dress boots I purchased while being in italy).
But reading through this thread I am getting intruiged by the Viberg Service Boot in the 2030 last (or the ones looking similar).
Now I am wondering which size I would need.
In the RW 8 last I am a perfect 9. 5 D (US).
Any suggestions?

By the way do you think 475 € would be a fair prize for a pair of barly used kudu leather ones?

I wear the same US size in both Viberg (2030) and Red Wing (Iron Ranger, Blacksmith or Beckman).
 

Psant25

One Too Many
Messages
1,607
Up until now I have only worn Red Wing boots (except for some italien made dress boots I purchased while being in italy).
But reading through this thread I am getting intruiged by the Viberg Service Boot in the 2030 last (or the ones looking similar).
Now I am wondering which size I would need.
In the RW 8 last I am a perfect 9. 5 D (US).
Any suggestions?

By the way do you think 475 € would be a fair prize for a pair of barly used kudu leather ones?
I wear a 10D red wing and 9.5 viberg. I think many size them the same. I could wear a 9.5 and 10 red wing and 9-9.5 viberg. I like a little room after the footbed settles so i get them a tad long upfront. Remember 1/2 size is only about 1/6 of an inch.
 

Damon141

Practically Family
Messages
928
I agree 100%. I discovered the Peet boot dryer 20 years ago during a wet winter working on the Sonoma coast and I have used them ever since Not only do they completely eliminate stinky work boots, the boots also last at least 2 to 3 times as long as they would otherwise. And yes, it is awesome to slip on a pair of warm, dry work boots before heading out on a cold day.
I will look into this to see if it would be good in my Florida tropical climate. We have very few cool days and I like wearing boots even in summer but even at night it’s in the 80’s so moisture is a problem.
It’s either wear boots in the heat or not at all and I’ve really come to love the look of heritage boots.
 

El Marro

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,588
Location
California
I will look into this to see if it would be good in my Florida tropical climate. We have very few cool days and I like wearing boots even in summer but even at night it’s in the 80’s so moisture is a problem.
It’s either wear boots in the heat or not at all and I’ve really come to love the look of heritage boots.
It will work for sure! in a climate like yours, I’m sure your boots get sweaty, and this will have them dry by morning.
 

Blackadder

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,828
Location
China
Yuketen monkey boots
IMG_20221205_220144.jpg
 

NZJono

One of the Regulars
Messages
169
Location
New Zealand

Liveinstyle33

One of the Regulars
Messages
101
Beautiful looking boots. I haven’t heard of the brand, where are they made?

They are made in China, but don't let that deter you if it is just the quality you may be worried about. The owner is American and has strict rules during the assembly process. The leathers are all imported from some of the best tanneries in the world. If these boots were made in the U.S, they would easily be twice as much as they are now. Made in China has a bad rep in general, but I have been through many brands of foot attire and these are top notch. There are no corners cut on these boots, it's all vegetable tanned leathers and cork filled on the inside. Stitching is excellent.
The warehouse is in Michigan where they store them for order. Shipping is quite quick if they have your size.

They are superb boots, for both fashion and rough use if you want them to be.
 

Jaswinder Singh

New in Town
Messages
16
Can anyone recommend a make for jodhpur style boots? I tried messaging Benzein a few times over the past few months, and they have not opened up new orders. Are there any other boot makers from inodnesia that people here can recommend?
 

3.14nche

A-List Customer
Messages
355
Location
Belgium
Got these monkey boots today.
They're navy blue Pueblo Badalassi.

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I was looking for a pair of blue boots to match my blue cxl Hooch Hauler and went with Jakkrabbits, one of the many Indonesian bootmakers.
From what I gathered they have good reviews online and a website where you can see prices and order from, which is not very common from my limited experience, so I took my chance with them.
They were helpfull regarding sizing and responsive to emails.
They claim 4-6 weeks for made to order and they delivered on that.
The boots fit great and to my untrained eye are well made.

As ever one have to be careful with import taxes and its randomness.
I was expecting roughly 25% in duties as usual but ended up with 33% don't know how or why.
I know I'm beating a dead horse at this point but it never ceases to piss me off.
At this price you're not too far off let's say full retail Trickers but the obvious upside is that you get to choose your leather and are sure to have your size.

And here's the whole color matched outfit.
Maybe it's getting a bit too close to Blue Man Group territory...
1670602798216.png
 

Will Zach

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,805
Location
SoFlo
Got these monkey boots today.
They're navy blue Pueblo Badalassi.

View attachment 471272
View attachment 471274
View attachment 471275
View attachment 471276
View attachment 471279

I was looking for a pair of blue boots to match my blue cxl Hooch Hauler and went with Jakkrabbits, one of the many Indonesian bootmakers.
From what I gathered they have good reviews online and a website where you can see prices and order from, which is not very common from my limited experience, so I took my chance with them.
They were helpfull regarding sizing and responsive to emails.
They claim 4-6 weeks for made to order and they delivered on that.
The boots fit great and to my untrained eye are well made.

As ever one have to be careful with import taxes and its randomness.
I was expecting roughly 25% in duties as usual but ended up with 33% don't know how or why.
I know I'm beating a dead horse at this point but it never ceases to piss me off.
At this price you're not too far off let's say full retail Trickers but the obvious upside is that you get to choose your leather and are sure to have your size.

And here's the whole color matched outfit.
Maybe it's getting a bit too close to Blue Man Group territory...
View attachment 471278

Nice boots, look very solid.
 

Liveinstyle33

One of the Regulars
Messages
101
Here are my pair of still breaking in Grant Stone Diesel Boots in Dark Burgundy Kudu. This is a heavy boot, especially in these size 11 E (wide) that I received. When I got them, the leather looked good, but after I applied this Sapphire Renovateur and Creme 1925 to them, the leather went from very nice to outright exquisite. This is Kudu hide, it has a very attractive grain and is quite thick. I think it is stronger than the bovine leathers, possibly including Bison. It is definitely very tough stuff. Breaking in has been great, the design of the boot so far has prevented any skin rubbing raw. The boot is slightly big for me, however, when the feet swell in some circumstances, the extra room will be ideal. My feet can rest in these boots all day long because there is no pressure on any angle of the foot but the feet are still quite secure. The outsole is very robust and grippy, good for wet conditions, snow, hiking etc. Great boots for heavy duty casual/hike. If there was an apocalypse and the economy was ruined, one could last a long time in these.


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RL204

One of the Regulars
Messages
237
Hello. My 1st pair of engineer boots, Frye. I bought these about 4-5 years ago and have worn them a lot. These were a low cost engineer as I grabbed them at 50% off Amazon or something like that. I wanted to try this style of boot to see if I’d actually wear them. These engineers were my go to for quite some time and I definitely got my $200 or so dollars out of them. I gave them a condition and a polish today. I’ll likely upgrade to some lofgrens this summer as I want a new pair of black engineers. About a year ago I grabbed some natural flat head engineers and love them. You can definitely see and feel the quality difference between the fryes and the flat heads but that’s comparing boots that are 4-5x difference in cost.
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Messages
11,136
Location
SoCal
Are those the Frye Artisanal boots? They look great & well worth what you paid.
The Lofgrens I tried on were way above Frye territory, but also way more expensive.
 

3.14nche

A-List Customer
Messages
355
Location
Belgium
A little follow up on my previous post.
After only a couple of wears (office wear so mostly sitting at my desk) a thread popped out.
1671457869688.png

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I shot the maker an email and they explained that being saddle stitched it wouldn't unravel and that I just had to push the thread back in or burn it.
I fiddled a bit but never managed to push it back in so I got annoyed and burned it, slightly burninshing the edge doing so...
Not a big deal and with some wear I'm sure it will be unnoticeable but right now I'm a bit annoyed.
1671457916155.png
 

Bfd70

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,274
Location
Traverse city
D9EB31F5-6806-4DE9-8BE8-CCD938183D1D.jpeg

I’m posting these as a counter point to the notion that boots need to be made of unicorn hide crafted by alien ninja artisans on a secret island. The idea that somehow workwear should be associated with laser straight stitching and zero aesthetic flaws.
Red wing moc toes. 12 years old. Third soles. Spent the first 6 as fashion wear. The past six have seen 100s of miles of hikes, countless construction projects, and a pit bull mix with separation anxiety.
 

Damon141

Practically Family
Messages
928
View attachment 477388
I’m posting these as a counter point to the notion that boots need to be made of unicorn hide crafted by alien ninja artisans on a secret island. The idea that somehow workwear should be associated with laser straight stitching and zero aesthetic flaws.
Red wing moc toes. 12 years old. Third soles. Spent the first 6 as fashion wear. The past six have seen 100s of miles of hikes, countless construction projects, and a pit bull mix with separation anxiety.
Yeah I’m on the same page, I appreciate quality workmanship on a boot but I honestly love the flaws in my Whites MP boots as much as I love my much neater Vibergs.

I used to wonder why people would buy such expensive boots considering they are boots and likely to get abused to the point you won’t notice stitching, then I realized many of these guys treat these amazing boots as dress shoes for the modern, less formal work environment. I think they are just seeking perfection in a world where craftsmanship is a rarity
 

Blackadder

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,828
Location
China
Yeah I’m on the same page, I appreciate quality workmanship on a boot but I honestly love the flaws in my Whites MP boots as much as I love my much neater Vibergs.

I used to wonder why people would buy such expensive boots considering they are boots and likely to get abused to the point you won’t notice stitching, then I realized many of these guys treat these amazing boots as dress shoes for the modern, less formal work environment. I think they are just seeking perfection in a world where craftsmanship is a rarity
I agree that work boots are originally for hard labour but they have reached dress boots price point when customers are ordering these work boots in "expensive" leather like CXL or even shell cordovan. That turn things around. The quality of the "work" does not match the quality of the materials used. To me, it is a waste of money and good materials if one wear them to do hard labour. So IMO if one want work boots go for Red Wing or the Hathorn line made with regular oil leather. On the other hand if one want dress boots or boots in expensive leather, get the MIJ boots.
 

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