Shoes that look better with age...

[smittybat]

You guys need to stop talking about these so there's still a pair when I get the $$$ to buy myself a pair.

[marineabilly]

maybe that's what I'm having trouble with. I've not held them in person. Just by going by photos, they look "off" to me.

Not trying to hate on them, I guess I need to see these in person.

You're in LA, too, HH...just give them look. Not all photos give these boots justice, especially with the few they had back whey they were first unveiled. As more and more photos started to pop up, I was sold...even more when I visited the shop to try them on. There was no way I was leaving there without it.

You guys need to stop talking about these so there's still a pair when I get the $$$ to buy myself a pair.

LOL! True, true.

[wgmds]

i don't think, by any stretch of the imagination, that i could ever afford these, but do they only come in brown now?

[Mr. Bojangles]

Inspired by a couple of you lads:

A different make of Lotus Veldtschoens (notice the straight seam).

[CrashTestBrummie]

Inspired by a couple of you lads:

A different make of Lotus Veldtschoens (notice the straight seam).

Nice find...they yours, or have you seen them online somewhere?

The straight side seam is standard on the Lotus boots only (below left), and also the Tricker's veldtschoen model (on the right; it's actually slightly curved, in the same style as other non-brogued boots built on their 'super boot' 4497s last). Not often seen on other veldtschoen boots though:

[beautiful_FrEaK]

ATF has them for 99 bucks here:

http://www.atthefrontshop.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=USFRO

Not as well made probably as the ones posted above but also not $500.

yeah I would really love to know what makes the huge price difference.

I also own a pair of those cheaper ones (not bought from ATF, but similar price point). Quality isn't that good and the leather was so different all over the boot, I ended up dubbing them.

obbigood brought those back to my mind. the Buzz Rickson ones look veeeery similar to the ones from MASH

[madstaxbro]

^USMC's boot , according to the riveted eyelet tab and plugged sole. The Army M-1943 had a zig-zag waffle type sole and riveted eyelet tabs were at least uncommon.

The most obvious difference in quality being that the Japanese versions take care in producing a clean cut boot while most repro manufacturers meet mil-specs and leave it at that. Despite being commonly imported from 3rd world countries a lot of them are really tough and well worth the $80USD or whatever they sell for.

I'm sure pairs on either side of the price range will take abuse just fine but personally I'd feel less guilty wearing out the cheaps.

[killer b]

found these boots on the market this morning - made by T&H bros, who appear to have been a british military bootmaker. smooth leather sole, so not for combat though, i guess?

(i picked up some laces from the cobbler afterwards, and they cost a quid more than the boots did...)

[smittybat]

While I'm not really a fan of Yuketen's stuff. This engineer boot looks pretty interesting.

[Mr Black]

Looking forward to these hitting the UK.

Am on the waiting list for the WWii impressions USMC service shoe/boot but they could take years to re-appear. These will do perfectly in the meantime. Should age very nicely.

http://blog.redwingheritage.eu/2011/09/22/new-beckman-moc-toe/

[min2max]

yeah I would really love to know what makes the huge price difference.

Buzz Rickson’s Type III Service Shoes are produced exactly as the GI shoes were produced by legendary footwear manufacturers in the USA that have long since vanished: The uppers are manufactured from a beefy, chrome-tanned cowhide leather that is then vegetable tanned for no less than 12 weeks, after which the leather is sewn and hand lasted over a period of days to ensure maximum stretch and flexibility to the finished shoe, and finally the lasted uppers are sewn using the famous Goodyear storm welt to premium-grade welting leather - NEVER are soles vulcanized to the uppers or sewn in some cheap manner to duplicate the appearance of a true Goodyear welt at a sacrifice to comfort, quality and durability. The Buzz Rickson’s Type III’s also feature precise custom-made copies of the famous 1940’s Lite Tread rubber heels and soles, with the soles having the rare “chain†pattern that was produced but for short time during WWII and is the rarest tread pattern employed in the production of rubber soles for the military at that time. Today, no other Type III Service Shoes available in the USA offer the Lite Tread soles and heels. These are classic pieces of rugged, smart-looking, comfortable footwear that never go out of style whether worn with jeans, khaki’s or hiking shorts. Please take note of these high-quality features found on Buzz Rickson’s Type III Service Shoes:

• Size and U. S. Army inspector markings embossed in the leather foot bed as per the vintage examples

• Authentic U. S. Army BQD contract and spec. markings ink stamped onto the inside quarters of each shoe precisely matching the style and placement as found on the vintage examples

• Authentic size marking ink stamped to the rubber soles as was often done during WWII to better enable easier, rapid identification of shoe size when storing or issuing the shoes by the quartermaster

• Uppers sewn with authentic off-white thread

• Premium-grade, flesh-out leather uppers, chrome tanned, then vegetable tanned for greater durability and better fit when lasted and worn

• Premium-grade, veg-tanned leather welting attached using the Goodyear welting system with heavy-duty corded thread

• Quadruple-stitched quarters for durability as per the original spec. then bolstered by a reinforcing rivet as found on the early Type III’s

• Custom-made all-cotton shoe laces that are heavily waxed for greater service life and moisture repellence, as per many of the WWII military shoe laces

• Hand lasted uppers for better fit and comfort

• Heavy, non-corrosive steel shank for heavy-duty support and longer shoe life and shape maintenance

• Custom-made precision copies of the famous Lite Tread rubber soles and heels from WWII; soles are sewn via the Goodyear welting system employed to make the shoes during WWII, then heels are nailed in place by hand and soles are reinforced with nails at key stress points, precisely matching the original spec.

• Premium-grade, veg-tanned leather insoles for better breathing of feet and moisture absorption

[beautiful_FrEaK]

yeah...ok..thanks for quoting historypreservation.com...

[min2max]

well wtf ask if you already had the specs and knew the answer!! :confused:

Anyways these shoes are pretty cult status among mcqueen aficionados, there are dozens of threads & blog entries on the net over which repros are most authentic and highest quality, consensus largely in favor of the japanese (McCoy, BR & Mash)

[beautiful_FrEaK]

The McCoys one is really stupid expensive (over 70,000 IIRC).

IMO the MASH and BR one are so similar, I thought they might be even made in teh same factory.

You can get these also for 145$ "Made in the USA" which I suppose isn't totally bad. And I was just wondering why the MASH ones were 500$ where the first obvious difference is the the custom made repro sole.

But if you had some links to the blogs you were mentioning, that would be cool.

[SLAB]

I cant wait to get my hands on my pair of MF Road Champs! definitely will be my most expensive clothing buy but whatever; some things you just cant ignore

btw anyone ever had the chance to inspect a pair of White Kloud boots? I see his creations often in Lightning and free and easy magazines but guess no one on this forum owns a pair of them. Although the last (especially the toe area) looks a bit too clunky for my liking, i do have to appreciate the craftmanship of those boots. The edges of the leather soles look like a work of art!

some of his creations

[min2max]

^^^ amazing

The McCoys one is really stupid expensive (over 70,000 IIRC).

IMO the MASH and BR one are so similar, I thought they might be even made in teh same factory.

You can get these also for 145$ "Made in the USA" which I suppose isn't totally bad. And I was just wondering why the MASH ones were 500$ where the first obvious difference is the the custom made repro sole.

But if you had some links to the blogs you were mentioning, that would be cool.

lets see this thread is pretty good, milt warden gives a good rundown on jp vs us:

http://forums.filmnoirbuff.com/viewtopic.php?id=4736&p=2

fwiw, i've handled both wwii impressions and the japanese ones, and.. it's a tough call!! the wwii impressions are really nice especially for the price, obviously the japanese are a cut above, but the price is kinda expensive, especially the mccoys indeed. although i look at it the same as Red Wings vs. Whites/Wesco/Alden: there is a reason you pay more for the latter ! that being said i haven't made up my mind yet as i'm currently investigating yet another alternative..

one thing to keep in mind that i found pretty consistent amongst them all is they run really large ( one to one 1/2 big )

edit: heres a good review of the wwii impressions: http://www.90thidpg.us/Equipment/Reviews/Boots/index.html

[beautiful_FrEaK]

thx for the link, interesting to read.

I already own a pair of the cheaper ones (bought from a German site, here's the link: http://www.troph-e-shop.com/de/us-kampfschuhe-rauhleder-17375.html). They were 20€ cheaper when I bought them. I took the same size as I had in my Bundeswehr combat boots which is the foot length in mm (so 275 for me). And those Roughtouts from that store where rather snug.

So I would go for a 9,5 in the MASH ones

[Denim Phenom]

Those boots are hideous. It looks like a bad cross between White's Semi Dress, a pair of Alden Cordovan shoes, and 70s platforms.

And seriously, are people really buying low quarter versions of boots? Seriously ugly.

Next.

[mikecch]

I think the last shape is quite reminiscent of 30s to 60s workboots... don't mind the look at all.

[rkusmant]

http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=1395896ℑ=506622593&images=506622593,506622606,506622627,506622641,506622658&formats=0,0,0,0,0&format=0

I'm thinking of getting this and replace the sole with vibram 2021 or 4014, what you guys think?

[robbie]

[Mr. Bojangles]

Nice find...they yours, or have you seen them online somewhere?

The straight side seam is standard on the Lotus boots only (below left), and also the Tricker's veldtschoen model (on the right; it's actually slightly curved, in the same style as other non-brogued boots built on their 'super boot' 4497s last). Not often seen on other veldtschoen boots though:

Ay, just picked them up off Ebay.

Didn't you have a pair of Lotus with the moustache seam as well? I seem to remember something about a pair of Lotus boots that were brutal on the feet.

[onehundy]

How do I order from white kloud, can't figure out his blog.

[CrashTestBrummie]

Ay, just picked them up off Ebay.

Didn't you have a pair of Lotus with the moustache seam as well? I seem to remember something about a pair of Lotus boots that were brutal on the feet.

That's a bloody good find, a pair of Lotus boots in deadstock condition What was the auction link?

The ones that were brutal on my feet are the ones in that pic; took quite some time to break them in (much longer than any other pair I've owned) and even now, one of the sides of the boot is pretty rigid despite all my efforts. The rest of the boots are fine now.

The unbranded veldtschoen boots have a moustache seam, as do my Kelso.

[orlylow]

got these off another guy on here. yep...

[Sugar Mountain]

Those look friggin' awesome. Good pick-up.

[mikecch]

^^ Nice! Should go into the other boot thread

[patrick_b]

For those on the fence - I've been advocating the importance of purchasing these boots for some time now as there's no telling when production will discontinued. It sounds like that time has come. You can buy two or three average pairs of Engineer Boots for the price of one of these, but which would you be most proud to own?

.

I wasn't even near the fence until I saw those pics of the road champs nicely broken in...now I've got one leg over that fence. I was set to order some SD's...now you have me reconsidering. Damn you!!

.

[Maynard Friedman]

.

I wasn't even near the fence until I saw those pics of the road champs nicely broken in...now I've got one leg over that fence. I was set to order some SD's...now you have me reconsidering. Damn you!!

.

Any excuse to get your leg over!

[Mr. Bojangles]

That's a bloody good find, a pair of Lotus boots in deadstock condition What was the auction link?

The ones that were brutal on my feet are the ones in that pic; took quite some time to break them in (much longer than any other pair I've owned) and even now, one of the sides of the boot is pretty rigid despite all my efforts. The rest of the boots are fine now.

The unbranded veldtschoen boots have a moustache seam, as do my Kelso.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320754765322?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Rigid is a good way to put it, but we'll see if I can't tame them this winter.