Shoes that look better with age...

[Rob060]

what's the advantage of the cord soles? don't really know much about them. how long do they wear compared to the usual vibram700 + quabaug heel?

[ShootThePier]

I think raw cord soles will outlast any other sole out there. Heavier too.

[Rob060]

hmmm. good to know. i need really durable non slip soles for work and the ones here look really nice, though the heel lift does look a bit more extreme from the thickness of the cord.

Edited March 20, 2016 by Rob060

[Iron Horse]

^^ 

FWIW yes the raw cord should have better grip. Dr. Sole's use hemp cords, rather than nylon, too.

 

You could always go raw cord full sole and heel, like this:

 

[Mighty Oak]

Hi Iron Horse

What make are your roughouts - they look great...

[Iron Horse]

Hi Iron Horse

What make are your roughouts - they look great...

Hello, those aren't mine, I just took the photo from Dr. Sole's blog. They're the USMC Boondockers from WWII Impressions, though.

[karanimal]

Hello, those aren't mine, I just took the photo from Dr. Sole's blog. They're the USMC Boondockers from WWII Impressions, though.

 

I have these on right now! They are a great boot and the raw cord sole has held up longer than any of my dainite shoes/boots 

 

Edit Pics! Testing out the LG g4 camera

 

1YR Mark 

 

 

These are my rain boots, also taken them hiking a few times. Never treated with any suede/roughout protector. Conditioned on the inside of the boots once with lexol 

Edited March 22, 2016 by karanimal

[louisbosco]

five years on, three owners. recently resoled with brass tokyo 

[mlwdp]

Crap, I'm dealing with the dreaded US Customs ISC Chicago for my chromxcel boots. Guess I'll be waiting for awhile.

[dwilson123]

Crap, I'm dealing with the dreaded US Customs ISC Chicago for my chromxcel boots. Guess I'll be waiting for awhile.

 

All my stuff goes through Chicago.  Its pretty hit or miss.  Sometimes it is cleared in less than a day like it never even went through and other times it sits there for weeks.

[BrownMetallic]

'Still got the original Biltrite Corded Neoprene soles on my Dayton Driver, but the heels had already been replaced. I've had Dainite, Goodyear Commando/Itshide, various Vibrams__ agree, re: corded soles' durability.

I'm a heel striker w/ a slight supination/underpronation. I wear out the same [outside] spot on the heels ... the left, being more pronounced than the right. So, re: heel wear, I get about the same rate of wear on the cords versus composites ... like 700s. Hence, I usually put taps on boots I frequently wear in the city. Pedestrian travel in NYC concrete jungle can be quite brutal on both feet & footwear.

Edited March 22, 2016 by BrownMetallic

[BrownMetallic]

five years on, three owners. recently resoled with brass tokyo

How much did it set u back, if I may ask ?!

Edited March 22, 2016 by BrownMetallic

[cander49]

Lots of shoe news.

 

Sent my Alden plain toe calfskin boots - posted two-ish pages back - to Role Club / Brian the Bootmaker for a hand-welted resole. Excited to see those again.

Quoddy is working on that brown pair of mocs again. I suppose they weren't super apologetic about the bad workmanship on that pair, but they're at least fixing it.

 

Most exciting... got a PhD completion gift with the stipulation that I spend it on something excessive. The relative that gifted it is super into durable goods, so I honored that request by buying the newly stocked Alden of Carmel color 8 plain toe boots with the antique welt/edge and commando sole.

 

 

 

 

They were quite dark for color 8 out of the box - a little more burgundy than the pictures show, with a bit more red on the edge - but the creasing -since picturing - is showing a super rich, deep red burgundy. I absolutely love them. These are in the Trubalance last, which is new to me. I've had Barrie last before, and am kind of between 10D and 10.5D, so I often do 10.5D in boots (wear with fairly thick socks) and 10D in regular shoes (thin socks). I got these in a 10D and the fit is perfect, kind of right down the middle of thin and thick sock wearing. The quality control here is terrific. The welt is perfect and it's hard to find the joint. The stitching is really even and there are no extra threads or anything like that. I still like the speed hooks, although I'm going to have to try a pair without them at some point.

[karanimal]

Lots of shoe news.

 

Sent my Alden plain toe calfskin boots - posted two-ish pages back - to Role Club / Brian the Bootmaker for a hand-welted resole. Excited to see those again.

Quoddy is working on that brown pair of mocs again. I suppose they weren't super apologetic about the bad workmanship on that pair, but they're at least fixing it.

 

Most exciting... got a PhD completion gift with the stipulation that I spend it on something excessive. The relative that gifted it is super into durable goods, so I honored that request by buying the newly stocked Alden of Carmel color 8 plain toe boots with the antique welt/edge and commando sole.

 

 

They were quite dark for color 8 out of the box - a little more burgundy than the pictures show, with a bit more red on the edge - but the creasing -since picturing - is showing a super rich, deep red burgundy. I absolutely love them. These are in the Trubalance last, which is new to me. I've had Barrie last before, and am kind of between 10D and 10.5D, so I often do 10.5D in boots (wear with fairly thick socks) and 10D in regular shoes (thin socks). I got these in a 10D and the fit is perfect, kind of right down the middle of thin and thick sock wearing. The quality control here is terrific. The welt is perfect and it's hard to find the joint. The stitching is really even and there are no extra threads or anything like that. I still like the speed hooks, although I'm going to have to try a pair without them at some point.

 

The trubalance last looks great! Its nice to see new colour 8 with that shade of denim, that look is one of my fav with #8 

[alvin_cheong]

@cander those laces comes originally with the shoes? Or did you changed it with other laces?

[mpukas]

... I honored that request by buying the newly stocked Alden of Carmel color 8 plain toe boots with the antique welt/edge and commando sole.

Nicely Done, @Cander49! That build right there is truly one of the nicest pairs of boots to be found anywhere. 

[louisbosco]

How much did it set u back, if I may ask ?!

 

well it would work out to about 250aud/200usd. i had another pair done, total was about 45000jpy... so i roughly divided it.

[cander49]

@cander those laces comes originally with the shoes? Or did you changed it with other laces?

It came with 3 pairs of laces. These were the ones that were originally on it.

[cander49]

The trubalance last looks great! Its nice to see new colour 8 with that shade of denim, that look is one of my fav with #8 

Thanks. Yeah, it's suuuuuper comfortable. I love all that toe room. I typically like Barrie, but Trubalance may be even better.

[alvin_cheong]

It came with 3 pairs of laces. These were the ones that were originally on it.

My No.8 tanker only came with 1 pair of lace.

Edited March 24, 2016 by alvin_cheong

[alvin_cheong]

Thanks. Yeah, it's suuuuuper comfortable. I love all that toe room. I typically like Barrie, but Trubalance may be even better.

Perhaps should try a pair of trubalance shoe from Alden

[garden gnomes in space]

I have my first pair of Trickers on their way.  Got a pair of Stow.   Hopefully they'll fit.

did they arrive?  hows the fit if so?

[BrownMetallic]

Viberg "Licorice" Bison MocToe Chukka: Version 2.0 ;)

Voila! Like new again.

The original honey/olive wasn't evo-ing very well, so plan was to DIY dye them to light-mid brown__ instead, they turned dark brown w/ red undertone after a double coat.

They're almost black, but will lighten up a bit as the dye thins out from brushing & wear ... as a result, the reddish undertone will peek out ... kinda like how an overdyed denim fades 🤓

Stage1 : Version 2.0

Original version from the NYCsamplesale

Edited March 27, 2016 by BrownMetallic

[mlwdp]

Unmarked Workman boots

 

Horween Black Chromexcel leather

metal eyelets

leather laces

leather insole

Vibram sole

doublestich down 

Handcrafted in Mexico

 

Quality is comparable to ________

 

Wanted a smokejumper boot

 

 

Worth the wait (2 months). Finally.

 

edit:don't want to start a "this brand x is better than etc" war on here lol.

Edited March 26, 2016 by mlwdp

[karanimal]

Thats a pretty big statement!

[Dr Feelgood]

........4 MONTH OLD.........

[cameosis]

You might check in with Dr. Sole; I believe he can do this.

swapping eyelets / speed hooks is easy to do by yourself (fun, too) -- did this on my french service boots from the 1930s/1940s:

 

http://supertalk.superfuture.com/index.php/topic/140583-shoes-that-look-better-with-age-2012/page-198#entry3205239

 

i left the speed hooks in place because i liked the contrast with the replacement eyelets in antique brass and rivets in chrome.

Edited March 30, 2016 by cameosis

[cander49]

Speaking of trubalance again, it's kind of amazing to me now how much more comfortable these are than even Barrie last. I've only had these a short time, and I already feel that they're much more comfortable than my same-size cap-toe bluchers made on Barrie.

[Sugar Mountain]

^ I totally love the Trubalance last. I haven't ever tried on the Barrie because it looks a shade too narrow for my foot (even more so than the Viberg 2030) but the TB is superb. I can walk in my Indys all day long and my feet feel great.

[nycsurfer530]

BIG Photo dump; Over the weekend, I visited the Quoddy Factory in Maine. I love this brand. The shoes are incredibly comfortable and after visiting the factory I love the brand more. One of my favorite parts was hearing about how good the company is to its employees. Of the people who work in the small factory, they are required to work 40hr weeks. The employees can get their 40 hours in whenever and however they want so they are in charge of their own schedule and they are given ample break time. The employees are also cross trained so they aren't doing the same job again and again; this also reduces the risk for carpal tunnel.

 

The brand makes everything from start to finish in a tiny factory in Lewiston Maine. The owner, Kevin, gave me a 90 min tour through the factory. Photos aren't the best; its just from my iPhone. 

 

This is a mini photo guide to the tour

 

 

 

This is an example of what the workstations look like. There were about 6-8 similar stations scattered around the floor.

 

Kevin searches for different lasts and collect them in addition to the lasts they use.

 

 

Kevin also collects different vintage machines and machine parts here are some of the machines they use when assembling.