Custom White's Boots ... Thoughts?

Yup I'm already president of the National Wool Council. I usually go with Redhead hunting socks, or SmartWool/REI when they come up on sale. Have a few pairs of GoldToe 'PowerSox' padded cotton boot socks for real hot days.
http://blogs.basspro.com/blog/bass-pro-shops-harrisburg-pa/redhead-lifetime-guarantee-socks



broken_oracle said:

Yup I'm already president of the National Wool Council. I usually go with Redhead hunting socks, or SmartWool/REI when they come up on sale. Have a few pairs of GoldToe 'PowerSox' padded cotton boot socks for real hot days.
http://blogs.basspro.com/blog/bass-pro-shops-harrisburg-pa/redhead-lifetime-guarantee-socks

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You gotta be kidding me! That is pretty cool. I have a few pairs of the RedHeads and I did buy them from Bass Pro. I will definitely buy more of them.

Socks: LLBean's light wool hiking socks are reasonably priced and have high merino wool content.

I'm going to be wearing my boots for work, although I am 80% in the office/meetings and only 20% on a construction site, and want to find a blend of tough and nice looking boot. Here are some I like. (None of these are my boots, just picked from google)


I like the smooth and rough out combo here.


This is just classic style.


But this soft toe farmer/rancher looks fantastic.

Any opinions?

^ That rough-out/smooth combo does look great. I prefer two-tones that have a minimal clash.

What is the leather there in the second pic? It looks too dark for brown smooth...?

@broken_oracle , Sounds to me like you may want to go with the classic dress brown leather. By all accounts it is pretty hardwearing, and I think it fits well in both work and slightly dressier contexts. And you wouldn't need to line it. There are not many pics of the HH with real wear as you say, though i recall seeing one before and slightly after pic, which I will see if I can find tomorrow. My memory is that it picks up a lot of wear quickly. No doubt more durable than CXL, as you say, but equally susceptible to aesthetic wear perhaps.

Sizewise, my own experience is that White's feels a half size long compared to brannock, but more narrow than I expected, so I'd go with the E width.

Yeah, some people really dislike the Swing last, which provides extra width, because in some pics it seems a little shapeless. But there are pics from a few months back of a pair of SDs in brown dress on the Swing last, with captoes, which look really great I think -- check 'em out.

Have fun!

@CityofChamps - love that 3rd pair (Any idea of the leather there?). Not so much a fan, aesthetically, of the roofer's style (lace-to-toe), but if your footbones require that for a proper fit then have at it! On, and socks - the Redheads are also Made in the USA, which I dig.



broken_oracle said:

@CityofChamps - love that 3rd pair (Any idea of the leather there?)

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gregornz said:

^ That rough-out/smooth combo does look great. I prefer two-tones that have a minimal clash.

What is the leather there in the second pic? It looks too dark for brown smooth...?

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Looks like brown smooth to me in both pics. It can be pretty dark, almost verging on black in some places (in my boots for example, in the areas under the arch). But generally more like a rich chestnut brown. Out of the box, the colour on mine was pretty bland and the leather appeared a little dry, probably because the boots had been sitting in their box for 1-2 years before I bought them (the mfg date is stamped next to the size). Colour depth and luster returned immediately when I treated them with the supplied conditioner.

TH3515 said:

(the mfg date is stamped next to the size)

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Ah, now thats what it is!!!

b-ewing said:

My experience has been to go tts on SJ and half size down on SD

Edit- my SJs are lace to toe so maybe I'm not a good point of reference

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Thanks - dug out an old mail from Kyle- plain toe is the same size in BH or SJ...there`s one on ebay that tickles my fancy...

daizawaguy said:

Thanks - dug out an old mail from Kyle- plain toe is the same size in BH or SJ...there`s one on ebay that tickles my fancy...

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Yeah, I was told that too, but in my experience (and I think others') the standard SJ last feels tighter in the toebox than the SD (or Bounter Hunter)... which surprised me, but there it is.

What does the LTT do to the toe box on the boot? If I get the F/R (SJ last) and opt for LTT does that make it tighter or more narrow around the toes compared to the standard toe?

@b-ewing - I know you have LTT and have been around here a while any insight on fit?

LTT does not alter toe box just allows one to tighten it up if you want a real tight fit.

It was designed for firefighting/electrical/welding work. Where the front of the boot needs to be tight in order to not allow hot/burning debris into the lacing area to burn into the toe box.

To the guy ordering horse hide boots:

If you wear shell cordovan or a pair of horsehide boots/shoes the have a tendency to stretch, so have a taylor measure your feet with the socks you wear or be prepared to stretch them on your own with a Cametti.

Whites has the forms, nicks has the forms, russel moccasin has the forms, then sent in to Whites with your order and they will make the boots out of the leather you chose and allow for no, or stretch. Cap toes and double cel toe boxes affect the leathers ability to stretch also. Keep that in mind.

Thanks @LouieBailie - yes, I have the foot tracing form from a White's catalog, was planning on doing that in my boot socks along with the 10 to 18 different foot measurements they want (depending on boot height). Good point about the celastic toe preventing some stretching in the horsehide.

broken_oracle said:

Thanks @LouieBailie - yes, I have the foot tracing form from a White's catalog, was planning on doing that in my boot socks along with the 10 to 18 different foot measurements they want (depending on boot height). Good point about the celastic toe preventing some stretching in the horsehide.

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My sense though is that stretching rarely takes place in the toe box but rather is due to lace tightening. I wouldn't worry about it in the toebox. (Actually, I remember taking a pair of boots to a cobbler to get stretched, and he said the probably couldn't make any difference in the toe box even on the stretching machine..)

As far as tracings, they definitely do not always work. I sent mine, and White's recommended 9.5D, but I had just tried that on and it was quite tight. Then tried on an SJ in 9.5E and THAT was tight. Ended up with 9.5EE, though I think in the SD last 9.5E would have been fine.