Custom White's Boots ... Thoughts?

[chicagoan2016]

Appearance wise they are all very close...

What differences have you noticed between HH and Elk tan?
Thanks

 

[Legal Eagles]

What differences have you noticed between HH and Elk tan?
Thanks

Aside from increased abrasion resistance and a unique smell to the HH, I stand by my comments from the post linked above with the original pics:

I will let you in on a little secret... from 5 feet away, you cannot tell the difference between HH, Elk Tan, and Black Dress... from 3 feet away you still cannot tell the difference... and from one foot away, maybe one can discern a very subtle difference in the "sheen" of the horse, but even that may be my imagination.

Since visually they are almost identical, I differentiate on wear characteristics. If I needed a pure black work boot, I would pick oil tan... if I wanted a tough boot that might get abused, but I still wanted to be able to clean it up and have it presentable, I would go Elk Tan. If I wanted a dress/casual boot not destined for hard use, I would go Horsehide if you want the cachet and your budget allows it (or if you can really see a visual difference), or Black Dress if you don't feel like springing for the horse. All the leathers are great and will serve you well.

...

Seriously, as much as I love HH, in black - even up close - only you will know the difference.

 

[theofficialhung]

Ask and ye shall receive...
L-R - HH, Black Dress, Elk Tan.

Custom White's Boots ... Thoughts?

It is brown. Dark beautiful sexy buttery brown. Elk Tan also comes in Black... it is a great leather... like Dress leather on steroids. I like it for boots which may see heavy use, but which you still may want to “dress up”. Someone was asking about Elk Tan with some age... these are 2 years...

www.styleforum.net

Yes this is the post I was referring to thanks Legal Eagles. I think you've sold me on the elk!

I pretty much ordered something similar in brown dress with all black eyes and double leather soles except with a toe cap. I requested 8 eyes and Kyle said it shouldn’t be a problem, so hopefully Whites will follow through.

Do you have any pics of what 8 eyes on an SD looks like and does Whites use the same size eyes or are they smaller? 6 eyes on a regular SD are too spaced apart to be dressed up in my opinion but my concern is 8 eyes could be too crowded, especially if they use the same size eyelets (not smaller)? On a 6" bounty hunter there are 9 eyes so 8 eyes on a 5" SD should make sense in theory and give the boot an Alden-like appearance (which sounds perfect for me actually), I just want to see what it looks like otherwise 7 eyes seems like the safer option for me.

 

[Legal Eagles]

Yes this is the post I was referring to thanks Legal Eagles. I think you've sold me on the elk!

You all likely already know this, but there has been some confusion in the past...

Elk Tan is still cow leather, it is not from the hide of an Elk (as in the animal).

Black Elk Tan is for all intents and purposes just a thicker version of Black Dress, as @wordfool pointed out.

No Elk were harmed in the making of Elk Tan...

 

[chicagoan2016]

You all likely already know this, but there has been some confusion in the past...

Elk Tan is still cow leather, it is not from the hide of an Elk (as in the animal).

Black Elk Tan is for all intents and purposes just a thicker version of Black Dress, as @wordfool pointed out.

No Elk were harmed in the making of Elk Tan...

I actually thought Elk tan came from Elk lol.

 

[gjerde]

Thanks, but that is not really polished... that is polished, worn a few times, and quickly brushed before snapping a pic... Give me 30 minutes with an old t-shirt and a can of Saphir mirror gloss, and I will show you a polish!

The leathers are in the link, but L-R - HH, Black Dress, Elk Tan... the post was to answer @theofficialhung 's request and show how similar all three are in appearance, especially from a distance of a few feet.

As to @chicagoan2016 question, you can see at the cut top that the HH has a brown core.

Elk tan does look very nice. Does anyone have any Brown Elk tan? Would love to see how it ages, they look very dark in color, darker than Brown Dress leather I think

 

[chicagoan2016]

Elk tan does look very nice. Does anyone have any Brown Elk tan? Would love to see how it ages, they look very dark in color, darker than Brown Dress leather I think

@denotenkoning owns the most beautiful smokejumpers in Brown elk tan.

 

[wordfool]

I toyed with the idea of Elk Tan but stuck with dress because I prefer the slightly thinner leather ("thinner", not "thin" -- it's still a pretty robust leather). It might be my imagination, but when the going gets hot my brown and black dress boots do feel slightly cooler than my WF and RO boots, both of which use thicker leathers. The WF is about 7oz, according to Baker's (about the same as the the 6.5-7oz Elk Tan) and the oil-tan 7-8oz IIRC, compared to the dress leathers at 5.5-6oz.

 

[Legal Eagles]

I toyed with the idea of Elk Tan but stuck with dress because I prefer the slightly thinner leather ("thinner", not "thin" -- it's still a pretty robust leather). It might be my imagination, but when the going gets hot my brown and black dress boots do feel slightly cooler than my WF and RO boots, both of which use thicker leathers. The WF is about 7oz, according to Baker's (about the same as the the 6.5-7oz Elk Tan) and the oil-tan 7-8oz IIRC, compared to the dress leathers at 5.5-6oz.

I'll let you in on a secret... I suspect WF is really just CXL but finished on the flesh side...
Horween has hinted that they are "close" but have never come right out and admitted the above!

 

[montanamike]

Elk tan does look very nice. Does anyone have any Brown Elk tan? Would love to see how it ages, they look very dark in color, darker than Brown Dress leather I think

Kiltie = brown elk tan
Semi dress = brown dress

To my eye, the brown dress may have a tiny bit more shine but I would be surprised if anyone could pick them correctly a large percentage of the time.

 

[Chrikelnel]

I'll let you in on a secret... I suspect WF is really just CXL but finished on the flesh side...
Horween has hinted that they are "close" but have never come right out and admitted the above!

They definitely admit it 3 sentences in

 

[Legal Eagles]

They definitely admit it 3 sentences in

This leather is made almost exactly the same way as our Chromexcel, instead we finish it on the flesh (or suede side).

They don't quite admit it... the "almost" was the hinting to which I was referring...

 

[Chrikelnel]

This leather is made almost exactly the same way as our Chromexcel, instead we finish it on the flesh (or suede side).

They don't quite admit it... the "almost" was the hinting to which I was referring...

You're right, I forgot how pedantic lawyers and engineers are. When you combine them...

 

[chicagoan2016]

I "wish" Horween would figure out the CXL issues. This Natural CXL bounty hunters are yummy

 

[Legal Eagles]

You're right, I forgot how pedantic lawyers and engineers are. When you combine them...

Upon a second reading, you could be correct...

If the word "almost" was referring to the finishing on the flesh side, then Horween's statement could be reworded to read, "This leather is made... exactly the same way as our Chromexcel, [except for the fact that] we finish it on the flesh (or suede side) [instead of the smooth side].

In which case, I it matches my initial supposition, namely that "WF is really just CXL but finished on the flesh side".

Alas, we may never know for sure...