Nicks Handmade Boots Official Affiliate Thread

[Nicks Boots Shuyler]

Does that mean my existing order will go into production soon? ?

Yep, I just got some more sides than I was expecting

 

[Kramertron2000]

Speaking of W&C - my burgundy officer boots arrived yesterday. I stopped in at the post office on the way to work to collect them and changed into them straight away, and first impressions are great!

The leather is much thicker and stiffer than the black tie domaine on my Wesco Jobmasters, but after wearing them all day, the break in has been less painful than those were. The lower arch and block heel feels a lot more like my old army boots that I used to wear, and they are fairly light weight. The stitching is pretty good - a few little odd bits and ends that werent cut clean (a flash with a lighter will solve that), so I'm more than satisfied.
The colour as I expected is a little too light, but not as flat out red as I was worried it would be. Wet season has just started here, so I'm probably going to apply some Obernauf's LP to protect them from the moisture anyway, which should darken them, but I'll be testing it on an inconspicuous area first.

Probably the thing I'm most impressed by is the customer service - there was some confusion at first because I wanted MTO options, but with the burgundy leather, which I learned was not possible, but I ended up getting them with all the options I originally ordered anyway (toe cap, black/gunmetal eyelets, black edge dressing), no doubt thanks to Shuyler. And the shipping was changed over to UPS (a more expensive option I believe) when there was some doubt about USPS shipping to Australia, so they came super fast, and ahead of UPS' estimates.

After a day of wear they are already breaking in and moulding to my feet, but by about halfway through the day (I'm a teacher, so I'm on my feet most of the day) they started to hurt a bit in some places, but nothing too serious. They are also a bit squeeky, but I think it's coming from the stitching and the leather rather than the soles, so it should stop once they soften up a bit.

Overall I'm super impressed - absolutely no issues, and I can tell these will probably become my favourite boots. Thanks Shuyler and Nick's Boots!

 

[montanamike]

Speaking of W&C - my burgundy officer boots arrived yesterday. I stopped in at the post office on the way to work to collect them and changed into them straight away, and first impressions are great!
View attachment 1706271 View attachment 1706272 View attachment 1706273 View attachment 1706274

The leather is much thicker and stiffer than the black tie domaine on my Wesco Jobmasters, but after wearing them all day, the break in has been less painful than those were. The lower arch and block heel feels a lot more like my old army boots that I used to wear, and they are fairly light weight. The stitching is pretty good - a few little odd bits and ends that werent cut clean (a flash with a lighter will solve that), so I'm more than satisfied.
The colour as I expected is a little too light, but not as flat out red as I was worried it would be. Wet season has just started here, so I'm probably going to apply some Obernauf's LP to protect them from the moisture anyway, which should darken them, but I'll be testing it on an inconspicuous area first.

Probably the thing I'm most impressed by is the customer service - there was some confusion at first because I wanted MTO options, but with the burgundy leather, which I learned was not possible, but I ended up getting them with all the options I originally ordered anyway (toe cap, black/gunmetal eyelets, black edge dressing), no doubt thanks to Shuyler. And the shipping was changed over to UPS (a more expensive option I believe) when there was some doubt about USPS shipping to Australia, so they came super fast, and ahead of UPS' estimates.

After a day of wear they are already breaking in and moulding to my feet, but by about halfway through the day (I'm a teacher, so I'm on my feet most of the day) they started to hurt a bit in some places, but nothing too serious. They are also a bit squeeky, but I think it's coming from the stitching and the leather rather than the soles, so it should stop once they soften up a bit.

Overall I'm super impressed - absolutely no issues, and I can tell these will probably become my favourite boots. Thanks Shuyler and Nick's Boots!

The 2nd picture is stunning... terrific build.

 

[Kramertron2000]

Thanks. I'm really happy with them. I also really like the veg tan leather. I'd probably even save up for a pair of boots in black or dark brown with v100 soles for hiking because it feels exactly like a really thick version of what the boots I used to wear are made of - it feels pretty tough, but like it will mould nicely.

I also tested some Obernauf's on the kilties that came with them, and they went much darker and have a weird dull shine, so I'll have to see how they look in daylight before I use it on the boots. They do pick up water stains very easily.

 

[TyrLI]

Please let me know what ends up working out for you. I'm getting the chestnut and I work in wet environments, so I know they'll stain like crazy if I don't treat them with something.

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

I was thinking the other night, that it would be wonderful if Nick's would collect info on what their customers do with their boots, then categorize that by industry / lifestyle, etc. Then report some data based on that... average time between re-heel, time between rebuild, typical care regimen, successful vs. unsuccessful leather treatment options... all based on real world use cases. For instance, when a customer sends their boots in, I would bet someone at Nick's could evaluate the leather health, then correlate that with the type of work it is subjected to. I know I would find something like this endlessly fascinating, and I would bet that a lot of your customers would love to report on how they use their boots, especially if it's in a scientific type study for their favorite boot company.

End result being, when someone goes shopping for some boots, and selects a Robert for instance, they would then see that the MTO options found that the V-bar sole performed better than the mini-lug in this or that environment. And that the 67 last has caused many customer service calls about fit, whereas the 55 doesn't have as many "complaints".

That would really bring Nicks into a whole other realm as far as work footwear manufacturers go.

(this is similar to something one of my work vendors does, they manufacture long-lasting outdoor signage for things like telephone poles, etc. They will contact customers from 5, 10, 15 years ago, and will take a survey on how well their products are performing in the field, and in some cases will offer new signage in exchange for them sending back an actual sign that has been out in the outdoors, just so they can see the effects of the aging, and make better recommendations, and possibly product changes in the future. I'm not suggesting to send out replacement boots, it just seems that you are actually constantly receiving them back in your shop, it's a whole flood of data that is just passing through there already)

Anyways, just thought I'd share

 

[Nicks Boots Shuyler]

Thanks. I'm really happy with them. I also really like the veg tan leather. I'd probably even save up for a pair of boots in black or dark brown with v100 soles for hiking because it feels exactly like a really thick version of what the boots I used to wear are made of - it feels pretty tough, but like it will mould nicely.

I also tested some Obernauf's on the kilties that came with them, and they went much darker and have a weird dull shine, so I'll have to see how they look in daylight before I use it on the boots. They do pick up water stains very easily.

I would go saphir on the treatment to start, obenauf’s is probably the most darkening treatment out there so you may want to ease into it. The veg tan seems to suck up more of the treatment than say an oil tanned work leather, too.

 

[mikeczyz]

Please let me know what ends up working out for you. I'm getting the chestnut and I work in wet environments, so I know they'll stain like crazy if I don't treat them with something.

I've got boots in chestnut right now and I'm just embracing the water spots, dog slobber etc.

 

[Nicks Boots Shuyler]

I was thinking the other night, that it would be wonderful if Nick's would collect info on what their customers do with their boots, then categorize that by industry / lifestyle, etc. Then report some data based on that... average time between re-heel, time between rebuild, typical care regimen, successful vs. unsuccessful leather treatment options... all based on real world use cases. For instance, when a customer sends their boots in, I would bet someone at Nick's could evaluate the leather health, then correlate that with the type of work it is subjected to. I know I would find something like this endlessly fascinating, and I would bet that a lot of your customers would love to report on how they use their boots, especially if it's in a scientific type study for their favorite boot company.

End result being, when someone goes shopping for some boots, and selects a Robert for instance, they would then see that the MTO options found that the V-bar sole performed better than the mini-lug in this or that environment. And that the 67 last has caused many customer service calls about fit, whereas the 55 doesn't have as many "complaints".

That would really bring Nicks into a whole other realm as far as work footwear manufacturers go.

(this is similar to something one of my work vendors does, they manufacture long-lasting outdoor signage for things like telephone poles, etc. They will contact customers from 5, 10, 15 years ago, and will take a survey on how well their products are performing in the field, and in some cases will offer new signage in exchange for them sending back an actual sign that has been out in the outdoors, just so they can see the effects of the aging, and make better recommendations, and possibly product changes in the future. I'm not suggesting to send out replacement boots, it just seems that you are actually constantly receiving them back in your shop, it's a whole flood of data that is just passing through there already)

Anyways, just thought I'd share

This is a great idea. One thing I’ll say is that this would probably best be accomplished with survey data rather than rebuild/resole evaluations just because most of our repairs are still on fire boots which have a relatively similar use case and repair timeline. We will be launching some products next year that will let us have a more ongoing conversation with you guys throughout the life of the product. Please stay tuned!

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

This is a great idea. One thing I’ll say is that this would probably best be accomplished with survey data rather than rebuild/resole evaluations just because most of our repairs are still on fire boots which have a relatively similar use case and repair timeline. We will be launching some products next year that will let us have a more ongoing conversation with you guys throughout the life of the product. Please stay tuned!

honestly, when a company is outright honest about things like this, especially with no-nonsense actual workboot wearers, it would be a great marketing tool, without being outright marketing. In fact, the presentation should be very marketing free, strictly dry unpolished data... but the fact that you could openly report that one leather is not as great for certain applications, would really be appreciated by the hard workers out there... but maybe i'm totally wrong, and it would get Nick's into a whole area that you don't want to be in...

What you've done with people like Rose Anvil, where you basically give him boots to tear apart on video, and show all your (apparently non-existant) dirty little secrets, means a lot, it really shows that you stand behind your product, and aren't afraid to represent it in a very real unvarnished manner. That is why i have two pairs of boots on order currently... i really do believe that you guys actually do stand behind your product, and you don't do that, if you don't REALLY know what you're doing...

 

[Nicks Boots Shuyler]

honestly, when a company is outright honest about things like this, especially with no-nonsense actual workboot wearers, it would be a great marketing tool, without being outright marketing. In fact, the presentation should be very marketing free, strictly dry unpolished data... but the fact that you could openly report that one leather is not as great for certain applications, would really be appreciated by the hard workers out there... but maybe i'm totally wrong, and it would get Nick's into a whole area that you don't want to be in...

What you've done with people like Rose Anvil, where you basically give him boots to tear apart on video, and show all your (apparently non-existant) dirty little secrets, means a lot, it really shows that you stand behind your product, and aren't afraid to represent it in a very real unvarnished manner. That is why i have two pairs of boots on order currently... i really do believe that you guys actually do stand behind your product, and you don't do that, if you don't REALLY know what you're doing...

Thank you. We don’t have anything to hide, which does make it easier. I always joke around here that our boots are easy to sell and hard to make, and I will always take that balance versus the opposite.

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

Thank you. We don’t have anything to hide, which does make it easier. I always joke around here that our boots are easy to sell and hard to make, and I will always take that balance versus the opposite.

we have a similar problem where i work... and it feels ridiculous to complain about it. "oh woe is us, we're just too busy with too many orders, please pity us"

 

[andy b.]

Speaking of W&C - my burgundy officer boots arrived yesterday. I stopped in at the post office on the way to work to collect them and changed into them straight away, and first impressions are great!
View attachment 1706271 View attachment 1706272 View attachment 1706273 View attachment 1706274

The leather is much thicker and stiffer than the black tie domaine on my Wesco Jobmasters, but after wearing them all day, the break in has been less painful than those were. The lower arch and block heel feels a lot more like my old army boots that I used to wear, and they are fairly light weight. The stitching is pretty good - a few little odd bits and ends that werent cut clean (a flash with a lighter will solve that), so I'm more than satisfied.
The colour as I expected is a little too light, but not as flat out red as I was worried it would be. Wet season has just started here, so I'm probably going to apply some Obernauf's LP to protect them from the moisture anyway, which should darken them, but I'll be testing it on an inconspicuous area first.

Those are beautiful!
It has been my experience that Nicks seems to underestimate their leather thickness a bit as compared to other PNW manufacturers. Which I hope Nick's keeps doing!

I find the Obenaufs LP tends to darken every leather, and it never fully lightens. I understand this and don't mind it.

 

[TyrLI]

honestly, when a company is outright honest about things like this, especially with no-nonsense actual workboot wearers, it would be a great marketing tool, without being outright marketing. In fact, the presentation should be very marketing free, strictly dry unpolished data... but the fact that you could openly report that one leather is not as great for certain applications, would really be appreciated by the hard workers out there... but maybe i'm totally wrong, and it would get Nick's into a whole area that you don't want to be in...

What you've done with people like Rose Anvil, where you basically give him boots to tear apart on video, and show all your (apparently non-existant) dirty little secrets, means a lot, it really shows that you stand behind your product, and aren't afraid to represent it in a very real unvarnished manner. That is why i have two pairs of boots on order currently... i really do believe that you guys actually do stand behind your product, and you don't do that, if you don't REALLY know what you're doing...

The Rose Anvil video is what hooked me

 

[ll00ll00ll00ll]

The Rose Anvil video is what hooked me

I think that was the final straw for me too. I have been aware of Nick's for many years, but honestly i couldn't see the need to invest that much, especially when something like Redwings are available, which is a solid boot for what I do (not heavy construction, mostly trodding concrete floors all day, and up and down stairs, meeting with customers, engineering, etc.) I've been noticing that I have some weird foot issues over that last year, and have found that adding arch supports to my redwings has helped, also, i'm very acutely aware of the fact that I really think i'm an E, instead of a D width... so i started looking into something decent that I could get in an E width, and it was just about that time that I saw the Rose Anvil stuff...