I’ve had the pleasure of wearing over a hundred different pairs of boots, and unlike a lot of guys online, I don’t just slip them on and walk around my carpet. I find the world’s foremost boot experts to help you find the best boots.
Too many reviews are more like “first impressions,” usually the guy’s last impressions before he posts a “review.” I put these boots through the paces, stomping around New York City, sloshing through storm puddles, and taking them on every outdoor and international adventure I take. (And I take a lot of them.)
And when a boot needs to be reviewed for work? We have a team of dedicated writers, from sheet welders to water treatment operators, properly wear testing their footwear to produce the web’s best work boot reviews.
Our review process results in a lot of the boots on my site looking, well, not quite as pristine and beautiful as the company’s marketing images may suggest. (And don’t get us started on the commenters who yell about the well-worn pics in our reviews of white leather sneakers.)
But I don’t just want you to know how a product looks and feels out of the box. I want you to know how they break in, how the leather holds up to daily wear, the degree of shock absorption they offer, how the footbed softens the arch support improves with wear, and more. Way more, actually.
Every one of my reviews takes the following aspects into account.
FIRST GLANCE
Here is where I describe what comes to mind when the boots are fresh out of the box. What’s eye-catching? How does the leather feel? Does it look like the product pictures on the site? Above all: what quality control issues are present at the outset? This can include minor and fixable issues like loose threads (just grab a Bic lighter), mismatched leather panels (they should be a fairly consistent color), misaligned stitches (purely cosmetic, but important to some customers), and more.
LEATHER
Through phone calls, e-mails, quizzing my community of 90,000 YouTube subscribers and 25,000 Instagram followers, online research, and visiting tanneries from Mexico to England, I’ve done about as good a job of learning about leather as a boot reviewer could.
The first thing I want to know isn’t what tannery makes the leather, but if the tannery is mentioned at all — if not, it’s not a good sign the brand is proud of it. If the tannery is listed, is it a name brand like Horween, CF Stead, Badalassi Carlo, Lefarc? How was it tanned: veg, chrome, combination? This is meaningful for how soft the leather is and how it will age. What sort of oils and waxes were incorporated (“stuffed,” in industry speak)? Is it full grain? Is it pull up: darkening and lightening as it bends and wears?
I can’t always get every one of my questions answered from official sources, and sometimes I need to dig deep in my network of chatty contacts dotted around the industry. I’ll promise you this: you’ll learn more on Stridewise than you will on the official product page.
LEATHER CARE
I’ll be honest, the first thing that attracted me to the world of boots wasn’t the look of new boots, it was the look of old boots. I vividly remember looking at picture after picture of well-worn 875 Moc Toe boots and being struck by the beauty of beautifully patinated leather.
But boots don’t age well unless you properly take care of the leather. In this subcategory of the “Leather” section, I look at how we’re expected to care for the boot and how the upper will hold up to daily wear. Did it get scratches and dents as I was wearing them in? How will it manage a rainy day or a snowstorm? What does the cleaning, conditioning, and (if I choose this route) waterproofing process look like, and how often do I need to do maintenance?
I always try to get specific product recommendations from the brands or, failing that, the tanneries or other wearers. Whether it’s your trusty Venetian Shoe Cream or some Tarrago Nanospray for suede, you should know how to take care of your investment best.
(Don’t worry, I’m not a fan of overthinking this. Boots are meant to be tough, and despite what some guys tell you, they don’t need to be brushed and moisturized every week.)
SOLE
“Is the sole leather or rubber” doesn’t cut it. If it’s leather, is it butyl treated? If it’s rubber, who makes it: Dainite, Vibram, Dr. Sole, an in-house design? Is it soft crepe, that softer kind of crepe, or maybe hardy nitrile cork? (Who else can link to this many articles about different kinds of soles, by the way.) I’ve worn ’em all and written thousands upon thousands of words about the experience, and I’ve evolved to the point that I can give a 5-minute speech about a sole’s walking experience the instant I hear a brand name.
CONSTRUCTION
Many will argue that the sole is far less important than the construction, which we often group under “sole” in our reviews because we’re talking about what’s underfoot.
Almost every boot has multiple layers on top of the sole: there’s usually a midsole (sometimes several) and an insole with a layer of cork sandwiched between and sometimes a steel shank mashed in the cork. (The shank provides stability, the cork some comfort. Some brands use a secret recipe for their cork, just as some keep even their tanneries secret.)
Just as important as what sits underfoot is how it’s held together. Most boots are built completely differently to a sneaker, for which the upper and sole are typically glued together. Good boots are stitched and there’s a wide variety of ways of doing so: Blake, Blake rapid, stitchdown, ideal stitch, hand welt, hybrids, and more, and the most common: the Goodyear welt.
Different methods have different pros and cons and in addition to discussing them in your review, we can reasonably assess how well the operation was performed in the factory. We know that some guys buy boots to withstand hard wear while others buy them because they enjoy wearing something that required a ton of skill and precision to make, and different brands and techniques appeal to different guys.
FIT & SIZING
Let’s be honest: you never really know how a shoe is going to fit until you try it, and sizing is a surprisingly complex beast.
For starters, sneakers are usually labeled a half size larger than your “true” size and boots are usually a half size smaller. Many guys will order a 12 because that’s what their Nikes say, and they then wind up swimming in their boots. This is made all the more frustrating because we’re shopping online, here.
Every guy needs to get his foot sized on a Brannock device in a shoe store to learn their “true size” or “Brannock size” and while subtracting 0.5 from that usually gets you the right boots, a brick can measure 12 on a Brannock as well as a foot can. Some feet have high volume insteps, or wide forefoots, or flat arches, and every company will vary in how they feel because every company’s secret sauce is their last: the foot-shaped model they build their boots around that determines the fit.
The fit and sizing sections of reviews break this down while also exploring comfort-related issues like leather stiffness, heel slip, and shock absorption.
PRICE
Just because I like your boot doesn’t mean I think I should pay $800 for it.
This is usually the most important question for a visitor to this site: is it worth it? I feel fortunate to have explored the world of boots for so long (so very, very long) because it’s made me really good at assessing a boot’s value. Many don’t realize that the biggest contributor to a boot’s cost is labor: not just how laborious the construction method is, but primarily where the boot is made. I’m good at telling if, say, a $490 stitchdown boot that’s made in Mexico is a good deal when compared to a $900 boot that’s made in Canada. Once I know the materials, where it’s made, how it’s built, what kind of consumer they’re targeting (Working man? Luxury guy?) and I’ve had the boots in my hands and on my feet to be inspected every which way, I can make a call.
I live and breathe boots. And I want you to get the best one for your individual needs.
Your feet are in good hands.
Disclaimer: To keep the lights on, some (not all) of my reviews contain affiliate links. That simply means that if you click the link and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission for sending you there. This does not cost you any extra money whatsoever, it just means the origin of the sale is tracked back to Stridewise.
