Well, I am back to share my recent boot–buying experience. About a month ago I posted about my plans to purchase some Chelsea boots that were a bit less fancy and a bit more thrashable. Several brands were considered, but in the end I think I found the best option for me.
First up is Blundstone. These boots are wildy popular—I saw no fewer than 20 people wearing them while I was at the grand opening of the new Apple Pacific Centre—thus driving me to at least consider them as an option. One of the largest drawbacks is that Blundstone no longer make all of their boots in Australia (now making them in Vietnam, India, China, Mexico and Thailand). They do offer quite a large catalogue of boots with the same general style, but varying qualities such as CSA–rated steel–toe workboots, active runner–esque outsoles, Vegan uppers, all–terrain models featuring Vibram outsoles, and also thermal models with 3M insulation. Like most products, I think there is a sweet spot for how many options a company should offer, and Blundstone definitely errs on the too–many–damn–options side of things. It’s a tad overwhelming.
The next brand I discovered is RedBack Boots. I found these after watching a boot teardown video on YouTube from Rose Anvil, where he claims they are significantly comfier and use a thicker leather for their upper compared to Blundstone. They also have a notably luggier outsole, and way fewer options in their catalogue. One standout difference is that RedBack make their boots in Australia.
As always, I like to consider Canadian–made products wherever I can. The next brand I looked at is Canada West Boots. Based in Winnipeg, they have a considerably large catalogue of several styles. Their Chelsea boots range from dressy to workwear, and they are even available in a local retailler.
So with all of this research, which am I to buy? I did try ordering the RedBacks online during their Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale—as they are not available from any local retailers—but was quickly halted by their website’s inability to parse my home address in the shipping field. I tried on several devices and was never able to checkout. Canada West is a great option, but their models do not come in narrower sizes than EEE. When it comes to Chelsea boots, you can never re–tighten them, they almost have to be a little uncomfortable when you try them on, because as you wear them the leather stretches to a point where they’re as comfortable as socks.
This leaves me with the fan-favourite, Blundstone. Vancouver was hit with its first snowstorm of the season last week, and I quickly realized my trail runners I bought last winter wouldn’t hold up in the snow the same way this year that they did last year. The tread is almost completely gone on them, making my already risky choice of running in sub-zero temperatures a potentially fatal one. Although not ideal, I was under some pressure to get my feet into some footwear that I could rely on, and well I will let this photo speak for itself…
