Six months into my second pair of Danner Rain Forests. They’re worn 10ish hours per day, 5-6 days per week. Great soles, super comfy. One big issue- they’re no longer waterproof.

My previous pair of Rain Forests lasted about 6 years. The uppers would have lasted longer if I’d taken better care of them. The soles are shot. But they’re more waterproof than this new pair.

Going back to Danner for a ‘defect evaluation’ and hopefully a new pair.

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Hello GYW, it's Monday Funday! Take a load off and take a breather. Memes, hot takes and all silliness are welcome!

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Found an amazing deal on a pair of shoes but they aren't your size? Share them here so other members can take advantage of the great deals!

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I've slowly been becoming officially a Boot Person over the past few months, in large part thanks to this community (thanks, jerks). I don't understand why people at work aren't as interested in the various types of leathers and tannages as I am. Weird.

Anyways, after starting to get into good boots slowly with a pair of the more work-oriented Canada West JM Moorby 2801s, and then getting a pair of nice Parkhurst Bidwells in Brown Waxy Commander from their sample section, I set my sights on a Viberg.

I kept my eye on their sight, but wasn't feeling any of this summer or fall's drops, and also checked in on the stockists, but nothing caught my eye.

Until Brooklyn Clothing released these Service Boots in Wooly CXL Burgundy. I almost bought those, before I noticed the Lucida Asfalto Horsebutt! I had been looking for a non-brown or black boot, and these cool gray, with brown and even some blue notes, were calling my name.

Exclusive to Brooklyn Clothing, they only had one size 8, even when I found the listing on the first or second day it had been posted. This must have been a super limited run.

But the price, oh man the price. I'd never even paid half as much for footwear (or any piece of clothing?) as this price. I agonized over it for days, fully expecting (hoping?) to wake up each morning and find the single pair of 8s gone.

Alas, my wallet was not that lucky, and eventually I decided to just do it, and so I did it.

Initial pics from right after unboxing.

https://preview.redd.it/mfaeew35l50e1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d06e663884749ae5a7d000df7cf5d5c2d5046c28

https://preview.redd.it/il7rug45l50e1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c070cf8eb79385b17f76512bae9ed7f8397061d3

https://preview.redd.it/vvu8ip45l50e1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=03a3a30ebb842603c9c20e085d55ec2e57ff6da0

There were no obvious production issues out of the box, which was a relief, so I laced them up and slid them on, and they felt great. They were definitely stiff out of the box, but even with that stiffness, you can immediately feel the softness of the vachetta horsebutt that Maryam achieves through the tanning process. The leather is thick, but supple. The toes are roomy without feeling large. They're a bit heavy, but it's just noticeable, and not a problem.

The colour is incredible. It's definitely grey, but depending on the light you're in, it can look quite different from one moment to the next. The photos above were outside on a partly sunny/partly overcast afternoon.

The photos below were taken the same day indoors, after it had fully clouded over. The browns are much more obvious, and there's even a bit of olive that comes through.

https://preview.redd.it/a7vd0jx1m50e1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aeacb94ea17c8db84724c474de3b1e01bc4bcc79

I had only tried on the 2030 before, and was a bit worried that the 2040 would fit different, despite Viberg's sizing advice. I was relieved that it feels basically the same. After a week of wearing them around the house for a few hours at a time, I decided to just risk it and wear them out all day (albeit to a desk job - not exactly trekking for 8 hours). There was basically no soreness or tightness, and none of the Viberg blisters that I'd been warned about.

I can definitely feel that they're still wearing in, but the process has been pretty painless for me.

Despite knowing they didn't come with shoe trees, I was a bit disappointed that there was nothing in the box other than the regular shoe bags and laces. At this price point, it seems a bit odd to provide essentially the same purchase experience as one can get at Johnston Murphy or, frankly, The Bay (for the Canadians among us - Macy's, for the Americans). It definitely feels like there's a disconnect between the quality of the product and the quality of the customer experience.

On the other hand, I'm really happy to be able to get such a high quality product, made in Canada.

That's all I've got for now, will post updates when I remember!

Oh, and here's the asphalto, on some asphalt, because I couldn't resist.

https://preview.redd.it/8b8b6nb4n50e1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3a08f65cacf0abc9f5f5f392d119ad5388f249e8

I blinked and now I am behind on Thanksgiving planning. Anyone in the US doing anything noteworthy? How is your fall going?

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Pics first, as is customary

So after drooling over pics of natural shell boots (primarlily from u/mrsugar and u/amvoith), I knew deep in my bones that getting a pair for myself was only a question of when. I wanted boots that were casual but looked sharp. Boots that I didn't have to baby. Boots that would only get better-looking with age. In January of last year I got lots of good news, including some unexpected income, so I pulled the trigger on these Carmina Natural Shell Jumpers. These are model 80179 on the Soller last.

Ordering process: They said to allow 60 days for production. After 60 days, I contacted them only to learn they still didn't have the leather from Horween. They apologized for not telling me and threw in a free pair of shoe trees to make up for it. Less than a month after that, my boots shipped, and I got them April 2023.

Sizing: On a UK brannock I'm an 8.5 on one foot and a 9 on the other (HTB, which is the bigger size). Width in-between a D and E on both feet. Low volume feet and skinny-ass ankles. I live just outside of Barcelona, and I ordered these in an 8.5 UK after trying on various different sizes in person at the store in Barcelona with different socks on. A heartfelt thanks goes out to u/lucidpivot for going back and forth with my Brannock pics and subjective descriptions of fit (at one point I thought a 7.5 felt good). It definitely led to me getting this pair which fits great, at least when I'm wearing thick-ass socks. Virtually no break in and my heels are locked in, never experienced any sliding forward or anything like that, and my toes have the room they need to be happy. I've done many 30km+ days and never had a blister or any foot pain. It's possible that some extra volume has contributed to the extra-rolliness of the rolls, but whatever.

Use: I don't really wear these much in the summer here in Spain, as the shell + medium weight darn tough socks send heat radiating right on up my legs. But from October-April these are the pair I go to grab first. I also wear them as my 'travelling boots', so in the few international trips I've made this past year or so they have gotten 2-4 days of heavy use in a row. Guesstimates put these around 80-90 wears total in the 18ish months that I've had them. Conservatively saying 15km/day on average I've already put way more than 1000km of walking on these boots. I don't think they are near a resole, but there is noticeable wear on the heels and toes.

Care: My thought for wearing these boots has been to only baby them when they are off of my feet. I go about my day in them in any weather, play in the park with my son, etc., but at the end of the day they get their shoe trees put in and then I wipe them off with a damp rag. I brush them good often, but probably not after every wear. Three or four times they've been soaked in torrential rain and seemed very dry/dull after fully drying out, so I hit them with some Rennovateur and brushed them until my arm felt like it was going to fall off. An example of this is included in the pics.

Overall, I love these boots, and I think the colour evolution is coming along nicely. I'm looking forward to enjoying them for many years to come! Questions are welcome!

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These were my second pair of Parkhursts. I got them a bit over a month ago and took a few pictures at the time to share with the community. Sadly I got busy and wasn't able to post them, but want to provide a bit of a review now.

You can also refer to my reviews of my Parkhurst Richmonds in Rust Waxy and my Parkhurst Delaware in Natural Horsebutt.

Details:

Brand: Parkurst - The Allen

Last: 602

Size: 10

Uppers: Brown Smooth.

Sole: Parkhurst Mini Lug

A great looking pair overall.

https://preview.redd.it/obxy6ikoilzd1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e3ea2d9244d40921e4392d328406a4b23a886377

There is a pretty significant difference in colour between the colour of the heels of each boot.

Picture of the grain break. Not as tight as I would have liked and pretty pronounced after a quick try on.

I love the colour in the direct sunlight. It really pops.

https://preview.redd.it/mlpkjikoilzd1.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fb4cfda937823d1b0bdada7be26f9ab2d5a2d205

Even the heel on the right boot that looks incredibly dark in the picture above has depth of colour in the image with direct sunlight.

First Impressions:

Let's talk about the leather. As I recall, this leather was tanned by Parkhurst's partner Spanish tannery and was described as having many of the same properties as CXL. Sorry, I don't have any CXL footwear that I can use for comparison but they definitely have the pull-up effect that I associate with CXL. I bought these as factory seconds understanding that there would be some scratches/scuffs that would be blended before being sent. This was the case. There were a few scratches in pretty innocuous spots, and a few scuffs around the heel. The leather smelled great and looked great out of the box. When I first looked at them, they were brown with a hint of burgundy. When I saw them sitting in direct sunlight a couple of minutes later in my living room I took a few more pictures. They look more mahogany or cognac. They're more striking in person than I had thought and l just love the colour. The leather was quite thick and stiffer than I had expected (more on that below). Overall, I find this to be a really versatile leather that I can wear around town, or wear to my office job as business casual.

The construction is solid, but the finish was just ok and I'm fine with that for these boots. The welt join isn't the best. The wheeling is a bit messy. There were a few loose threads. The colour of the panels across the boots are uneven. The insole on one boot had excess glue that I noticed rubbing against my sock when I first put my foot in. This isn't something that will stand out to the average person though, but want to point it out. I bough these as seconds, so can't really complain, but I understood the reason for the discounts was scratches and scuffs, not across the board lower level of finishing.

The mini lugs are great. I like the low profile and they have held up well on my Rust Waxy pair.

They came with round and flat waxed laces, both of which are just a bit short for my liking.

Otherwise, these were typical Parkhurst - gusseted tongue, veg tan insole and heel counter, etc...

Fit and first wear:

My largest foot is 10.5D HTT and 11C HTB with a reasonably high instep. These fit my foot well. Snug on the ball of my largest foot, but at a bit of room for toes. Good room in the instep (which I've learned can be a problem for me). The heel was nicely snug. The leather is stiff though, so I couldn't wear them for too long at first because of the pain in the back of my heel against the counter. The leather also was stiff enough at the top of the boot to make my gait feel a bit natural (no bend in my ankle). What I've learned over time is that there is thick leather heel stiffener that helps keep the shape - thicker than in some of the other boots. In my case this was causing pain in the back of one of my heels. Not blisters, but my bone hurt after each wear. I reached out to Andrew and he was incredibly responsive and helpful. He recommended that I work the leather around the heel, squeezing it to loosen it up. I did this with the boot empty and then again after while wearing the boot (after a few hours, when it was warm). Within a few days of doing this I could feel the heel mold to my foot. This really accelerated the breaking in process, and I was grateful for this advice.

The midsole and mini lug feel stiffer on this boot than I recall with my Rust Waxy pair, but I know that will improve with time too. It may sound strange, but this pair is quieter when I walk in the office than my other pair with mini lugs.

The grain break. The second that I put my feet in I could start to see the grain break set in the instep and then down to the around the toe box. You can see this in the pictures. At the time of the photos I had never worn the boot, only tried it on (a couple minutes total on my foot). It's not the nicest break and there even seems to be some veining (not captured in the images above). Some people love this, I don't. I'm fine with it, but certainly would have liked a tightener grain break.

Overall, I like the boots. I love the Parkhurst look and the last fits me well. I really value the fit - it's why I now have three pairs. The leather looks great and I love that Andrew offers variety now. And Andrew is fantastic, offers great customer service and I love supporting him. That said, I might not have bought another pair had these been my first simply because of the number of finishing issues in one boot. The Rust Waxy and Natural Horesbutt pairs seems to be higher quality finish and all three are well constructed, rugged boots that I expect to provide me with years of enjoyment and wear. Having seen Parkhurst’s first quality boots, and understanding that I still love these seconds, I have to say that IMO Parkhurst is great value for money in the boot world.

Let me know if you have any questions.

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Include images to any issues you may be having. Include a budget for any recommendations. The more detail you provide, the easier it may be for someone to answer your question.

Ask your shoe related questions.

Resources

• FAQ Thread Series
• Resource Wiki Page
• Beginner Boot Buyer's Guide
• Leather Care Guide
• Manufacturer Last Sizing Thread
• GYW Women's Guide

How To Ask A Question

Include images to any issues you may be having. Include a budget for any recommendations. The more detail you provide, the easier it may be for someone to answer your question.

Buy, sell, and trade your shoes.

#Rules

• Footwear only
• Don't use URL shorteners
• Include all of the information in format below, but especially:
  • Price
  • Location
  • Images

#Recommended Posting Format

• Maker/Model:
• Size:
• Leather:
• Sole:
• Price:
• Location:
• Wears/Condition:
• Images:
• Notes:

Please be a communicative buyer or seller. There's nothing more painful than having someone drop off the face of the earth without leaving some sort of note. Good hunting!

Please report listings that violate the rules above.

"This is a scheduled post, if I screwed up please contact the mods."