Rode hard and brushed often!
These boots were extremely comfortable right out of the gate. They quickly took on a nice, mild patina, which was promising. My daily wear pattern however is not particularly suited to putting hard wear on boots. Going from house, to car, to office, and back to the house, doesn’t present dome worthy wear opportunities. I decided early on that I needed to focus on wearing these boots whenever I was doing something that would challenge them. As a consequence I wore them at least half of the days I hunted this season. They humped up and down mountains in Vermont chasing grouse and woodcock. They kicked dust in dove fields of Pennsylvania. They chased woodcock in the briars of the pine barrens on southern New Jersey. Hunted pheasants and quail on Georgia and Alabama plantations and finally spent three days hunting quail in the desert of south Texas. I’m still pulling cactus quills out of the toes. The only downside was they really provided no resistance to water, at least relating to immersion, like stream crossings. I’m actually working with Dave to evolve this design into a hunting boot, as they could be great with some modifications.
In late winter, out of necessity (forgetting my biking shoes one day) I started wearing them mountain biking. This provided another level of wear which I think worked well. They are arguably the most comfortable mountain biking shoes ever. I thinking of having Dave build a pair with a hard sole just for riding.
The Lactae Hevea soles presented great opportunity as well as a great challenge. They are EXTREMELY comfortable and provide excellent traction. They are actually a brilliant choice for hunting, but they wear incredibly quickly under stress. After a couple months the toes were tearing and had to be replaced with a rubber toe section. By the fourth or fifth month there was a major tear in the bottom of one of the boots that required a sloppy but effective home repair with shoe goo. Both boots are starting to delaminate and one of the heels is splitting. Obviously the next step is to go back to the builder for new soles, but I do think I’m going to replace them with another pair of LHs.
I had to replace the laces in February.
I couldn’t help but condition them at LEAST monthly, often more, throughout the winter. I used mink oil, needs foot oil, VSC and Bick 4 at various times. I am a chronic brusher, so they are brushed daily. I will say that whenever I conditioned (and I just did before the photos) this leather really rebounded and a lot of the wear disappeared or diminished. For a light, soft, leather, the Horween Tan Latino is surprisingly resilient.
That’s the story of how this nice, pretty pair of boots, got to where they are today. Kudos Mister Oldspeed, ya done good!
