I meant to plan carefully for this year’s Thunderdome, but I forgot. When the email hit my inbox reminding me that the competition was one week away, I knew that I had missed my chance to order something that would take some time to arrive. The day I read that email, it was the afternoon, and my feet were hurting even though I was wearing sneakers. I decided that I needed to be unambitious and kind to my feet. I went looking for a chukka boot from one of the heritage moccasin brands (Quoddy, Ramcourt, Russell), but nothing was readily available. I settled on these wedge-soled derbys because I suspected they would be comfortable. The black Chromexcel would make these shoes easy to style with just about anything I wanted to wear, but the downside is that there wouldn’t be much in the way of patina. Regardless, I wanted to participate in the Thunderdome, and winning is less important to me than the personal journey and the community.
I’m an 8.5 on the Brannock, and most well-made leather footwear fits me if I take an 8.0. Rancourt’s web site didn’t give the clearest sizing advice, but I gambled (correctly) that an 8.0 would be the correct size.
Rancourt put these in the mail to me a day after I placed my order. I think it took four days total for them to arrive, so no complaints whatsoever.