The Grant Stone Brass Boot

I’ve been wearing these almost non-stop since the beginning of the dome. Only took a few days off after tweaking my back a few weeks ago. I’ve worn them on hikes, in snow, rain, and put quite a few miles in them during a trip earlier this month in Taiwan. They have performed flawlessly - except the wedge soles aren’t great on slippery snow. (Thus the tweaked back)

Break in was pretty easy. Only my heels suffered a bit, but they always do during break-ins. (I have knobby heels 😭 ). They have darkened up quite a bit and the rolls that have formed seem to have settled and haven’t changed much lately. At least not to my eye. I haven’t been using a shoetree with these to encourage rolls to form and develop. As far as care routine goes, I mostly just brush them. I used some Bicks 4 on them a few months in because the ankles felt really dry and chalky where it interacts with my jeans. I don’t think even a single drop of Bicks 4 was actually absorbed. I think Shell is too tight and dense. A month or two later I used Saphir for the first time and it significantly darkened it but the color mostly returned to as they were before the application after a few days. I’ve been really happy with Saphirs. I applied one more very light coat a week or so before a trip to Taiwan. I was anticipating frequent rain showers there but I ended up lucking out and not getting any rain during the trip at all. Durability seems good. I’ve never had any shell boots before but they seem to be quite durable. They do seem to “dent” easily. Scuffs and scratches buff out for the most part but denting seems harder to remove. I’ve heard deer bones or spoons may work for that.

They fit great. I think they’re probably my most comfortable boot now. Thanks in huge part to the wedge soles I think but the last as well. During my Taiwan trip after 20k steps each day my heels were pretty sore. And I would feel hotspots on my heels after sitting on a bus or plane for awhile. I think the wedge soles probably get compressed throughout a long day of constant walking and stop “rebounding” after so many hours on foot. After “resting” through the night they felt fine again the next morning. Just my theory-no idea if that’s what is actually happening. I wear Costco wool socks mostly. Sometimes Darn Tough. The fit feels good with lightweight and medium weight socks. Arch support is adequate for me. Never had arch pain.

Everything feels and looks great on these. Some really interesting shades and patterns have appeared as they have patinated. It appears to be the “shadows” of other sheets of shell that laid on top of this hide-I assume at horween during tanning. They’re hard edges and right angles of darker shell on the quarters. They change from darker than to lighter than the surrounding shell depending on the angle of light. It’s a really cool effect. But hard to describe. I tried to capture it on video on my IG. Hardware is great. Speedhooks are holding up well. Worlds better than the speedhooks on my Aldens. All stitching was perfect. I did notice some glue peaking out in a few spots but it’s hardly noticeable and I know I could pick it off with some tweezers if I wanted to.

No idea. I had them removed and replaced with the wedge soles before wearing. I see almost daily posts on Reddit showing the Grant Stone lug soles chipping off at the toes. I wanted to avoid that by just replacing them. Though that wasn’t the only reason for replacing them.

The wedge soles have been great. So comfortable. So….quiet. They are barely showing any wear at all. Only the heels are showing the tiniest bit of wear. I’m impressed by how soft they are while also being so durable. I expected the softnessto translate to wearing down fast, but that hasn’t been the case. Traction isn’t great on snow and ice. Twisted the heck out of my back slipping on snow while carrying a heavy bag over one shoulder. (BUT I DIDN’T FALL!)

Would definitely recommend the Brass Boot. I very nearly sold them before the Dome, but I’m so glad that I didn’t. Out of the box, the moctoe on these look a little….strange…and even a few days after wearing them. Looking down on them, it still looked a little strange, but I’ve grown to love the look. I think they actually look better than all the other “normal” moctoes out there with the stitch not so recessed and closer to the outside edge of the toe box. Now all those “normal” moctoes are starting to look strange to me instead. I think they’re a great value, especially in a non-shell configuration. Whether or not Shell is worth the mark up to you, but I personally love the “work boot moctoe” style juxtaposed with dressy shell cordovan.