These boots became my after work and weekend boots that I regretfully didn’t get to wear everyday. Being in a clinic setting for work I felt I couldn’t pull these off with scrubs so I tried to wear them as often as possible and I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me if I wanted to have any contention in the work dome. During my off time I like to be outside and doing more physical work in general because it offers a bit of release from the mental fatigue of my profession. These boots served me well during various tasks and I feel like they’re just getting good. Some of the activities included splitting wood for barbecue and the fireplace, hiking into the wilderness to collect yamadori for bonsai, splitting and shaping staves of Osage orange in order to make hunting bows and just general yard work. They saw wind, rain, sand, mud, rocks, and wood. The only thing missing was fire.
This dang leather was slow to wear. Being a waxed flesh I figured it would show patina rather quickly but I feel like that wasn’t the case. The break in wasn’t horrible because the leather is rather supple and form fitting from the beginning and the honey sole made it even easier. The 67 last was a little different than what I was used to and it took a while for my foot to adjust. Once some wear started to show I knew these boots were going to be killer eventually with the lighter colored wear spots and the faint crocking. I conditioned them at 3 months and occasionally brushed them to remove sand from the high wear areas.
The high arch was initially a bit uncomfortable because my feet are somewhat flat and I could feel the pressure on my tendons but this eventually faded once the leather broke in and my feet were conditioned to it. The only other slight complaint I have is that I could feel my right pinky toe rub from time to time.
In my limited capacity to critique this section I feel the quality and finishing was as expected for a boot of this price and there wasn’t anything I felt needed improvement. One thing that has happened in literally the last week is the footbed liner has started to roll up on the right foot but that probably has more to do with how I take the boot off.
Sole has held up great and it offers increased cushion which is a plus. Also good traction on Rocky surfaces
These boots have handled everything I’ve thrown at them and are just now getting good. That’s partly to do with the awesome leather put out by horween but it also speakers to the quality craftsmanship of Nicks boots in putting together a solid pair of boots. I’m excited to see these continue to evolve and get even better with time!