Great Take on an Historic Classic

I’ve worn these boots pretty heavily over the past six months, basically every day, rain or shine. That included trips where they saw a good amount of snow and rain and they needed cleaning and drying a handful of times along the way. Most weekdays were spent in an office setting, but weekends included outdoor use, housework, and general knocking around.

The leather has held up really well. Since it’s a roughout, scrapes and scratches brush out pretty easily, which makes it a forgiving leather to live with. Areas that see more friction have started to burnish, especially after getting wet, walking through snow seemed to have the biggest effect there. My care routine has been pretty simple: mostly just brushing off dust and dirt, with the occasional hose-down when they got muddy. After drying, I used VSC and/or Bick 4 to keep the leather from drying out.

My feet are on the lower-volume side and I went true to size on these. I probably could have made a half size down from Brannock work, but I think the facings may have ended up too far apart when laced, so I’m happy with the size I chose. The toe box is still roomy enough for me despite the almond-shaped last. Overall, I think the 1940 is a really solid last, my heel feels locked in, but I still have enough room up front with medium-weight boot socks.

Construction and finishing are excellent. The high stitch density you see on current-era Viberg boots works especially well with this pattern. On my feet, in this size, the facings close completely and touch, which I believe is how this pattern is intended to fit. If you have higher-volume feet, though, your experience may be different, so that’s probably worth keeping in mind.

The Dr. Sole Raw Cord sole is thick, sturdy, and clearly built to last. Even after a lot of miles, wear has been pretty minimal. I’d expect to go through a few heel replacements before ever needing a full resole. The one real downside, if I had to nitpick, is that the sole setup is pretty stiff. Between the thick cord sole and the leather midsole, break-in took a while. It probably took a few months before the boots flexed enough that I stopped noticing it. That said, it was never actually uncomfortable just definitely on the stiffer side.

The heel is made from the same material as the sole and feels equally durable. That said, because of my gait, I’ve worn down the outer edge of both heels enough to expose the washers that the nails are driven through. Even so, given the amount of wear they’ve seen, I think that’s pretty reasonable, and I’m not expecting to need a heel replacement any time soon.

Overall, I think these are excellent boots and they’ll definitely stay in my regular rotation. To me, they’re a really strong take on the boondocker. I’ve grown to really love the roughout uppers. They’re packed with oils, so they stay fairly water resistant, but also develop a lot of character as those oils shift around with wear. In higher-friction areas, that starts to show up as a nice burnished sheen. A natural roughout boot is special. It wears differently than natural smoothout or teacore. It tends to darken more than it changes color, and it rolls more than it creases. But the most interesting part, is how the sheen evolves over time. As the oils move through the leather, the nap mats down in high wear areas and then comes back to life with a good brushing, so the boots are constantly changing. If someone told me they were picking up a pair of these, I’d be genuinely excited for them and I’d look forward to seeing how they evolve on their feet over time.