Custom White's Boots ... Thoughts?

[plugugly88]

How heavy is a pair of whites 350 Cutters in black dress leather or chromexcel?

 

[Phalanx]

No USA company would pay for the return of a pair of boots to a customer (or potential customer).
If the boots fit and you liked the way they look you should have lived with the squeak noise or bought yourself a pair of earplugs.

Screw this. I paid over $600 for these boots; they should be amazing.

@Phalanx - Im guessing Baker's assumed a resole would fix the squeak. Often times it will but not always. The $450 number is likely a rebuild which will have to be fwd'd over to White's(Bakers does not rebuild in house). That includes new vamps, etc so you may consider alternate leathers? You might also consider requesting Baker's send them to Franks for the rebuild and see what they say. Franks has some killer custom leathers right now & do a damn good job building a boot.

The boots seem to be doing the rounds at the moment. They've been to Drews, and now they're at White's for inspection (???).

Honestly it's very frustrating. These boots were perfect except for the squeaking and I really don't like the way this is batted away with the "well that's what you get when you use all-leather construction". I think White's (and maybe all these PNW bootmakers) seem to have their priorities wrong. I couldn't give less of a care about the heritage all-leather hand-sewn stitchdown construction; all I care about is the fit and the customisation. If having an all leather construction jeopardises the pair by causing 25% of boots to have squeaking issues, they should get rid of it as far as I'm concerned. Me and my awkwardly shaped feet don't have the patience to keep sending boots across the Atlantic.

It's really frustrating because I was prepared to buy multiple pairs of custom MP boots because of the fit but this squeaking issue has made me so concerned that I might just leave it. IIRC didn't White's offer a cork-sole / goodyear welted boot at one point? Maybe that's what I could opt for instead.

 

[WestLinn]

Screw this. I paid over $600 for these boots; they should be amazing.


The boots seem to be doing the rounds at the moment. They've been to Drews, and now they're at White's for inspection (???).

Honestly it's very frustrating. These boots were perfect except for the squeaking and I really don't like the way this is batted away with the "well that's what you get when you use all-leather construction". I think White's (and maybe all these PNW bootmakers) seem to have their priorities wrong. I couldn't give less of a care about the heritage all-leather hand-sewn stitchdown construction; all I care about is the fit and the customisation. If having an all leather construction jeopardises the pair by causing 25% of boots to have squeaking issues, they should get rid of it as far as I'm concerned. Me and my awkwardly shaped feet don't have the patience to keep sending boots across the Atlantic.

It's really frustrating because I was prepared to buy multiple pairs of custom MP boots because of the fit but this squeaking issue has made me so concerned that I might just leave it. IIRC didn't White's offer a cork-sole / goodyear welted boot at one point? Maybe that's what I could opt for instead.

Not sure about the cork sole, but they do have Goodyear welted models. Their lower priced packers and mule packers are Goodyear welted and I think others are as well. Also some Drew’s models are. But those are actually made by Whites. As an aside, I believe Whites started out making Goodyear welted boots and then went to stitch down construction at some point. I have a few pair of whites and have not heard squeaking, but I think it’s not uncommon. I think it goes away with wear. But honestly, these boots are designed for hard wear in the field and I don’t think you get much squeaking wearing them on soft ground you find in forests, farms/ranches, landfills, …. I don’t know if wedge soles squeak, those seem better for hard surfaces.

 

[Phalanx]

I realised it's White's Main Street Boots which are the cork + goodyearwelted boots. It actually looks like they may be getting discontinued which is a shame because they're obviously very handsome shoes.