Real Captoe Service and Work Boots I Own From US$250 to US$800+

These are some of my cap toe boots [clears throat] that have real toe caps on them. That's two layers of leather. What do I like about them? What don't I like about them? >> [music] [music] >> Good day. Welcome back to my channel Boot Losophy, all about heritage style boots and heritage gear from time to time. My name is Tack if we haven't met before, and I'm in Perth in Western Australia, which is Wadjuk country. Kaalitj koorliny Wadjuk Noongar boodja. So, these are um some of my uh cap toe boots that have real toe caps. And often, a pair of boots is made with a false toe cap. And what that means is they will have a boot made where the vamp, that's this this part of the boot, cuts off across there. And then a a piece of leather is stitched on edge to edge, so that when completed, it looks like it's an extended toe cap. These boots, however, what they have in common is that this piece of leather, this toe cap, is actually a second piece of leather built a leather built on top of a full vamp. So, in all of these cases, they have at least two pieces of leather there, three if there's a lining, uh and so that creates a little bit of protection from the toe cap. And one of my viewers asked me, would I make a video about my real cap toe boots and what I liked or disliked about them. So, that's what this video is all about. Let me introduce you to them. So, the first one is uh this Jim Green Numzaan boot. And the reason I'm picking that up is that is currently the cheapest in this little collection here. And so, I'm going to go through them in order of price. The second boot I want to introduce you to is this pair of Captoe boots from Cordobes in Mexico. One of the most comfortable boots that I currently wear. Then comes the Iron Ranger. We all know about Red Wing and the Iron Ranger. This one is the 8111 Amber Harness with beautifully soft now soft, didn't used to be, oil tanned leather. And then the next boot along is the Parkhurst Richmond. Now, Parkhurst have had the Captoe boot for a long time called the Richmond. But in this case, this is the first iteration of their real toe cap being put on. And in fact, their website described this as a plain toe Allen boot with a second piece of leather on the toe cap. And then finally, towards the more expensive end, is this White's MP and it is still my grail boot. Um built by White's in the Pacific Northwest. And the heaviest of the lot as well. Beautifully made. So, let's go through what I like and dislike of each of these boots. The first toe cap boot, real toe cap boot, that I'm going to talk about is the Jim Green Numzaan. This is one of their premier builds. I'm not a fan of the no fall, or whatever they call it, you know, the flat sole. Not a huge fan of that because I do find my feet need some arch support. Which this gives you in droves. So, it's made of a bovine tanned leather, very tough. There's it's fully lined on the inside. It's a real toe cap. It's darkened quite a lot because I use this quite a lot outdoors in my garden. And I've conditioned it several times with mink oil just to keep the the uh going. I do like this boot in terms of its fit. It's a nice wide fit. I found it hell to break in, to be honest, because the leather was initially extremely firm in its temper. >> [snorts] >> And it took maybe the second bout of mink oil conditioning before it eventually softened and then I was able to wear it without a great deal of uh pain in the the um uh lace area on the instep and also in in the heel area and also in the collar. But once it was it it had been broken in and it was well oiled, this became a very comfortable boot and I love it for being outdoors and doing some work out there. It's got some weird patterns of wear. Um however, what I like about it is the fit. I think that big wide last and the round toe is perfect for a work boot or a hiking boot where you sort of want to fit not snugly in a boot that your toes can scramble and find some purchase when you're walking or digging or whatever. I also particularly like the pattern of this. I think it's an interesting pattern in the sense that the quarters, for example, is not not just one quarter piece. It's a quarter piece up to there and then they attach this piece uh on top of the collar, like like making a second sec- separate piece. And the interesting bit is that the uh heel counter cover stops where that piece starts. So it's just a little different in its design. What I also like is the way this keeps dirt out from your socks because not only is it gusseted up to there, >> [snorts] >> it's a very clever double gusseting where this fits in behind the hardware. Uh an extra thick layer of leather is put on top once that that fold uh is folded in, but also that where the hardware is, there's a second fold of leather here. So, as you cinch everything down, this this bit of the hardware is protected off your feet from by this piece of leather, and then onto the thickness of the leather tongue. And I find that gives me a lot of comfort here once this part of the instep has broken in. And it certainly keeps a lot of dirt and moisture out. What I don't like about it Oh, it's a like and dislike. What I don't like about it is the weight of the Frog Grip sole. It This is actually quite a heavy boot, particularly when it's not something that that say a a steel toe for protection. You get enough protection with the light work that I do through these three or four layers of leather. But overall, it's actually quite a heavy boot. Um the leather mid-sole attached to this thick rubber Frog Grip sole makes [snorts] it quite heavy. In fact, as I carry it, I'm I'm feeling the weight. The like about that heaviness is this Frog Grip sole is magnificent in grip. It's soft. It's accommodating. It's comfortable to to walk on, and it's also extremely grippy on wet pavements and that sort of thing. Uh the other thing I I dislike about it, I think, is the shape of that toe cap. Unlike the others, it has a crescent toe cap, which to me doesn't look very nice. It When I look down, it looks like, you know, hmm I don't I'm expecting the toe cap to be straight. The corollary to that, of course, is when I was breaking these in and it was bending, I didn't get that toe cap digging into the top of my toes, which I will talk about in another boot. So, that's a Numsan. Let's go to And if I didn't say, this is US $259. Let's go on to the next boot. This is the Cordobes Cap Toe boot. Cordobes do um let me see, they do a service boot, they do a Cap Toe boot, they do an engineer boot, they do a jodpur. Um I think that's it, but they also MTO these especially for you. This is um straight off the rack, which you can buy a bit cheaper, but in their MTO you can choose the stitching color, you can choose the construction material, you can choose the material of the sole, you can choose practically everything on on this boot. And it can be made to measure with a special last for you as well. But in this straight off the rack version, it's US $329. And what you get for it is a very usable boot. You can very easily, I think, use this for light work around the house. It's it's supportive enough. I I don't think I'd be um carrying bricks uh wearing this boot in case it dropped on me. But you know, as a mechanic, you can slide under cars. Uh as a plumber, you it's easy enough to be kneeling under a a um vanity. Really really lovely um casual boot as well as a if you want to use it as a work boot. I have used this quite a lot. You can see the crocking uh on the surface and you can see some dirt appearing on the toes as well as dirt appearing on the heels. Uh in terms of the pattern, it's very simple. Plain vamp, Cap Toe on top, two side quarters, one single piece backstay with a little pull loop. I mean, I I I never use that. Hardware is a combination of shiny brass and um antique brass speed hooks. I find this quite a useful combination of eyelets and speed hooks with a top eyelet at the top which I almost never used to fasten, but easy to take it on and off. What I like and what I don't like about it. What I like is the comfort of it. I mean, look at that leather. It's local Mexican tanned leather, uh natural roughout, beautiful and soft. It's supportive when you cinch it, but it's still soft and and very um accommodating when you're walking around in it. The the toe puff and the heel keep you locked in, so there's no lack of support. Also, um and I'm not quite sure quite how they do this. I think in the lining, this is this is not lined uh in the shaft because it's a it's a roughout, so the grain side's on there. But, in the vamp, they do put a thicker leather lining, and for whatever reason, that thicker leather lining sort of cuts it's cut so that it matches the quarter, and I think that gives you a little bit of arch support just pushing up into the side of your foot there to create that arch support. It has a steel arch. It uses a reprocessed rubber outsole, which I specifically requested, which I think it's, you know, conservation and all that. It's a goodyear welted boot, very low flat heel. I'm not a fan of the low flat heel because sometimes I think I would prefer a little bit higher just to give me that that arch shape, but, you know, it's if you like flat shoes, that's just like a slipper moving around. What I don't like about it, I think, is the finishing, which is quite rough along the edges. It's not perfectly sanded smooth and and then waxed. It it In fact, as I rub rub my hand on it, you can some of the stacks of leather in the heel, they're still quite grainy and fibrous. >> [snorts] >> In many ways, I guess that makes it a working casual boot. But, it's something that I think perhaps could be finished a little bit nicer. Um other things that I don't like about it? Not quite sure what that's for, really. I mean, I you can hardly hold it. It you could almost cut it off and it makes no difference because you could pull it's easier to pull it doing that than to to do that. I do like the roundness of the shape, but I wish there was a little bit more volume in the in the toe box. Not that it's squashes down on me, but I'm conscious of feeling that there's something on top of my toes. So, there you go. Um let's go on to the next boot now. This boot, no introduction required. Look at that uh clowny-shaped toe cap. Look at the spring toe. Look at that slope down the shaft. This is the Red Wing Iron Ranger. No introduction required. Uh sells for US 300 and uh $350, $349.99, I think. Easier to say 350 bucks. Uh famous for its very shiny uh nickel hardware, four eyelets, three speed hooks, the bent-over type, uh famous for really not finishing off the back of these the the hardware very well. I mean, that's a very scratchy um finish on that thing. >> [snorts] >> Uh the amber harness leather in the 8111 model is also famous, made by their um the tannery that Red Wing owns, SB Foot. And it's uh it's a difficult leather to break in, I find. It's oil-tanned, and it has a very firm temper. But, after you wear it for a while, and then upon first um conditioning, and I conditioned it with Red Wing's all-natural uh conditioner, it just this really very mold to your foot type leather. Really, really nice. And this is the older version, uh, with the cork flat cork rubber cork and nitrile sole. What do I like about it? I like it because it's an icon. Um, you can't deny that, can you? If you wear an Iron Ranger, you recognize it immediately. You look at Instagram photos. They don't have to say what it is. You look at that angle, it's definitely an Iron Ranger. And then you look at the details. These are the likes. That triple stitch with the single contrasting stitch. That iconic, you know, backstay with that little circle semicircle at the top. I like the iconic looks of the the shiny nickel, uh, hardware without any pretense of trying to hide it. And I like this flat sole. A lot of people say it doesn't give them grip, but I like it. What do I not like about the Iron Ranger? It's not the world's most comfortable boot. Even when I say, "Oh, I have to break in. It's really comfortable. It's soft." It's still not the world's comfortable boot because I think one of the reasons is it doesn't have a mid-sole, famously. Uh, the insole, uh, with the welt attached, has that cavity filled with cork, for sure. But then they put it immediately onto a rubber outsole. So, it misses out an insole, which I think provides that extra squish of real leather uh, on top of the cork. Other things I don't like about it? Despite the iconic look, it's not a shape that's if you're an office worker in a professional office, I'm a management consultant, it's not a look you can easily pair with office clothing. Uh, and I'm not a manual laborer, so I don't wear this out on site anywhere. So, this becomes entirely a casual boot. And as a casual boot, it's just a bit too work bootie to fit into going to pubs, which, uh, is better suited to say the Parkhurst with a slimmer look. So, there you go. That's the Red Wing Iron Ranger. Next boot. My next, um, real toe cap boot is this one from Parkhurst. This is the Richmond model. Now, Parkhurst, they've always made Allens, which is their plain toe model, and Richmonds, which is their, uh, toe cap model. They also make a brogue toe cap called the Delaware, and they've had a couple of models in the past, other models in the past, but, um, these are the two basic models, the Allen, the Richmond, and the third one, which is doesn't appear all that often, the brogue toe cap Delaware. They're all built in the same last. They're all built using the same patterns. So, if you looked at the website for the Richmond, particularly the newer models with the with the double leather, uh, real toe cap, you will see that the website says, "Basically, think of this as an Allen, uh, boot with another piece of leather put on as the toe cap." And in fact, the Delaware, while it's not [clears throat] a real toe cap boot at the moment, if they bring it out, I imagine it will become a real toe cap boot, is also an Allen, but with the vamp cut off and a toe cap with the brogues attached to that cut off vamp. So, this is their first iteration of a real toe cap, uh, two pieces of leather on on top of the toe. Otherwise, everything is very service boot-like, and this is one of, I think, the most clean, sleekest shape service boots that you get out there. Even with the modernized 2030 last on the Viber I think this is a lot sleeker and dressier. It's a bit of a shame that Parkhurst don't do this in dressy leathers. If you imagine this in say a color at Chromexcel or even a brown Chromexcel, you can see how this could be if if the edges were darkened and so on, you can see how this could be quite a dressy office boot. But Parkhurst opt for these rougher leathers. They use um uh waxy commander from Stead in this case. They use rambler leathers, they use kudoos and so on. So they go for a sleek almost dressy shape and I'd say dressy shape topped with obviously rougher outdoorsy type of leathers. And the stitchdown construction on these, they used to be Goodyear welted, the stitchdown construction on these uh doubles down on that outdoorsy uh go hiking type boot along with the commando outsole. Mostly offered in commando outsole these days. If I didn't tell you the selling price, they're around US $418 at the moment, 418 420. Uh mostly in that price depend and and I don't think it changes depending on the leathers because they all fit within that range. What I like about it, I love this 618 last. It's a combination last with a very narrow, I think B uh width heel with a very narrow, I think B and you can see how narrow it is. I think if I just show you that where where my fingers are, it has a very narrow B width waist and then it opens up to an E or even I think a double E ball of the foot before it narrows down again to a not very sharp almond toe. I mean that's a very comfortable almond toe. Love the the uh last. I do like that the leathers that they put on this uh Uh, >> [snorts] >> because it just gives that that rubbed off, you know, rough-looking look to a pair of boots that you want to wear with jeans, for example. I I really love also the um the the design of the hardware. There's usually five eyelets and three speed hooks. So, they're actually quite close together up a 6-in boot. But, that's that backward slope gives them a little bit of room. And I think the um antiqued look to the to this hardware just suits that whole rugged look to it. I like the look of the double stitch down where one stitch goes all the way through to the outsole and the other stitch uh, puts together the uppers leather, the mid sole, and then they put on the outsole and stitch through that in the second stitch. What I don't like about this boot, um, two things mainly. One is I I really wish Andrew would offer more variations on the outsole. Some people really like the Commander sole, and this one actually has quite a low profile. I admit that. But, I find this quite firm. Um, you know, you get this effect of do do do do do as it runs over the lugs. It's also horrible [snorts] for picking up dirt between the lugs. And you you kind of have after every walk, particularly if you're in the rough stuff, you're going to have to come and clean the lugs up. Don't like it. I wish Andrew would would uh, offer more of his proprietary Day-Night style soles, or my favorite of all soles, his proprietary uh, Ridgeway style soles. I like those. They're also a little less aggressive when you see them from the side. Um, but these are Well, I guess these are a little bit more hidden than than, you know, the Vibram 100 Montagna's. Um, I weirdly, I dislike the length of that toe cap. When it was a single piece of leather, not a problem. And if you look at some of my Richmond's with a single piece of leather there attached to the cut-off vamp, you find as I'm walking the creasing cuts across the top of the toe cap. In this case, that leather there is so thick that when I walk, I crease just behind it. And that fold digs into the top of my toes. It's not very comfortable. >> [snorts] >> I don't think these are fully broken in yet, and I'm hoping that when they break in, this whole piece softens a little bit, and you do start to get the toe cap to also bend a little, because right now, it can be very very uncomfortable when I'm doing a a rapid walk. There you go. I nearly forgot about that. Right, let's go to the last boot. Which is the White's MP boot, and this is at the expensive end of the range at US $815. They now offer a different version, the CMP, which is a standard stitch down, uh which is a bit cheaper. But this one is their famous rolled welt stitch down. And what they do is they they last the boot, then instead of attaching a a welt or attaching the top of the boot to a welt, they sew on another piece of leather, which is exactly similar to that, grain side to grain side, and then they fold that over to form a welt and stitch that down. Which is why you get this sort of gnarly, like a bubble gum that's been chewed and laid down, like like, you know, silicone through a tube kind of effect on the top of the welt. >> [snorts] >> I love it, though. >> [laughter] >> Um as a boot, I guess this is the ultimate service boot, you know, the MP military police boot. In this iteration, it has a two-piece backstay, uh 6-in high, of course, standard block heel with a half commando sole and a commando uh top lift. And because this is a heavy outdoor boot, then I don't mind that commando sole uh much less than I mind it on the Parkhurst because, you know, you I I don't take the Parkhurst out walking a lot. Um I I generally use it in town. >> [snorts] >> Uh what I like about this Firstly, I like that they use Chromexcel, but that's just a choice of leather, so I won't count that. What I like about this, like the Iron Ranger, is that it is an iconic service boot shape, where the Iron Ranger is maybe an iconic work boot uh shape from the early 20th century. This is an early 20th century military boot, and I lusted after this when I first saw it uh online. What I also like about it is the fact that despite being heavy, because it has all the Pacific Northwest characteristics of building up the inside of the sole with layers and layers of leather, including a shaped leather shank. And what I like about it is that despite being heavy, it's a very comfortable boot to wear. This uses a modified um Barry last, which is used by uh Alden, which they call the MP last uh or used to be called the MP Barry last. Now it's called the MP last, which is a very a long last. And in in effect, when you size this, this is an 8D, which is a half size down from my Brannock, which is what they recommend. But I believe that I could fit into this in a 7 and 1/2 E or EE >> [snorts] >> because it's longer than I need it to be. Um and the width is just right. So, if I had a wider double width, it becomes a bit shorter proportionally and that might fit me a bit better. Having said that, I think one of the reasons why I like the comfort in this is because that toe gives me no pressure at all. You know, it's a longish enough toe that allows me to be snug in the boot but without feeling like either side of my toes or the tip of my toes are pushing into something. I like the the comfort that this affords through the shape of the of the design and the way that this cups your your uh heel and the way that this gives you arch support because it pushes into the side of your foot and because of the way the insole uh and all the layers of the sole in fact are structured by that leather so it gives you a uh a top lift. A lot of people will say this does not give you anything like the arch support of a PNW 55 last and [snorts] that's true. But I find with my slightly collapsed arches that a 55 last digs into my arch and is a bit uncomfortable. Whereas this I think just gives me the right balance of arch support uh and comfort. What I dislike about this boot is the way Whites, when they do the stitching, just uh the the outside stitching, just stitches on top of the lugs. Like there's no there's no pretense of cutting a groove. There's no pretense of trying to hide that stitch and over time, as you can see there, it starts to wear. I'm told, and I believe them, I believe everybody, I'm told that the wearing out of the stitches doesn't matter as much because it's cross-stitched inside, the glues are fantastic, etc. etc. And I have other boots where that's been worn completely gone and nothing's happened to the sole so yeah, I totally believe it. However, it's ugly. >> [laughter] >> Having said that, one of the objectives of this boot, I suppose, that it looks like a roughly made, quickly made for the war effort, service boot. So, you know, ugliness is comes in as part of the bill, I suppose. There you are, in summary. I've tried to look at these boots dispassionately, despite having some favorites among these. My favorite is the Parkhurst, and I have, you know, 20 pairs of Parkhurst boots, I believe, just because of the shape and the look of it. Uh the White's MP is another one of my favorites, because it is a grail boot. This is the one that I looked for when I started, or I looked for and or bought substitutes, like the Thursday Captain, uh when I first started getting into boots. Um this is amongst my favorites. It's not my favorite to wear, the Iron Ranger, but it is amongst my favorites, because it's so iconic. It It perhaps is not the most comfortable out of this collection, but I I love the look of it. Uh the Jim Green Numzaan is in my favorites by default, because I find it such a useful outdoor gardening boot. So, I pull it on a lot, not that I think that it looks beautiful or anything. It's just such a pragmatic, practical boot that I use it a lot. Uh this again, it's I wouldn't say that, you know, this is one of my favorite boots in looks, but the Cordobes is such a comfortable boot with this lovely flat sole, well, even on the inside is a flat, wide sole, so it feels like you're wearing slippers, slipping around along the road, uh when you go out shopping or going to the pubs or something. So, out of these two, I think I would say these two are my favorites of of them all. I hope you liked them. I hope you like the likes and dislikes, and you probably have some different ones. So, if you have any of these boots, and you have if you have likes and dislikes, I would love to hear them in the comments section. And while you're down there, don't forget to click on like. And if you're not subscribed, I've got lots of these videos, so why don't you subscribe and help me out? I'm back next week. Take care out there. See you soon.