Week 3 of My 5 Weeks in R M Williams Challenge

So, week three of my little experiment with three pairs of R.M. Williams wearing them for 5 weeks. These are the three pairs. Let's get into week three. >> [music] [music] >> How you going? Welcome back to my channel Boot losophy, channel reviewing heritage boots and a few other things from time to time. So, I'm filming on Wajuk country. It's a brilliant spring day or near spring day. Absolutely beautifully sunny. So, this is week three of my 5 weeks in R.M. Williams challenge. I chose three pairs of R.M. Williams boots and I'm going to wear them across 5 weeks and this is the third week. If you haven't seen weeks one and two, you should probably go and see weeks one and two first and then come and watch this one. Or if you want to follow it all the way through, there is a playlist on my channel. So, go and get take a look at that and you can follow it all the way through on the playlist. All right. So, normally I record the week starting on the Sunday and week finishing on the Saturday and I tell you what I've done. Today, however, is a Sunday morning and I didn't record last night because we went out to see friends and turned out to be a quite a quite a liquid dinner and we didn't actually get home until about half past one this morning. So, it's actually now midday and uh you know so be it. My voice is a little croaky, but here I am for for report. Okay, first, let me tell you how I wore these three boots. This is the R.M. Williams, now called Gardener. When I bought this, it used to be called the Goodwood. This is the most ubiquitous model, really, the R.M. Williams uh Comfort Craftsman in chestnut, in yearling. And this one is no longer made, although they do make this model, they just don't make it in this leather. This is the R.M. Williams Turnout boot, Comfort Turnout, uh in uh quite a bright red sort of ochre blood red uh leather, much redder than burgundy, um called the Warwick. And how I wore them this week, I'll go from least to most. So, I wore these last Sunday. My wife and I went out on a a 3-hour hike through John Forrest National Park. Um and if you've been following me, you know that we do this from time to time. In fact, just only a few years ago, we did it every weekend. But both of us have had health challenges. I'm getting a bit older. And we don't do it as much. So, it was really enjoyable to get out there with these. I have to tell you that normally I'd be wearing something like a pair of Nicks, you know, a PNW boot or a Whites or something like that, or a proper hiking boot. So, it was quite a revelation uh to wear these. In um it it when I wore these, I have to admit I felt a little bit concerned because the terrain that we went through was covered in brush and there was a lot of sort of um it wasn't just tramping through, you had to kind of cross uh uneven terrain and step on logs and that sort of thing. But I have to say these performed really well. My concern was that in Chelsea boots, rather than a good lace-up to go hiking, they might have been a bit um loose. But no, they performed really well, very protective, um and going across broken branches and stuff, didn't feel a thing. Really nice. But, that was a Sunday, and apart from that, I haven't actually worn them. Uh, the next boot that I wore the least, I wore this uh, on Friday. Uh, to the office. So, that was an all day event at the office. And then, um, on Saturday, I wore these a little bit more. Uh, that was yesterday. And I wore them to uh, dinner at our friends. So, I've had two long full days in them. Uh, you know, they they are ridiculously comfortable. Um, if you've been watching the last 2 weeks, you'll know that these are my newer uh, comfort craftsman. I had a another pair before that didn't fit well. Uh, and despite these being seconds, you know, they they've they fit well, they perform well, they're very comfortable. Uh, and in this last week, it was really only just an office situation. One thing I am noticing more and more, is that the creasing across this yearling leather uh, is worse than I remember it in past calf and yearling leathers. So, I don't know whether that's why it became a seconds boot. Um, but if you don't mind the creasing, it's not loose grain, it's just creasing. If you don't mind the creasing, which some will say gives it patina, lovely boot. The one I wore the most this week was this comfort turn out. Uh, I wore this I on Monday, I drove down to uh, the south. Went down to a town called Katanning. And from there to a town called Narrogin. I might flash this up on screen and let's see if you can pronounce Narrogin with me. So, I had an assignment there. Uh, I drove down on the Monday, spent 2 days with the Aboriginal community there, and drove drove back up on the Thursday. Uh and it's a 4-hour drive, 4 and a bit hour drive. So, um four full days in this boot. And when I was there on the Tuesday in the morning, we did a tour of their farm and their local area. Uh this is an Aboriginal community that started a bush foods business. They've been doing it for about 5 years now. And they have a small farm uh on which they grow some bush foods, but they also have rights to go into national forest and pick uh bush foods. So, different um spices, for example, and as well as um vegetation and so on that can be eaten uh and roots and so on, nuts. So, on the Mon- on the Tuesday morning, they took me around the farm, which was a in in the actually it was quite rainy, so it was a squishy sort of day. I cleaned the sole out uh and brushed this down. Uh and I had to sort of wipe it with a damp cloth because it did get quite muddy uh on the farm. And then in the afternoon, they took me around to look at where they picked the different bush foods from. And then on uh the Wednesday, the the full day on Wednesday, we spent a whole day in their shed, which was bloody freezing, and doing a workshop on on their vision about what they wanted to do with the profits because after four or five years, they're actually starting to make profits. So, they told me that what they wanted to do was to make sure that the profits went back to the community, in particular the kids, to make sure that they were um able to gain employment. And so, they wanted to do things like training the kids on how to attend interviews, you know, what to dress and so on. Um when I say kids, I guess these are young adults, teens, and so on. In order to get local jobs, because there is a very traditional sort of country uh led um culture down there that they want to stay within their country. Um, and so they were looking for for ways that they could spend the money on teaching the kids how to get local jobs, um things about discipline, being on time, all that sort of stuff. But, they also wanted to help school-age kids. Because once the kids um finished at school, their parents, both their parents were often normally working. So, what they wanted to start was um something that they call a homework center. So, when the kids come home from school, they're all able to go to a uh local community center where there are people employed to sort of um play games with them, and then after a certain pause, and you know, they have they have tea and so on, they then um uh given quiet space to do their homework for the next day. So, we had a great discussion about that. But, the point about that was I wore these four whole days. Two days driving, pretty much. Uh one day walking around the farm and the the uh national park down there to look at how they grew their bush foods, and then a whole day in a shed, um quite dusty shed. So, when I got home, I I had to wipe these down with a damp cloth, give them a brush, um basically rinse the um soles under under a tap. And as you can see, I mean, it was it was soft sandy stuff, muddy stuff, so it didn't get totally worn, but um fantastic little little uh rubber outsole for that sort of situation. So, uh in this next segment, I want to talk a little bit about the construction of the turnout boot. It's still available, just not in this leather. Um um what I did last week was um I what I'm going to do is each week take a look at one of the boots and and go through the construction. So, this week is the turn of the the turn of the turnout. So, it's a 270° Goodyear welted boot. And for those of you who don't know, that means that the top part of the boot is connected to the lower part of the boot by connecting the two parts to this thing called a welt that runs across the front 3/4, which is 270°. Uh on the inside, the insole is stitched to the inside of this leather strip called a welt. And the outsole is stitched on the outside edge to uh the welt itself. So, that way you have a stitch that runs in on the outsole and through to the outside edge of the welt, so that any water that seeps doesn't get into the boot. And on the inside, you've got the attachment on the inside, which never comes out on the outside. Uh an explanation of the the the uh water resistance. It's 270° because like most R.M. Williamses, they they try and give you a sleek uh profile rather than have a a deep chunk of of uh of welt coming through. Big controversy, obviously, over recent construction of R.M. Williams boots. Um this one is perhaps about a year or two older than this one. This is a second, and this is new old stock, which I bought off eBay. I think there's a big difference between the yearling used here and the yearling used here. This is very fine. It it has a very waxy hand, but very supple and very uh firm to soft in temper. And the creasing on it after wearing it for the last couple of weeks on and off and 4 days this week, if you look at the creasing, it's really fine compared to the sort of deeper creases that you get. So, obviously somewhere in between the two that I think has been a change in tanneries. The crucial thing about the construction is on the inside, where I think I said last week, perhaps talking about that one, that I can feel the soft foam on which your your feet stand, which is glued to what I thought might have been leather board. So, the the foam, in inverted commas, is actually Poron. And then I found out that the hard insole that that is stitched to everything is a a board called Texon. And I thought it worthwhile to have a look at the description of both Poron and the Texon. So, this is what I've been able to discover through my research across different areas of the internet. Poron apparently is not just a foam. It's made by the Rogers Corporation. According to them, Poron is a high-performance microcellular urethane foam made by the Rogers Corporation. Unlike cheap latex or EVA foams that crush and then become flat over time, Poron has an open-cell structure that acts like tiny springs, providing long-lasting cushioning, shock absorption, and gap sealing. Interestingly, when I when I started to compare Poron to leather, assuming people want a leather mid-sole and then a leather insole, was that Poron is actually more expensive than leather per square meter. I guess that's that I guess that's because of the licensing and so on that the Rogers Rogers Corporation have on Poron. So, the pros of Poron is instant comfort, as I've said all along. Uh they call it true impact uh protection, but you know, I guess they have this open cellular spring-like network, but you know, initially foam has that same thing, too. Oh, hello, Mr. Crow. Come and visit? Ignore the crow. Um it maintains shape under load, so when you're sitting on it over a long period of time, gosh, critics are everywhere. >> [laughter] >> Um when you stand on it over a long period of time, and I mean months, years even, it maintains shape under the load. It springs back, unlike normal EVA foam, which squashes. And it's also antimicrobial because of that the the treatment in it. The cons are shorter material lifespan. Whilst it lasts longer than normal foam, it does not last as long as leather. So, that's a that's a definite tick to people who don't like Poron. Uh the con is also is a higher upfront sheet cost. As I said, when I tried to ring various suppliers and compared them to leather, it was surprisingly more expensive. So, when you hear people say, "Oh, they're using Poron cuz it's cheap." Not true. Uh footwear manufacturers who use foam might actually be buying foam because it's cheap, but if you get Poron, it's actually more expensive than leather. And then what it does tend to do is it will degrade with moisture and heat over two years or so. So, after a couple of years, if you're wearing this constantly, that Poron might start to degrade. And then on the inside, what I found out I called it a leather board, but it turns out that it's Texon. And it's actually cardboard, if you like. It's made from paper materials mixed with chemicals like um fiber fiberglass type resins. And that surprised me. I I thought it was leather board, so I I've take that back. But and and what happens is um RM Williams does not have an a have a midsole. So, you have this rubber uh outsole, and that leather piece you see is actually the welt. So, it sits directly onto the um rubber outsole. But, on the inside, they use a Texon board. I think I'll start calling it a footbed in this video. The Texon board is what gets a gemming attached and then sewn on to the uh welt. And then on top of that Texon board, they put on the Poron. Now, I'll call that the insole. So, the footbed is what you can feel if you push your finger in under the soft part, and it's quite the hard part. And I thought that was leather board. So, on a side-by-side comparison between And and people say, you know, it it should have a leather midsole. They replace that. Uh And then on top of that, they put in the um insole, which is the Texon footboard, footbed. And then on top of that, they put the comfort Poron in insole. Glued on, not removable. So, if I want to uh compare a Texon uh footbed with a leather one, the material is a cellulose wood fiber board. That's why people call it a cardboard, as opposed to vegetable leathers. Texon has a medium longit- longevity if it is not soaked. So, Texon could last 5 to 10 years before it starts to break up. Uh the longevity of leather is obviously much higher and can last a lifetime of the of the foot of the of the boot without abuse. Uh In terms of comfort, Texon is static. It stays flat and stiff throughout. Uh with leather insoles, it's dynamic because it molds to your feet. And that is what often people say gives you the comfort because, you know, your your leather soles have mold molded to your feet. But they're still hard leather soles. They don't have that Poron in between. In terms of breathability, Texon is really good. Absorbs and releases sweat. Uh in terms of breathability of leather insoles, it's natural pores, so it breathes well, but it may not release the sweat as well because of the natural fibers that kind of soak it in. Uh in terms of resoling, it's harder to stitch through repeatedly. So, if it doesn't use a gemming for example, and you stitch through the Texon, it can start to break up around the edges. Uh leather, we all know, is great for multiple re-craws. The cost, here's the killer. Um the leather is premium pricing, whereas the Texon can be budget-friendly. So, uh there are pros and cons of Texon. Let's call it what it is. It's not it's not cardboard. And there are pros and cons of Poron, and it's not a foam. So, to summarize the week and the experience I've had in all three boots, uh these two previously had more of a feature in in the last 2 weeks, so it's this one that features the most this week. The performance of the Gardner/Goodwood out in the forest was great. It it gripped my feet. They're a bit bigger. You watch my other videos, and I'll explain why they are wider lasted uh boot. So, it gives you that comfort when you're when you're tracking over rough ground, and that your feet aren't aren't really bound and sort of um uh captured in a single plane. But having said that, um you do expect it to be to be caught to your foot, and being a Chelsea boot, I was a bit concerned that it wasn't. And it wasn't too bad. It wasn't too bad at all. Um in terms of uh this week's sitting in the office all day one day and then all day and going out at night, uh, on yesterday, totally totally totally comfortable. So, say what you like about poorer construction, I don't see any any problems with the QC, but the poorer materials, say what you like about it, very comfortable boot. This one got muddy, proved it to be water resistant. I didn't splash through puddles, so I didn't test for water proofness, but certainly water resistant. It was covered in mud, got a wet towel, cleaned it all up, brushed it, and look at it. It's still waxy, it's still shiny. All those creases are very tiny little little crystalline creases. Absolutely gorgeous. Few scratches now here and there. Uh, the leather hasn't really changed very much in all three. Um, I don't expect it to in 5 weeks, but because I'm wearing them more frequently, I think I may expect to see some changes in the leather. This one I've probably seen the most because I've worn these two on and off in the last 2 years. This one not so much, so I'm beginning to see changes in hue, not so much scratches, which are appearing, but the actual uh, grayness and brightness of the leather itself. It's starting to show. Really brilliant. So, I'm liking this experience. With my collection of boots, 120 plus currently, I readily admit that I'm not turning them over and wearing them as much as I could to actually get a real experience. So, in doing these weird experiments like this in my, uh, 12 weeks in 12 pairs of boots video, you check that playlist as well. You get to know some boots really quite more intimately, if you like, and you you get to see a daily change in your feel and your experience. So, I've liked the experience. Um toughness? I think they're certainly quite tough. I haven't proven them because uh I've mostly worn them in an urban atmosphere. But certainly toughness in terms of um how they feel, perform, and no stitches have come loose, etc. Uh to that degree. All three are extremely comfortable, and all three are the comfort versions of these boots. They all have uh pour-on on them. So, super comfortable, and you know, breaking these in in the previously, no break-in. Breaking this in which cuz I haven't worn this this much until this challenge. Absolutely no break-in. Perfectly comfortable. Um I've proven that this is at least water-resistant if not waterproof, and I've known before that these two are. Uh when we went to John Forrest National Park, it was damp. It wasn't puddly. So, this proved really quite well. Again, all it needed was a brush-down. Uh so, there you are. Uh week three. Keep watching this series for week four next week, and don't forget to SLC. Subscribe, like, and give me a comment down below. Tell me what you think of this series. And the crow's gone, but my neighbor's driving around. >> [laughter] >> I hope you like this outdoors uh not uh there's no there's no uh cleanliness in the sounds that surround me, so don't complain. Um and you guys take care out there. Come on back next week to see week four. Take care. >> [music]