About 7 years ago when I was getting into boots, Chippewa was one of the biggest names for heritage boots. Maybe top 3, with red wing and wolverine. Sad that they disappeared. It would be like the 1000 mile boot just vanishing or the iron ranger gone. So many more options today and most are higher quality than Chippewa, so it's not the biggest loss in the world.
So glad you made this vid, I share your sentiment with these boots. Such a great looking service style boot and the crazy horse leather gives them a nice casual vibe. love mine, super comfortable, easy to care for also. I'm like you, I like they say Chippewa on the ankle. Classic boot lost to history. Thanks for a great video !!!!!
Always positive and thorough, love your videos! I've owned the cap toe Chippewa Originals in Crazy Horse leather for ~8 years now and there's a lot to like about them. For a rough looking leather it is a little bit thin for hard wear. It breaks in fast and looks great though. Agree about the leather laces looking better. The Vibram 700 V-bar isn't that great for grip but is a nice all-rounder without picking up debris. Like you said, an insert is recommended, whether leather or foam because the insole is hard and of poor quality. The black odessa leather is a bit more resilient and has held up well over the same amount of time. It also takes a decent polish. Chippewa stopped making these several years ago, and whatever you see left for sale is either deadstock (been sitting awhile) or ghoststock (they don't exist).
The service boots are great... I wore the 6" Baxter patrol boots in the early 90s and loved them. Goodyear welt, comfy and durable, but unfortunately now discontinued. 👍
Chippewa have stopped producing their Heritage models for a few years now, since before the pandemic. They were priced the same as Red Wing originally but definitely have what is considered cheaper construction by boot people, with foam instead of cork in the welt cavity as well as the other differences mentioned. This means they were frequently on sale at low prices. I got 3 pairs from a dealer in Berlin who was selling the last few pairs on Amazon for around £150 each; one cordovan pair with wedge sole, one nitrile sole pair in Tan Renegade (similar to Copper Rough & Tough) and one black pair that I have since gave away. They seem to be larger than many other brands but I wear them with orthotics which works well and they are very much bad weather boots for me..
The worst thing about this boot is that some of us are a year late to the game to find one in our size. Really compelling at the sale/clearance price. 👍🏼
I have heard is that these were discontinued, but I kinda hope they come back at some point. I heard about a lot of QC issues, but they still look absolutely gorgeous.
Would there be a way to get back that seude like feel from them after putting in a conditioner on them. They feel pretty smooth right now and i was pretty fond of the original texture. I had no idea you had to use a specific cleaner/conditioner on them considering this is my first boot with this kind of leather.
@Bootlosophy I saw someone on a forum saying that they used saddle soap to fix it and that it restored the color and the feel of the original texture. If I do that how long should I wait to use saddle soap since I have just recently conditioned them.
Hi, do you know how to waterproofing this leather without losing the rugged rustic looks? I was using beeswax+mink oil, it works for waterproofing but the leather lost its rugged-rustic-dry feels
