Alden

[jbreitenbucher]

Jan 11, 2016 19:51:01 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

I am figuratively dying waiting for epaulets to send me a shipping notice.

The epaulets Earth Chamois Alden Indys should be in my hands on Thursday. Yay!

[devastitis]

Jan 12, 2016 20:43:03 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

Jan 11, 2016 19:51:01 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

I am figuratively dying waiting for epaulets to send me a shipping notice.

The epaulets Earth Chamois Alden Indys should be in my hands on Thursday. Yay!

Gonna need pics! I'm so close to pulling the trigger.

[jbreitenbucher]

Jan 12, 2016 20:46:38 GMT -6 devastitis said:

Jan 12, 2016 20:43:03 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

The epaulets Earth Chamois Alden Indys should be in my hands on Thursday. Yay!

Gonna need pics! I'm so close to pulling the trigger.

Will do. I'll do the entire process from box to foot.

[jbreitenbucher]

Received the epaulets Alden Ironside Indy boot in Earth Chamois. I really love them. The color is black enough for my tastes to put me off from buying a black Indy or other black boot. I was a little worried since I went with a 10D while the Leffot Natural CXL Indy Boots I got are a 9.5D. I think I'm somewhere between a 9.5D (little tight with a thicker sock) and a 10D (little loose with a thicker sock), but both don't cause any pinching or heel rubbing. Below is the best side view I could get and here is a slideshow of the unboxing.

[devastitis]

Jan 14, 2016 12:38:50 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

Received the epaulets Alden Ironside Indy boot in Earth Chamois. I really love them. The color is black enough for my tastes to put me off from buying a black Indy or other black boot. I was a little worried since I went with a 10D while the Leffot Natural CXL Indy Boots I got are a 9.5D. I think I'm somewhere between a 9.5D (little tight with a thicker sock) and a 10D (little loose with a thicker sock), but both don't cause any pinching or heel rubbing. Below is the best side view I could get and here is a slideshow of the unboxing.

the trubalance last is supposed to be wider than the barrie last. I'm thinking of going half size down from barrie. Would that be foolish?

[exophobe]

Jan 14, 2016 12:38:50 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

Received the epaulets Alden Ironside Indy boot in Earth Chamois. I really love them. The color is black enough for my tastes to put me off from buying a black Indy or other black boot. I was a little worried since I went with a 10D while the Leffot Natural CXL Indy Boots I got are a 9.5D. I think I'm somewhere between a 9.5D (little tight with a thicker sock) and a 10D (little loose with a thicker sock), but both don't cause any pinching or heel rubbing. Below is the best side view I could get and here is a slideshow of the unboxing.

Are those Gustin heather grey? or Grey x White, or okayama grey shadow? heh.

[jbreitenbucher]

exophobe the Gustin Okayama Grey x Grey.

[jbreitenbucher]

devastitis I've not tried anything on the Barrie last. I can can say that the Indys feel a little wider than my Wolverine Courtlands and a lot wider than the Red Wing Beckmans (all in 9.5D).

[devastitis]

Jan 14, 2016 14:09:01 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

devastitis I've not tried anything on the Barrie last. I can can say that the Indys feel a little wider than my Wolverine Courtlands and a lot wider than the Red Wing Beckmans (all in 9.5D).

what is your brannock size?

[jbreitenbucher]

Having a custom makeup from Leffot and epaulets, I will say that I would recommend epaulet over Leffot. The Leffot process was to reserve a pair and then wait six months to get the boots and hope they have no issues. Unfortunately @david got a pair that should not have passed QC. epaulet seems to order a custom make from Alden with a few in each size and have them shipped to their stores to sell. So epaulet can catch a potential issue before selling the boot to anyone and avoid the issue the David had. It also means that the boots are ready to ship so you wait days instead of months. Granted you may wait for months or years before epaulet places an order for their custom make, but I think I prefer that.

Edit: Forgot that the epaulets have a storm welt which I really like, but I am missing my speed hooks. So probably a wash on the feature trade. Also, I honestly don't know why the commando sole isn't the standard on the Indy. I really love its versatility.

[jbreitenbucher]

Jan 14, 2016 14:15:53 GMT -6 devastitis said:

Jan 14, 2016 14:09:01 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

devastitis I've not tried anything on the Barrie last. I can can say that the Indys feel a little wider than my Wolverine Courtlands and a lot wider than the Red Wing Beckmans (all in 9.5D).

what is your brannock size?

10.5D or 10E (sort of right on the cusp) but I usually go with a 10.5D in all my Allen Edmond shoes.

[devastitis]

I just sold a pair of boots, and returned my Alden for Jcrew black suede wingtips. I'm all in on the Alden Earth Chamois, just need to nail down the size. Tempted to grab both a 8.5D and 9D and return one.

[jbreitenbucher]

devastitis is there anywhere near you that carries the Indy that you could try on to nail down size? I was considering doing what you are thinking but just couldn't handle seeing $1170 in shoes on my card even for a week.

[devastitis]

Jan 14, 2016 14:29:38 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

devastitis is there anywhere near you that carries the Indy that you could try on to nail down size? I was considering doing what you are thinking but just couldn't handle seeing $1170 in shoes on my card even for a week.

there is an Alden store in Washington DC, but DC is such a pain to go into, that I'd rather just do the credit card route. I usualy pay off all my cc bills at the end of the month, so the slight ding in credit if the return doesn't post in time won't be a big deal.

[devastitis]

Sold two gift cards as well as the two boots, so I pulled the trigger on the 9D Earth Chamois. Next I need a pair of dressy boots, and I'm good in terms of boots. Will need to sell a few more boots to justify that purchase though. But the Allen Edmonds Seconds Sale is making the Daltons very tempting.

[devastitis]

jbreitenbucher how are the earth chamies breaking in?

[jbreitenbucher]

They haven't really needed any breaking in. I'm finding that Aldens are really comfy right out of the box.

[jbreitenbucher]

Anyone have any ideas about where an individual might purchase black lace hooks? I miss them enough that I'd like to add them to these Ironside Indys. So for all I've found is stuff on Alibaba with minimum orders of like 10,000.

[devastitis]

Jan 22, 2016 9:01:30 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

Anyone have any ideas about where an individual might purchase black lace hooks? I miss them enough that I'd like to add them to these Ironside Indys. So for all I've found is stuff on Alibaba with minimum orders of like 10,000.

have you tried asking the local cobbler?

[Deleted]

Jan 22, 2016 9:01:30 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

Anyone have any ideas about where an individual might purchase black lace hooks? I miss them enough that I'd like to add them to these Ironside Indys. So for all I've found is stuff on Alibaba with minimum orders of like 10,000.

Ebay? Amazon? Maybe some leathercraft place?

[exophobe]

Jan 22, 2016 9:01:30 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

Anyone have any ideas about where an individual might purchase black lace hooks? I miss them enough that I'd like to add them to these Ironside Indys. So for all I've found is stuff on Alibaba with minimum orders of like 10,000.

Amazon. However all the black ones I've found have two attachment holes which would be problematic for an eyelet retrofit. I'd find a local shoe person and ask them. If you go with nickel or brass color you can get single hole from Tandy leather, but factoring in the eyelet removal and cost of the shoes, even if you bought those I think it'd be a good idea to have a pro take care of it.

[stinky]

Jan 22, 2016 9:01:30 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

Anyone have any ideas about where an individual might purchase black lace hooks? I miss them enough that I'd like to add them to these Ironside Indys. So for all I've found is stuff on Alibaba with minimum orders of like 10,000.

I am fully aware that this does not in any way answer your question, but on my non-speedhook boots, I skip the top set of eyelets and loop the laces around the back of the boot and tie them in the front.

I find that it locks the top of the boot in but makes it much easier to get your foot in/out.

[jbreitenbucher]

Jan 22, 2016 10:47:08 GMT -6 exophobe said:

Jan 22, 2016 9:01:30 GMT -6 jbreitenbucher said:

Anyone have any ideas about where an individual might purchase black lace hooks? I miss them enough that I'd like to add them to these Ironside Indys. So for all I've found is stuff on Alibaba with minimum orders of like 10,000.

Amazon. However all the black ones I've found have two attachment holes which would be problematic for an eyelet retrofit. I'd find a local shoe person and ask them. If you go with nickel or brass color you can get single hole from Tandy leather, but factoring in the eyelet removal and cost of the shoes, even if you bought those I think it'd be a good idea to have a pro take care of it.

You actually don't remove the eyelet. You put the lace hook in the existing eyelet and use a set to punch it open and then a ball peen hammer to finish it off. There was a nice video on YouTube and it looks like it'd take about 10-15 minutes to do both boots and cost less than $20 by the time I got the proper tools and material (assuming I can find them). If I had a reputable repair shop within 30 minutes of my place I'd check with them and see what it would cost.

[exophobe]

jbreitenbucher - www.frankfordleather.com/parts/boot-lace-hook.asp

I don't know if you have to be industry, but the place they use as a supplier (linked at the above) has all the tools and everything as well, the hooks are on page 25 of their catalog.

[devastitis]

Dang it..Context just had to go on and do it.  I waited for the return of the Context Roy Boot in Earth Chamois for like half a year, and not seeing it come back, I pulled the trigger on the ePaulet Indy Boot in Earth Chamois.  But the CRBiEC is back..I've already incurred a $20 return shipping fee for one pair of ill-fitting boots, do I bite the bullet and eat the cost of another $20 return shipping and grab the Context Roy Boot.  Decisions..