AeroFan_07
I'll Lock Up
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This is a Boot review of the White's Otto Vintage Line "packer boots" that I purchased new in the spring of 2017. These were purchased from Willie's Shoe Services in Northfield, MN as I was traveling through the area. He is mostly a shoe repair shop, but also has a line of White's Boots in stock. So if anyone in the northern Midwest would like to try some on, his shop is a good place to start. There is not a website for his store.
These were a slight surprise for me, as a 10.5D size fit perfectly. I purchased these brand new and I started breaking them in as I walked out of the store to my truck. New purchase price was $350. That right there should tell you these are fairly unique White's.
While still labeled as White's these are much closer to a Hawthorn, or even Hawthorn Explorer in both price and construction. This is not a negative, it's just something be aware of. White's seems to have dropped the Hawthorn brand of late. Maybe someone with knowledge of this could clarify. Perhaps related to the ownership change.
Instead of Stitch-down construction, these are Goodyear Welted. The upper leathers are a fair bit thinner than most other White's I have owned. There is only single row stitching around the soles. There are a few rivets used in construction, instead of all stitching. The leather is softer and broke in much easier than most other boots I have owned. The arch support is present and accounted for, but it's medium arch (Farmer-Rancher type) instead of the High arch as the traditional Packer boot has.
Here is what they look like now, after a serious cleaning and oiling. Pardon the little bit of dried mud still on the soles...
These boots have been oiled, at least somewhat regularly. This past year only 1-2 times. They have held up well however we are going to get into the nitty-gritty a bit here and evaluate just how well they have done.
First, let's get the laces and false tongues out of the way and give them a quick look over:
As expected, these certainly have taken quite a bit of a beating in their "tongue" position. I really thought the backside was interesting, showing different patterns that are likely related to repeated wettings/drying of the boots. I like the stitching imprint in the backside too from the main boot.
Now let's look at the tongue area itself, this is pretty interesting to see how the boots are holding up:
Once cleaned up, this area exposes the highest "upper" area of load that the boot uppers should likely see. These look pretty good, they are intact, and there is some high wear in spots as evidenced by the impression of the backside of the hooks & eyes for lacing. One curious note are the unusual creases shown in the Right boot at the lower side. They do not seem to be affecting anything, however I will say this may be partially helped by the false tongues being in place all the time.
To be Continued in the next post.
These were a slight surprise for me, as a 10.5D size fit perfectly. I purchased these brand new and I started breaking them in as I walked out of the store to my truck. New purchase price was $350. That right there should tell you these are fairly unique White's.
While still labeled as White's these are much closer to a Hawthorn, or even Hawthorn Explorer in both price and construction. This is not a negative, it's just something be aware of. White's seems to have dropped the Hawthorn brand of late. Maybe someone with knowledge of this could clarify. Perhaps related to the ownership change.
Instead of Stitch-down construction, these are Goodyear Welted. The upper leathers are a fair bit thinner than most other White's I have owned. There is only single row stitching around the soles. There are a few rivets used in construction, instead of all stitching. The leather is softer and broke in much easier than most other boots I have owned. The arch support is present and accounted for, but it's medium arch (Farmer-Rancher type) instead of the High arch as the traditional Packer boot has.
Here is what they look like now, after a serious cleaning and oiling. Pardon the little bit of dried mud still on the soles...
These boots have been oiled, at least somewhat regularly. This past year only 1-2 times. They have held up well however we are going to get into the nitty-gritty a bit here and evaluate just how well they have done.
First, let's get the laces and false tongues out of the way and give them a quick look over:
As expected, these certainly have taken quite a bit of a beating in their "tongue" position. I really thought the backside was interesting, showing different patterns that are likely related to repeated wettings/drying of the boots. I like the stitching imprint in the backside too from the main boot.
Now let's look at the tongue area itself, this is pretty interesting to see how the boots are holding up:
Once cleaned up, this area exposes the highest "upper" area of load that the boot uppers should likely see. These look pretty good, they are intact, and there is some high wear in spots as evidenced by the impression of the backside of the hooks & eyes for lacing. One curious note are the unusual creases shown in the Right boot at the lower side. They do not seem to be affecting anything, however I will say this may be partially helped by the false tongues being in place all the time.
To be Continued in the next post.
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